Production of Polestar 2, the electric performance car brand jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and Zhejiang Geely Holding, has officially begun in China.

For initial delivery into Europe, followed by China and North America, the new electric performance fastback is the first electric vehicle to be produced by the facility in Luqiao.

Polestar CEO, Thomas Ingenlath said: “The world is facing enormous upheaval in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. We start production now under these challenging circumstances, with a strong focus on the health and safety of our people.

“This is a great achievement and the result of huge efforts from the staff in the factory and the team securing the supply chain. I have a huge amount of respect for the entire team – thanks to them!”

Owned by Zhejiang Geely Holding and operated by Volvo Cars, the Luqiao plant is an example of how Polestar leverages the expertise of its parent companies.

He continued: “Being able to produce in Luqiao means we are able to bring Polestar 2 to market with high build and quality standards right from the beginning.”

Revealed in February 2019, Polestar 2 is available in ten global markets contained in Europe, China and North America.

Initially available to reserve with a refundable deposit, final order books in each launch market are now being opened sequentially.

The fully electric performance fastback is available for the first year of production with 300kW (408hp) and 660Nm, all-wheel drive and a 78kWh battery pack which enables a range of 470km (WLTP).

Polestar 2 is also the world’s first car to feature a built-in ‘infotainment’ system powered by Android, featuring Google Maps, Google Assistant and the Google Play Store.

Deliveries to customers are due to begin in the summer of 2020 on a market-by-market basis, starting in Europe and followed by China and then North America.

Polestar launched in 2017 with the Polestar 1 – a low-volume Electric Performance Hybrid GT with 609hp, 1,000Nm and an electric-only range of 124km (WLTP) – the longest of any hybrid car in the world.

In 2019, the Polestar 2 was revealed as the company’s first full electric, higher volume premium car.

In the future, Polestar 3 will join the portfolio as a fully electric performance SUV.