Around the World: Polestar 2

Polestar is jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and its parent company Geely, with its headquarters in Sweden and production in China. 

The company develops electric performance cars and its latest release is the Polestar 2, an all electric five-door fastback. The Polestar 1, launched in 2017, is a plug-in hybrid. 

The Polestar 2 has a 78kWh battery, enough for around 470km of range, powering two motors for all-wheel drive. Power is rated at 300kW and 660Nm which should be enough to send the Polestar 2 to 100kmh in less than five seconds.

Deliveries to customers have just begun in Europe, to be followed by China then North America. 

There's no word yet on if New Zealand will get the Polestar 2, instead Volvo NZ will probably be concentrating on the XC-40 electric vehicle for Kiwi customers.

So, what do global motoring writers think of the Polestar 2?

The electric car is the first full electric from Polestar. Photos: Polestar

Top Gear UK

The British magazine and website gave it 8/10.

“This is the Polestar 2, and it’s a fully-fledged production car designed to do the hard yards in establishing Polestar as a big player in the EV scene. It’s gunning for the biggest bullseye of them all right now: the Tesla Model 3.

On the design front, it’s job done: this is a sensational-looking machine in the metal, crisp and fresh and clean-cut, loaded with presence but wonderfully unadorned with fake vents or dummy-aero nonsense.When you see one of these whoosh past, you’re going to want one.

The centrepiece, as with any self-respecting upstart electric car, is a giant touchscreen. Here it’s a portrait display measuring 11-inches across and mounted high enough that it’s in your eyeline without suffering from ‘lost iPad on the dash’ disorder. The graphics are crisp, the operation impressively rapid, with no stuttering or discernible loading time.

And if you’re waiting for the ‘but what about touchscreens being fiddly on the move’ caveat, worry not, because Polestar has come up with a genius piece of common sense. The sculpted gear selector acts as a plinth for your forearm, steadying your hand as you delve into the screen. It makes operation on the move much easier than in… pretty much any car with a touchscreen. Even a new Volvo. So do measures like climate control that’s adjusted in one-degree increments, not 0.5 Celcius. Less tapping needed.”

The Polestar 2 has a range of 480km.

Car Wow

AutoMuse favourite Mat Watson gave it 8/10.

“While the Model 3 is strutting around like a peacock with its whoopee-cushion seats, the Polestar 2 is eagle-like: cool, understated but with more than enough power in reserve to thrill should you need it too.

That Scandinavian chic is evident outside, where the 2 has simple but bold lines, including its Thor-hammer LED daytime running lights at the front and its rear light bar borrowed from RoboCop. It looks taller than a typical hatchback, thanks to a black strip that runs along its sills and over its wheelarches.

If you’d missed it outside, Polestar’s ties with Volvo are more evident inside. The steering wheel and switches are shared, but the 2 does have its own unique feel and importantly the quality you come to expect from Volvo is very much intact. Here, the Polestar has Tesla beaten.

Volvo knows a thing or two about great seats and Polestar has borrowed a wonderfully supportive set in the front. Space is generous upfront too and that also goes for the back, where a couple of adults will have no trouble getting comfy as long as they aren’t freakishly tall. That said, three adults of any size will struggle to side-by-side in comfort.

The Polestar 2’s boot has decent access with its hatch boot lid, but the bottom line is that you’ll get slightly more stuff in a Tesla Model 3. There’s also a small storage area at the front, but again, the Tesla’s one is slightly bigger.”

The Polestar 2 has a large tablet screen to operate everything.

Car and Driver

The American website had it for 10 days.

“The most obvious thing about the Polestar 2 is that it's not obvious. To anyone. You'd think that an electric car no one's seen before from a brand that almost no one's heard of might elicit some curiosity on the part of the general public. But no.

Not in grocery store parking lots. Not at stoplights. Not anywhere. The two we drove for 10 days blended in with the horde of chunky SUVs clogging our roads just like any Toyota, Ford, or Honda.

This is probably not the reaction that Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath was expecting when he touted the new car's minimalistic Scandinavian design at its global reveal some 18 months ago.

The powertrain supplies torque to each axle based on available traction. There are three levels of regenerative braking, the strongest of which will bring the car to a stop when you lift off the accelerator, enabling comfortable one-pedal driving. The car steers crisply—though without a shred of feedback—and circulated our skidpad with 0.90 g of grip. 

 The 2 is equally confident attacking squirmy two-lanes or arrowing down interstates in a way that puts us in mind of the impressive Mercedes-AMG GLC43 coupe.”

The Polestar 2 has a panoramic roof to make it seem roomy.

Forbes

Alistair Charlton reviewed the electric vehicle.

“I’m not entirely sure what to call the Polestar 2. It has a hatchback, but isn’t really a hatchback, is it? It also appears to stand on tip-toes, its wheels deliberately not quite filling the arches, and the sills higher than you might expect.

One detail I especially like is the frameless wing mirrors. Instead of the mirror moving insides its housing, the entire housing moves, so the mirror can sit flushing against it. It’s a small change to the norm, but somehow makes a big difference and looks great in a concept-car-made-real kind of way. The same goes for the huge panoramic glass roof, and the rear LED lights that perform a sci-fi startup sequence every time the car is unlocked.

As is quickly becoming the norm, the Polestar 2 will receive over-the-air software updates throughout its life. One such update coming later this year is to turn the driver’s smartphone into a digital key, using a secure Bluetooth connection with the car. Like with the Tesla Model 3, the Polestar 2 will unlock and start when it senses the phone is nearby.

The Polestar 2 is powered by a 78kWh battery that, unusually for an electric car, does not live in the floor. It is T-shaped instead of flat, stretching along the center of the car where the transmission tunnel between driver and passenger seats would normally be, then extends widthways under the raised rear seats. This creates a relatively high centre console, which helps cocoon the driver and give the impression of sitting lower, instead of in a relatively high-riding vehicle. It also doubles as a convenient place to steady your arm against while using the touch screen.”

The Polestar 2 differs from Volvo’s products.