RISING STAR

Polestar has become involved with a remarkable Swedish electric flying boat. James Attwood plunges into the technical detail and goes for a ride

- James Attwood

It's unmistakably Polestar. The ultra-cool Scandinavian design - all minimalist aesthetic, stripped-back functions, sustainable fabrics, gold highlights and sans-serif fonts - is absolutely what you would expect from the style-focused brand. Except... you don't have to look hard to spot that the Candela C-8 Polestar Edition isn't really a Polestar. It's not even a car. It's a boat. A super-stylish, ultra-modern electric hydrofoil, sure, but it's absolutely a boat.

But, well, there's more Polestar in Candela's fast-growing range of hydrofoils than you might expect, because the partnership between the two Swedish firms extends beyond a styled-up special edition. Deep down in the hull of Candela's craft you will find Polestar's 69kWh battery pack as seen in the 2, along with the same 135kW DC fast-charging system. It's not quite an amphibious car, but this is a genuine technical partnership.

It's a very natural partnership too: there's a real philosophical link between Polestar and Candela. The Stockholm-based boat maker was founded in 2014 by Gustav Hasselskog with a mission to develop electric boats that offered significantly more range and speed. It had a prototype running in late 2016 and its first boat went into series production in 2019.

Electric boats face tougher challenges than cars: water is a very literal drag on range. Pushing a boat through even smooth water takes a vast amount of energy and that becomes amplified when things get rough. The way to maximise range? Get the boat as far out of the water as possible.