This might not be Polestar’s first SUV, but it’s surely the first to have an attitude…

Meet the Polestar 8, an SUV concept from the mind of Turin-based Salvatore Ville. A subsidiary of Volvo, Polestar is best known for its pure and minimalist ethos, which reflects in its choice of zero-emission drivetrains, clean designs, and even the use of recycled materials in its construction – however, minimalism has never really been a defining visual language for any car brand. Automotive minimalism is somewhat of a misnomer because people usually like their cars to offer more value for money. Sure, that’s a reductionist way to go about designing a car, but the cleaner a car looks, oftentimes the less eye-catching it tends to be around other cars. Keeping this in mind, Ville designed the Polestar 8 as an SUV that embraces minimalism with a twist – instead of simply opting for clean surfaces, Ville amped up the aggression by giving the car a dominating silhouette. The Polestar 8 looks like the Polestar 3 that went to the gym. It has a wider more brutish stance, a clean design that still manages to look roguish, and an interplay between metallic surfaces and black trims to create a dual-tone effect that gives the car dynamism without being overtly distracting.

Designer: Salvatore Ville

What Ville does really well with the Polestar 8’s design is balance aggression with automotive DNA. The SUV captures the essence of the Polestar brand with its headlights and taillights, the strategic placement of the Polestar logo, and the use of clean surfaces without any major detailing like air intakes. The car’s aggression manifests in the form of large tires, a dominating stance, and those razor-thin rear-view cameras on the side that could cut through wind like a sword.

Around the back, the Polestar 8’s design remains faithful to the futuristic motif. The taillights stretch across the vehicle’s width and height, creating a luminous signature that could double as a motif in a sci-fi film. Here, form follows function in a dance of light, giving the SUV a presence that’s hard to miss when night falls.

The profile of this conceptual Polestar is where the narrative of modern sculpture on wheels truly unfolds. It carries an athletic stance, with a roofline that sweeps back in a coupe-like descent. The absence of traditional door mirrors—replaced, perhaps, by cameras—stays true to the ethos of creating a seamless profile that’s as wind-friendly as it is eye-catching. Large, imposing wheels fill the arches, grounded yet ready to propel this vision into motion at a moment’s notice.

The use of color and materials appears meticulously chosen to reflect light and shadow in a dance that changes as the day grows old. The Polestar 8, with its combination of metallic hues and carbon fiber accents, looks just as much at home in the heart of a bustling metropolis as it does against the backdrop of a futuristic skyline. One can only imagine the interior, likely a cocoon of advanced technology and minimalist luxury—a space where the outside world is both present and pleasantly held at bay.

While the Polestar 8 concept SUV may not be a blueprint for a production model, it stands as a canvas for the imagination.

The post The Polestar 8 is a rugged SUV concept that brings automotive aggression out through minimalism first appeared on Yanko Design.

Polestar as an electric car manufacturer has taken the heat to Tesla in the last few years. The Swedish brand has proved its metal with the Polestar 2 EV, even when stacked against the Tesla Model 3. There’s a whole lot to like and the brand is evolving in the right direction.

The Polestar 6 slated for production in 2026 as an open-top grand tourer has got the challenge very well accepted for future dominance, at least in the electric roadster domain. We though, are always on the hunt for something larger than life in the concept world. Just like this Hot Wheels-inspired Polestar hot rod that would be perfect for the Japanese street racing scene.

Designer: Henrique Alves

This electric concept named Polestar Fenrir imagined for the 2024 Polestar design contest hits the nail right on its head with the Hot Wheels theme. That’s because the contest is done in collaboration with Hot Wheels. The only doubt in Henrique’s mind was if the vehicle should be a Monster Truck, Surf Van or Dune Buggy. Ultimately he went for the obvious choice of a hot rod, since Hot Wheels is all about cool street racers. The idea was to fuse the Hot Rod DNA to a modern electric car aesthetic that the designer creatively achieved with the form.

The contours are maintained at the right places while the heavy influence of an EV is not ignored at all. Muscular element also follows in with a forward-leaning stance that’s exemplified by the fat rear, both in the body and the size of the wheels. This broadening stance from the front to the back makes space for a unique two-seater configuration. The low ride height barely enough to slip through a sheet of paper means the hot rod will have to avoid any bumps or speed breakers.

The designer expresses the creation as a 2-seater hot rod with some goofiness and playful feelings. He adds that the Polestar Fenrir is a well-proportionated EV racer with minimal lines and shapes that complement the Polestar’s visual identity. Surely we second that thought and a Polestar concept of the future could draw inspiration from this model.

The post Polestar Fenrir is a sophisticated electric hot rod straight from the Hot Wheels universe first appeared on Yanko Design.