Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor, it’s like aerospace engineering
I really don’t get it.
Is the Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor that difficult?
Difficult is probably not the correct word, but I still don’t get it! The driving characteristics are -to put it mildly- uninspiring. Electric vehicles are portrayed as being boring, not involving and very sterile. In our recent reviews, we have been testing many EVs and we are usually positively surprised! The Mercedes EQS has almost unlimited comfort, the Porsche Taycan Turbo S is eye-wateringly fast and the BMW iX3 feels like an X3 (and that’s a good thing). How is it possible that this Polestar 2 is such a big miss -for me-?
The Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor is a car that will get you dry from A to B and if that distance isn’t too big, you will get back from B to A. Polestar talks about 551 kilometers range (WLTP) for this “231 hp/330 Nm, front-wheel drive, 2-ton weighing” EV. But it’s better to think in the line of 480-490 kilometers. Still, that’s not bad. When you run out of juice -or electricity- in your 78 kWh lithium-ion battery, charging from 10 to 80 percent only takes 35 minutes thanks to a maximum charge capacity of 151 kW and could take 7 hours at home. Funny side note: Polestar recommends you don’t charge the battery for the full 100% to extend the battery life. Polestar, maybe you should make it impossible to do that so people don’t need to bother.
With a 0-100 km/h time of 7.4 seconds, you can’t call it that fast. At best, you call something like that smooth and even then we are too nice. Yes, you have instant acceleration from a standstill and when you put down your right foot, but the instant “go go’ weirs of. If you can floor it long enough, you will eventually hit 160 km/h. No, it ain’t a Porsche Taycan.
In terms of comfort, the Polestar 2 scores somewhat higher. If you would compare it to its closest brother (something from Volvo), it’s even better than that. After a week no sore back or a broken neck and believe us: that happened before. The chassis is forgiving and the seats filter the rest of the bad roads in Belgium. It’s obvious that the chassis of the Polestar 2 isn’t made for the fun and fast stuff but the “go with the flow” lifestyle. I don’t really get the possibility to change the steering feel (light, normal and heavy, why would you ever want to change the way a car goes around the corner when you turn the wheel) and the one-pedal drive in that lifestyle. The one pedal drive could be off, normal -what I call brake check- or strong -Super Saiyan brake check-.
Square
If you would only get one word to describe the Polestar 2, it would be “Square”. The nose of the car is almost copy/paste Volvo. But they never beat around the bush: a Polestar is an electric Volvo. From the front, the car reminds me of a box with some of the coolest headlights on the market with those T-shaped daytime-running lights. Moving to the side and there are more squares. The car sits pretty high on it wheels and the back looks out of proportion, just like the Tesla Model 3.
Heading to the back and -you guessed it correct- more of “square”. The rear lights -running over the whole back- are square and remind you of the Polestar 1. On that car, it comes more into its own because the butt sticks up less. More on the looks: go look at the Polestar 2 Dual Motor review here.
Minimalistic
Just like pretty much every new car, the interior of the Polestar 2 is pretty minimalistic and everything you need -or want to do- goes via the 11.15-inch center display (screen). The infotainment system is fast, easy to use and clear as hell! It would have been nice if the navigation -with google maps- would have worked for more than 2 days out of 7. But probably, that was likely to be a problem with this specific press car.
Everything digital is of great standard (also the digital screen in front of you), everything non-digital could have been that little bit better/posh. I get that this car is very eco-friendly, but it could have been that tad nicer. Nicer to touch and stronger put in its place (the center console for example). I funny thing we have noticed is the hollow-sounding roof as if there was no isolation in it.
Conclusion
I was thrilled to test the Polestar 2! For me, the car was the first attack on the imperium of Tesla. Unfortunately, I’m still hungry for a good strike! The Polestar 2 starts at 47.600€ for the Single Motor Standard Range and 4.600€ more for the Long Range (Belgium prices). Except for the color and a few options like a panoramic roof, the Polestar is pretty completed as it is. Making our Polestar full option for just 62.800€.
