2021 (71) Polestar Polestar 2 165kW 64kWh Standard Range SM [Plus] 5dr Auto

By Jonathan Crouch

Introduction

Polestar's first fully electric volume model, the Polestar 2, was a premium performance fastback EV that delivered a very Swedish-style alternative in the compact electric segment. Its style is individual, its driving dynamics claim to be surprising and its core values are right on point for these enviro-conscious times.

History

Back in 2020, the Polestar 2 was this fresh Swedish EV brand's first volume model. It was a high quality sporting EV, a rare and rather unique five-door hatch with quality, handling and battery technology all benchmarked against the best that the premium segment competition could offer. You may be aware of the Polestar brand as Volvo's luxury platform for uniquely designed sporting electric models. Every premium marque makes an EV these days of course, but many of them merely feel like battery-powered versions of existing cars. For an early adopter to plug-in motoring, there's an undeniable appeal in the clean sheet approach that segment originator Tesla's products bring to the table. Polestar aims to deliver that but combine it with the depth of engineering you'd get from a more established manufacturer. Its first product was the Polestar 1, a beefy luxury GT coupe that was a plug-in hybrid and came with a hefty £140,000 price tag. The model we look at here though, the Polestar 2, was much more like it, a full-EV priced more accessibly from launch at around £40,000 and aimed directly at cars like BMW's i4 and sportier versions of the Tesla Model 3. For all this car's Scandinavian vibe, in reality it was China's entry into this exploding segment. This model was built and bankrolled there by Geely, who at the time of launch not only also owned Volvo but Lotus, Proton and the SUV maker Lynk & Co. Mind you, this was also very much an international product: the battery modules were from LG Chem in South Korea, the electric motors came from Siemens in Germany and the brand had a Research and Development facility in Coventry. The Polestar 2 first arrived in mid-2020 in twin motor form, but the range was expanded in 2021 to include the more affordable single motor variants you're more likely to want. Almost everything a conscientious EV adopter might want is promised here - decent driving range, sustainable manufacturing, a vegan interior - and more than a dash of cutting-edge technology too: this was the first model in the world to feature an infotainment system powered by Google's Android Automotive OS system, which claimed to redefine what you can expect from in-car infotainment and connectivity. A rare BST Edition 270 model was launched in 2022. The Polestar 2 sold in its original form until mid-2023, when it was fundamentally updated, the Single motor versions switching from front to rear-wheel drive. It's the pre-facelift versions though, that we look at here.

What You Get

As a carmaker, Polestar has an intrinsically deep relationship with Volvo - and so does this Polestar 2. Back in 2016, this design was originally a Volvo concept car - the 'Concept 40.2' - but when Polestar's styling chief Maximillian Missoni saw it, he recognised in the chiselled look a shape ready to pioneer the style of entirely new brand. This may be the second car the company has made, but it's the first true Polestar. The tall, chunky proportions certainly couldn't be more different from the sleek, globular shape of a rival Tesla. In fact, it doesn't really look like anything else at all, which is what you might most like about it. In theory, it's a five-door Fastback, but it sits on the 'Compact Modular Architecture' platform of a Volvo XC40 SUV, hence the high-sided look that Polestar likes to describe words like 'urban' and 'robotic'. From the side, you might consider that the 2.7-metre wheelbase is rather too short for the 4.6-metre body length. And adding this rather cheap-looking battery output sticker behind the front wheel arch is unnecessary. But the profile's lovely, embellished by blacked-out windscreen pillars that flow into the cantilevered roof. The rear perspective is equally arresting, with strips of LED lighting that curl around the lower tailgate like Salvador Dali's moustache. Getting in and activating the car requires nothing more than you should have the key in your pocket, but it's a rather cheap-looking square black thing, so you might prefer to download the appropriate Polestar app so that the whole entry and start procedure can be handled by your smartphone. It's a 'vegan interior' apparently and if you don't happen to be a vegan, you may view the prospect of that with all the enthusiasm you might muster for a trip to your local meat-free restaurant. But actually, once inside, well, it's all rather nice, providing you happen to like the whole pared-back Scandinavian vibe this car wants to draw you into. The things you most commonly interact with like this curiously shaped gear lever and the screen graphics are all bespoke - shared componentry with Volvo has been kept to a minimum - and the overall feeling is of a cabin that, rather refreshingly, isn't derivative of anything else in the segment. Unlike in a Tesla, Polestar hasn't tried to cram everything into one central touchscreen - thankfully, a configurable 12.3-inch 'Progressive' instrument display is provided too - but you're still going to be using this 11.15-inch portrait-format middle monitor rather a lot, so it's just as well that thanks to its uber-sophisticated Google Android Automotive OS operating system, it's one of the best you'll find on any car at any price. Brilliantly intuitive built-in voice control is a speciality, Apple devices are reluctantly accommodated and even the integrated climate controls are easy to use. Other cabin highlights include brilliantly supportive seats, a much-needed standard fixed panoramic glass roof and a reasonable level of storage provision. In the rear. The door opens nice and wide and shuts again with a quality 'thunk'. But you're not going to want to share the rear part of this cabin with more than one other adult because of the protruding height of a centre tunnel you'd think this car wouldn't need since it doesn't have to house a conventional transmission system but which is necessary here to house some of the lithium-ion battery cells positioned beneath you. Still, leg room is very reasonable by the usually relatively mediocre standards pervading in this class. What about the boot, the hatch for which as you'd want is power-operated and optionally embellished with a swipe function so you can wave your foot beneath the bumper and open it if you're approaching the car laden down with bags. The capacity revealed (405-litres) is some way down on what you'd get from a rival Tesla Model 3 (542-litres) - or something conventional like, say a BMW 3 Series (480-litres). But those two cars are saloons and this is a hatch, so here you get a more versatile loading space. Push forward the rear bench and 1,095-litres of space is freed up.

What to Look For

Not much goes wrong. Ask for a full battery health check if buying direct from Polestar or any other seller. Here are a few comments from previous owners: Sometimes the car forgets the set charge level and uses the previous level or can over-charge (you wanted it to stop at 90 and it went to 100). Spotify on the centre screen can malfunction on the odd occasion. Occasionally you see the odd set of warning messages, but these tend to disappear when you restart. The voice recognition won't play if there is no signal. The google routing in the UK has one algorithm which seems to be shortest miles and that's not always the most comfortable / stressless to drive. Anything more is really a problem but the warranty seems pretty robust. You take the car to Volvo dealers for maintenance and like all these they have highs and lows. Obviously, you'll need to check the charging system. If the car won't charge, it could be a problem with your home electrics (or those at the public charge point you're using). Check the charge light to make sure that electricity really is going through the charge port. And make sure there really is charge in the socket you're using to power from - plug something else into it to see - say, your 'phone. If that charges OK, it could be that your charging cable is demanding too much power, so try another power source. Another problem could be that the circuit may have tripped due to a circuit overload. Or perhaps there could be a problem with the charge cable: this needs to be cared for properly. Repeatedly driving over it (as previous owners may conceivably have done) will damage it eventually. Make sure you do a charge-up before signing for the car you're looking at. When you do this, make sure that when you plug in to start the charge cycle you hear the charge port and the cable locking and engaging as they should; that's all part of the charger basically confirming with the car's onboard computer that everything's good to go before releasing power. But if the charging cable fails to lock as it should, then that won't happen. If there is a failure to lock, the issue could be actuator failure, caused by a blown fuse. Otherwise, it's just the usual things to look for: parking knocks and scrapes and any damage to the interior caused by kids. And of course insist on fully stamped-up service history.

Replacement Parts

(approx based on a 2021 Polestar 2 Standard range Single motor - Ex Vat - see 123spareparts.co.uk) Rear brake pads sit in the £67 bracket. Front brake pads are around £34-£40; rear pads sit in the £22-£30 bracket. Wiper blades sit in the £6-£12 bracket. An air filter is in the £33-£60 bracket. A pollen filter's in the £10-£25 bracket.

On the Road

Once on the move, having shot away from rest with the usual frantic EV sense of forward thrust, this Polestar 2 goes about its business with a rather impressive deep, very considered sense of purpose. Roll is resisted, the steering is accurate and your slightly raised driving position offers a feeling of proper command. And, with the top 'Long Range Dual Motor' 78kWh battery model, cornering grip is rarely lacking, thanks to two AC synchronous 150kW electric motors, one for each pair of wheels, offering AWD traction and a combined 408hp. Which is more than enough to offset the rather portly weight that in part is a by-product of an all-steel CMA platform that Polestar owners the Geely group more usually used in this period for SUVs like this car's almost identically-engineered cousin, the pure electric Volvo XC40. The 'Long Range Dual Motor' variant offers 408hp, though if you regularly use all those braked horses, you will of course get nowhere near this version's claimed 298 mile driving range figure. The lighter alternative 231hp 'Long Range Single Motor' mid-level Polestar 2 does rather better - with that car, the same 78kWh battery will supposedly take you up to 335 miles. If longer trips are less of an issue, then the cheapest option is the base 224hp 'Standard Range Single Motor' derivative, which uses a smaller 64kWh battery and offers a range of up to 273 miles. On all models, a 'Drive' part of the centre screen allows you to alter steering feel and the level of retardation from the car's 'One Pedal Drive' brake regeneration system. And with the top 'Long Range Dual Motor' variant, there's the option of choosing a version with a motorsport-orientated 'Performance Pack', which gives you track-ready Brembo brakes, stickier Continental SportContact tyres on bigger 20-inch wheels and race-style Ohlins Dual Flow Valve manually adjustable dampers. As for charging, well you'll need the bigger 78kWh battery to be able to use the fastest 150kW public DC chargers: attached to one of those, you can replenish around 80% of the powerplant's lithium-ion cells in around 40 minutes. As usual with EVs at present though, you're going to need most of the night to charge up everything with the car hooked up to a conventional garage wallbox.

Overall

We like the Polestar 2. And it couldn't be more different from arguably its closest rival, the Tesla Model 3, an EV that slightly awkwardly embraced the current eco-zeitgeist. This Polestar, in contrast, feels resolutely normal and represents a far easier transition to battery mobility for someone currently in a 3 Series, a C-Class or an A4. In that respect, it's really more like the BMW i4. The Polestar 2 has a Tesla-like feel of innovation, an Audi Q4 e-tron-like feel of quality and a BMW-like feel of sporting purpose. All with rare, unique branding and packaging. Choosing one of these would be a step into the unknown. But we can see why you might.