Polestar's Formula 2030 Concept Pairs Inflatable Seats With a Hidden LiDAR

Polestar's Formula 2030 concept car uses inflatable seats with inflatable bolsters that adjust to the occupant, and a LiDAR sensor that stays concealed until the car switches to autonomous mode, according to Engadget, which published its report on 10 November 2026.

The Formula 2030 is a low, compact four-door sports car. It stands 53 inches tall and measures 184 inches long. Its cabin pairs a 20-inch curved driver display, mounted on the steering column, with a 12.2-inch center screen.

Below the center screen sits a set of customizable physical controls, including real buttons, switches and knobs. That configuration stands apart from the touch-only layouts that have become common in recent electric vehicles. Voice control runs on Google Gemini, a large language model that handles spoken requests.

The seat backs are made from a combination of European flax and bio-based polypropylene, a plastic produced from renewable feedstock. The concept highlights this material choice alongside its adaptive seating.

Polestar says elements of the Formula 2030 design will appear on two production vehicles. The first is the successor to the Polestar 2, slated for 2027. The second is the Polestar 7 SUV, expected in 2028. The company has not presented the concept as a production model, and the specific features that carry over have not been itemized. Until those cars arrive, the inflatable seats, the concealed sensor and the control layout should be read as design proposals.

The broader context here is a shift in cabin design that has been playing out for several years. Automakers moved many functions from switches into touchscreens, and drivers and passengers have had to learn new habits. A concept that places physical controls back beneath the main display is a deliberate design position, and it is worth watching whether the production versions keep that choice.

In my view, the two most technically interesting items are the ones that depend on software rather than hardware. An inflatable bolster that adjusts to the occupant is only as good as its control logic, its response time and its integration with the rest of the restraint system. A LiDAR that appears only in autonomous mode raises a different set of questions, about how the car signals mode transitions to occupants and how the sensor is protected and calibrated when it is hidden. Neither question is answered by a concept reveal.

The Gemini integration follows a pattern already visible across the industry, in which a cloud-hosted large language model handles in-car voice interaction. Engineers will recognise the open items that accompany any such deployment: latency under poor connectivity, the split between on-device and cloud processing, and how the physical controls and voice channel coexist when one fails.

In my view, the combination on display is coherent. A low sports body, a driver display close to the wheel, tactile controls for frequently used functions and seats that change shape with the occupant all point toward a cabin built around the person in it. If even some of these ideas reach the Polestar 2 successor in 2027, the change would be visible in daily use, not only on the specification sheet. That is the part of the concept I would watch most closely.