Forget the ribbon cutting. Polestar and Darcars Automotive group recently opened their new D.C. showroom with an "unbuckling."
The Silver Spring-based auto group and Volvo-owned electric car brand on July 13 launched the roughly 2,900-square-foot showroom at 1050 17th St. NW by detaching a bright yellow seatbelt, then unveiling the Polestar 3, a battery-powered SUV with an estimated 500-plus of horsepower expected to hit stores in early 2024.
Darcars controls the only Polestar franchise in the District. The Tesla competitor debuted its first Greater Washington dealership two years ago in Rockville.
Mayor Muriel Bowser, Darcars CEO John Darvish and COO Jaime Darvish were among the executives to attend the opening, with Maxwell Monroe, Polestar's commercial training manager, and Steven Radt, interim head of Polestar sales.
Polestar vehicles range in price from $48,000 to over $150,000 — the Polestar 3 will start around $86,000. The Polestar 3 on display at the D.C. dealership is the only one of its kind in North America.
Jaime Darvish described Polestar as “performance and luxury with a twist of the Swedish craftmanship," and the District a strong performer in terms of electric vehicle sales.
“It has been our belief that being a climate ready city that was on the cutting edge of many initiatives would in fact make us more competitive, and what I've heard here today is that those strategies are working,” Bowser said.
Bowser called Polestar’s opening an essential step in the District's “comeback program," as it addresses a post-pandemic lack of investment in downtown and a decline in worker population. The mayor said that she is “taking advantage of every cent from federal dollars” to invest in electric car infrastructure in the coming years.
