Most of the cars that you will see parked up at the car rental facilities are the ones you would expect: a wide range of vehicles of different sizes and body styles from small hatchbacks to large saloons, SUVs and pickup trucks to meet the varying needs of rental car customers, with most if not quite all brands on the market represented, rental car companies having found out the hard way that if you have a lot of one brand on fleet and suddenly there is a safety recall, then you end up with too few cars for your customers. Around 10 years ago, the large rental car companies started to add a series of prestige and exotic models to their fleets, at least in larger airport locations, and they quickly found that there was a good market for cars like the BMW M3, C63AMG or a series of Porsche, but when Covid struck, these were the cars that they needed to offload fast, as demand evaporated, and has never really returned, or at least not yet. So the fleets of 2022 tend to be full of prosaic cars of all sizes, with very little that you would call truly interesting or special. I’ve experienced this first hand in the last couple of trips to the US, where the added problem of the chip supply crisis has made it even harder to source cars, so imagine my surprise when arriving at the Hertz LAX facility for my late 2022 trip to find that as well as a large number of the all-electric Polestar 2 models that Hertz have added to their fleet, they have also acquired more than a few of the much more exclusive Polestar 1. This is a rare car by any standard, and also an extremely expensive one, so I really was not expecting to see it here, but every day thus far there have been quite a few parked up, in various colours, all of which seemed to be saying to me “rent me”. I had to ask!

Not surprisingly, it turned out that one reason that there seemed to be quite a few parked up is that very few people even know what the car is, or how special it is, so they don’t ask for it, preferring to take a C63 AMG or a Mustang or a Camaro if they want something beyond standard rental fodder. But there are also customers who know exactly what it is, and they are all eager to drive one, and the staff here on the Gold Desk/Presidents Circle are only too happy to help them into one, at surprisingly good rates for those customers whom they know. That was all I needed to hear, and I asked if they could reserve one in a photographically-friendly colour, which they were more than happy to do, so on Day 6 of this trip, I found a Polestar 1 in what its maker calls “Snow Matte” with my name on it.

For many years Polestar was Volvo’s in-house performance tuning arm. But as of 2017, it became a full-fledged spinoff brand focused on electrified performance, with ambitious plans to produce a whole family of different models. Kicking things off was the limited-production Polestar 1, which has its genesis as Volvo’s Concept Coupé from 2013, styled by German car designer Thomas Ingenlath, who previously worked in lead design positions at Audi, Volkswagen and Škoda. At the unveiling of the Concept Coupé, Ingenlath said that the model took inspiration from the Volvo P1800, stating that “it is a car designer’s duty to reflect and incorporate design signatures that are vital parts of the company’s heritage”. The Polestar 1 was unveiled on October 17, 2017, at the Shanghai Auto Show, making its world premiere and first public appearance after a number of online teasers in the preceding weeks. In June 2019, Polestar announced that the Polestar 1 was entering its final stages of development as a prototype, before production would officially commence in the later-unveiled production site in Chengdu, China. Just 1500 cars were to be built, all of them with left hand drive, and the cars would be made in China. The cars came with a hefty price tag: $155,000 in the US and around £150,000 in the UK, and that is largely because the Polestar 1 is packed with technology. Practically all exterior panels of the Polestar 1 upper body, including doors, bonnet and boot-lid, are made of carbon fibre reinforced polymer (CFRP) for maximum stiffness, torsional rigidity and lightness. Polestar claim that using steel panels would have increased the car’s weight by 500 lb (230 kg), and even as it is, this car is heavy. Much of the reason for that is down to the fact that this is a petrol plug-in hybrid, with twin electric motors complementing the standard 2.0 litre petrol unit, as well as an all-wheel drive system. It is all clothed in an elegant two door body, with a luxurious interior and a long list of standard equipment.

Before setting off, I took some time to take in the finer details of the Polestar 1. Let’s face it, with only 1500 of them built, you’re not going to see one very often. I know they say that beauty is on the eye of the beholder, but I think most people would agree with me when I say that this is an elegant car. The proportions seem to be just right, and the fussy and awkward details that afflict so many cars these are refreshingly absent here. For sure. Some may bemoan the fact that if you see the car at a glance, you may not realise just how special it is, but for others that will be a huge part of the appeal. Get up close are there are clues, of course. There are some relatively discrete labels on the side of the car’s carbon fibre body which tell you that it is made out of something special. Lovely though the Polestar 1 is as a static object, I really wanted to know what it was like to drive, so it was time to set off and see what I thought during a day which took in some of my favourite test routes in the canyons north of LA, accessible once you’ve slogged up past Downtown, which in the morning traffic is always more than mildly tedious.

The Polestar 1 is powered by a hybrid powertrain, using a twin-charged 2.0-litre inline four-cylinder petrol engine from the Volvo XC90 T8 to drive the front wheels through an 8-speed automatic transmission, with an additional two electric motors powering the rear wheels. Combined, the total output is 619 bhp and 738 lb/ft; at its announcement, the maximum power output was rated slightly less, at 600 bhp. The petrol engine is connected to an Integrated Starter Generator, acting as a starter motor and torque fill during gear changes. It adds 68 hp for a total output of 326 bhp and 321 lb/ft to the front axle. Each electric motor produces 116 bhp for a total of 232 bhp and 354 lb/ft to the rear axle. These are impressive figures and endow the Polestar 1 with performance that will surprise most people. The Polestar 1 can cover about 50 miles on all-electric power on a fully charged battery. After that, it switches to typical petrol-powered operation.

There is a twist to start knob, which then makes the Polestar ready, on the battery, so there is no sound to tell you that you can now engage a direction of travel, and set off. The petrol engine kicks in once you are underway, and then takes over, using the battery as a source of additional power and torque. There is quite a distinctive sound when the car is accelerating, which is perhaps just as well, as the Polestar really does perform well. This is a very fast car, with a quoted 0 – 60 acceleration time of less than 4.0 seconds, but you probably won’t realise it as the car is so smooth and so quiet. Rarely has a speed limit warning function been so useful. There is an 8-speed automatic transmission, which is well matched to the powertrain, and which simply shifts gears seamlessly. The batteries will recharge when you take your foot off the throttle, or when you are going downhill and there is regenerative braking, but if you want to charge it fully, you will need to plug it in to a recharging unit. I will admit that I did not do so during the time I had the car, so I returned it with the battery showing just you a few % of charge left. I covered 180 miles and it needed 7 US gallons to refill the tank, a figure which would have been significantly better had I used more of the battery, for sure. When you switch the car off, the fans kick in, and these are really very noisy and there are lots of clicks and whirrs until everything has cooled down, at which point they shut off and the Polestar is quiet again.

The Polestar is not just fast but it is genuinely good to drive. The steering is well-weighted with plenty of feel, yet it remains light enough that this large and heavy car is easy to manoeuvre at slow speed. There is standard torque-vectoring all-wheel drive and sports suspension. In fact the Polestar 1 is the first car with Öhlins Continuously Controlled Electronic Suspension (CESi). The CESi can be set to adapt instantly to road conditions and in accordance with the driver’s chosen setting. The net result is that it means that the car handles really well, with high levels of grip and minimal body roll, and I certainly found the car fun to punt along the swooping bends of the canyon roads north of Los Angeles, a place I often come to when testing cars out, as indeed do many manufacturers developing their next generation models. Polestar 1 comes on large and low profile 275/30 R21 wheels at the front and 295/30 R21 alloy wheels at the rear, yet the ride is good, too, coping well with the various and often poor road surfaces of the LA area. Powerful brakes from Akebono apparently scrub off speed at amazing rates, stopping the car in a shorter distance than a Porsche 911 GT3 Touring. I did not have the chance to test them out in this way but in more casual use found them to be progressive and effective, with no real evidence of the slight mushiness you often get where there is regenerative braking. All-round visibility thanks to the large glass area and the 360 degree camera system, as well as the parking sensors help you to judge the precise extremities of the car. The Blind Spot Warning system is useful, whereas the Lane Keep Assist, like most of its type is not, being over-zealous in operation. Other safety features include adaptive cruise control and forward collision mitigation.

The interior of the Polestar is perhaps best described as “exquisite”. Parent company Volvo do interiors better almost than anyone else these days, with a clean simplicity that is so different to the over-wrought chintzy glitzy approach that Mercedes is taking and its fellow Germans feel the need to copy, and in many ways, the Polestar is even nicer than a Volvo offering. The quality of materials is outstanding, and the mixture of carbon fibre and leather is well judged to produce something that looks cohesive and nicely restrained. Needless to say, fit and finish is exemplary. The yellow seat belts are a nice touch to set it all off and the crystal gear sift manages to look cool rather than gimmicky . The instrument cluster focuses very much om the speedometer, with smaller displays for power usage and also a fuel gauge. There is a standard head-up display. Twin column stalks are used for indicators, wipers and lights and the steering wheel boss has cruise control and audio repeater functions. Almost everything else is in the touchscreen. This is a 12.3” unit that is mounted portrait style, which means that it seems smaller than it actually is. There are only knobs for audio volume and tuning, everything else is on the screen, which is not entirely a Good Thing as like most, I found this one to be unusable whilst driving, with the menu structure of the Sensus system necessitating lots of swiping left and right. Sadly, the screen includes all the climate control functions except the demisters front and rear. You do get standard navigation, XM Satellite radio and Apple Car Play and Android Auto and there is a 16 speaker Bowers and Wilkins Sound System.

In keeping with the coupe styling, you sit quite low, and there is a definite knack to getting in. Once installed, there is electric adjustment for the seats and the steering column, so it was easy to get the driving position I wanted. There is an extensible bolster to the seats and they have heating elements, as does the steering wheel. I found the seat to be supremely comfortable, in the best tradition of parent company, Volvo. There is a massive standard sunroof which adds a lot of light to the cabin and which does not really impair the available headroom at all.

Things are not so good for the rear seat. Getting in is quite awkward and once there, there really is not much space, which is a little surprising given the length of the car. There are definitely only two seats here. Even with the front seats set well forward, there is not that much legroom. The seats are effectively two separate buckets, so width is not a problem and you sit sufficiently reclined that headroom should also suffice for most people.

By the standards of a supercar, the boot is decent, but at just 4.4 cubic feet, by the standards of a grand tourer it really is not. A lot of space is lost to the batteries and electric motors that sit – exposed, where quite a feature is made of them, with transparent casing – behind the rear seat, leaving quite a short, albeit deep space for luggage. Some of this taken up with a rigid bag that holds the charging cables that takes some of the width though not all the height. Access is easy, with a large boot lid. Because of the location of the batteries, you can’t fold the rear seats down, either. Provision for odds and ends in the cabin is not that good, with a modestly-sized glovebox, some rubber-lined and decently sized pockets on the doors and a rather shallow central armrest cubby that is only really useful for flat items such as a phone.

As befits the high price, the Polestar 1 is very well equipped, and options are limited to appearance items, with paint colours, wheels, trim and interior leather the only ways to personalize the vehicle. For 2021, Polestar is offering the Special Edition, painted in matt gold with gold brake calipers and gold stitching in the leather upholstery. It is otherwise identical to the standard Polestar 1. Highlighted standard features include carbon-fibre body panels, 21-inch wheels, LED exterior lighting, adjustable suspension, torque vectoring (distributes power to either rear wheel to improve traction and handling), high-performance brakes and a panoramic sunroof whilst inside the car you get a 12.3-inch touchscreen with navigation, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a head-up display, a Bowers & Wilkins audio system, heated sport seats with leather upholstery, a heated steering wheel and a crystal gearshift knob.

I absolutely loved this car. To my eyes, it looks fantastic, with a supreme elegance which does not shout loudly about how special it is, something I really rather appreciate. And yet this car is special. Everything about it is carefully thought through, and you are acutely aware that all the technology in the car is there for a good reason, which is not the case with a growing number of other cars these days. It is far faster than anyone would need on public roads, but is super smooth and quiet, so this is a very relaxing long-distance cruiser, but it is also surprisingly agile in the mountains where it was also fun to drive. It is extremely comfortable, and the interior is beautifully finished. The only de-merits are the rather tight rear seat, the small boot (both of which are par for the course for other large coupe models) and the rather over-dependence on the touchscreen, which is something we are all having to get used to. To have had the chance to drive a Polestar 1, which is always going to be a rare car, was a real privilege and a treat. Big thanks to all at Hertz for making it possible!