Is the Polestar 2 the successor to the Saab 99?

Is the Polestar 2 the new Saab 99, asked a Swedish car newspaper the other day. Okay, the Polestar 2 is a hatchback with a large tailgate - like the Saab 99. And the Swedes are all romantics. Apparently, they suspect a Saab successor around every corner. First at Lynk & Co, now at Polestar.

The Polestar 2 - does it have anything to do with Saab?
The Polestar 2 - does it have something to do with Saab?

If they hadn't stayed so passive when Saab died, the brand might have survived in some form. But now it's past and Polestar is the most interesting brand from Sweden.

There are indeed parallels to Saab.

And they're almost spooky. It's not about the hardware. The answer to the question with Saab 99 and Polestar 2 can be found at the end of the text. The software is much more important. Let's beam ourselves back in time. In spring 2011, Saab announced that IQon system on. A revolution because it opened the automotive ecosystem to external developers. The IQon was based on Google Android and was an open source project.

The right step into the future. With greater impact than any new car model has. In keeping with the old Saab tradition when you were still at the forefront. In the end, however, you were a sheep in the crowd of many other gray sheep. The hardware and software of the 9-5 NG was already out of date at the premiere, as is the custom in the auto industry. The customer is asked to checkout for systems that reflect the status of 2 or 3 years ago.

Android Auto in the Polestar 2
Android Auto in the Polestar 2

As I said, that wasn't always the case with Saab. The 6800 Motorola processor of the Trionic was the finest you could ask for.

But that was really a long time ago.

Back to the IQon. That never came on the market. But the idea was born. In the present, she is recording Polestar. The electric car is always online, leaving a data track as wide as a multi-lane highway. Like the IQon, its infotainment is based on Google Android. The manufacturer opens it to external programmers who are supposed to contribute apps.

Google Automotive provides the development environment, Polestar provides the emulation. This enables developers to simulate the implemented Google services and the Polestar environment as the user of the electric car experiences them.

Many applications in the app store become a selling point

Polestar is clearly positioning itself for the future. The fake old car industry is a thing of the past. Cars are online, updates come from the web. Innovations are implemented faster, customer systems remain current. Having as many applications in the app store as possible will be a selling point in the future. The answer to this is opening up the automotive ecosystem to external developers.

Polestar's openness will be imitated. Better: have to find. Only those who are fast will survive. The customer of the future that has already started will not be satisfied with old hardware and grandpa's software solutions. He wants to be there live, even the space in the front row is no longer good enough.

New times, different demands

Saab anticipated this development in 2011. Today it is a reality and it is once again a Swedish brand that is playing the pioneer. Does this have anything to do with Saab? Do previous Saab engineers play in the background? Not necessarily, because once ideas are out of the bag, they are common property.

Back to the question from the beginning. Is the Polestar 2 the new Saab 99? A Swedish car newspaper asked the chassis developer of the Polestar 2 this question, and he said no. He couldn't find any parallels ...

He had previously worked for Saab.

Images: Polestar (2/2)

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Volvoab Driver
Volvoab Driver
3 years earlier

PS open source solution

Oh yes, I wanted to have said that too. With open source, manufacturers (of cars, building services or whatever) are of course giving up a great deal of sovereignty over (supposed or actually planned) obsolescence ...

At least from the point of view of an IT expert, obsolescence is largely obsolete ...

Open source is a piece of sustainability, openness, fairness and even freedom and playground.

The very fundamental question of whether everything has to be digitized and the gateway to the world a touchscreen remains largely unaffected. Personally, I don't want, need, or even can. And I want to be and remain as independent as possible from expert knowledge in the house and in the car.

Gosh
Gosh
3 years earlier

Basically, I'm happy to read something about a new Swedish car, even if it's not a Saab, thanks for that!
I think for the pleasure of pure driving it is advisable to cherish and maintain a Saab classic. If you are lucky enough to be able to do it.
With new vehicles, what is sold is done. And if the new car customer says “no”, the rolling PC will also disappear again. I just think he'll say yes. And when I question myself, I have to admit, I am also a yes-teller and am interested in these things and developments.

Volvoab Driver
Volvoab Driver
3 years earlier

Open source solution

I understand that Tom (to the best of my knowledge, an IT expert) seems to be a little enthusiastic about the best solution / the least evil in the article ...

But I feel like the previous speakers. The software-based obsolescence of (fully functional) hardware is spreading, becoming more and more expensive and is an environmental factor.

Hardware today is no longer “just” computers that don't get any updates or a new operating system, it's whole cars, houses and who knows what else.

The blinds stay down and it is dark in the house and the heating can no longer be controlled if the proud owner has suffered his smartphone from the breast pocket of his shirt while bending over and the touchscreen on the slate floor in the kitchen has crumbled.

And once the problem has been solved and a new mobile phone compatible with the house has been delivered and configured, he realizes that his car's hands-free system and entertainment system do not recognize or support the new mobile phone and a new car has to be built.

Sound exaggerated? After dark utopia?

I already know something like that from my environment.

But all good, because the new car only consumes as much (or little) as the old one, although it is larger and 200 kg heavier. And the tailgate closes automatically after the sports bag is outside.

This is how you get to the gym wonderfully fresh and relaxed. There first on the treadmill and walk in a climate-damaging air-conditioned room roughly the distance that you have just covered by car in the fresh air to the studio. The next station is a device that simulates the raising of heavy wooden blinds and strengthens the upper back muscles - just as if you had never modernized, automated, digitized your house.

And here the circle and this excessive comment come full circle. Beautiful new world …

Aero-9-3
Aero-9-3
3 years earlier

Too many “folds” in the sheet. No SAAB. I also feel that the wheels are too oversized. Should be / become a baby SUV. The sloping rear is certainly practical, that would be the only point where I would think of SAAB. However, this is not enough for my circumstances. So: no homage to SAAB.

What the tech. As for “gimmicks”, I'm at @ Werner.
A horror thought in particular: I am walking / driving through the city and immediately I am told that my men's outfitters give a 10% discount, but only today; my ice cream parlor has brought out a new creation and there are still leftovers today, so nothing like going there; etc. The APP's should ONLY fuel consumption, avarice is great to support. Man is seen as a primary consumer.
Thanks, I can do without. A life without permanent “Handy-Info-Sprinkle” is less stressful for me.

StF
StF
3 years earlier

I am afraid that the MC6800 would have been a little overwhelmed in the Trionic, otherwise Saab would have used it instead of the MC68000 because it might have been cheaper.

Werner
Werner
3 years earlier

Unfortunately I cannot agree at all.
What does the whole electronics and data theater have to do with driving?
In my opinion, this is a development that has completely different purposes and is apparently primarily “big business” - whatever it looks like and whatever is behind it.
I am surprised that there is still no rolator with GPS ... .. what is that supposed to mean?
The normal user has no advantage from it, has to pay for it and ultimately receives a run-of-the-mill “means of transport” that in no way has any properties or features that affect driving - only gimmicks and dubious features, irreparable and with an unsolved recycling problem, all of them planned osbsolescence.