Volvo's wave of electric cars starts with a new brand: Polestar

Volvo made a big commitment earlier this year to put electric motors in all of its vehicles by 2019 — and now the automaker will double down on electrification with an entirely new luxury car brand. 

Volvo and its Chinese parent company, Geely Holdings, just announced that they'll invest about $755 million together to create Polestar, which will manufacture electrified vehicles in China. The new brand will be a "fully consolidated Volvo Cars subsidiary," focused solely on creating electric, performance-first vehicles.

The plans for the Polestar were unveiled at an event in Shanghai, where the first vehicle from the brand, the Polestar 1, also made its debut. The brand new two-door coupé isn't an all-electric car, but it has a hybrid engine that the company claims will offer an estimated 93 miles per charge of range running on electricity alone, which would give it more range than any hybrid currently on the road.  Read more...