INTRODUCTION :
Polestar was first formed in 1996 and was well known for producing high performance combustion engines with Volvo. They worked with Volvo's racing team in the Swedish Touring Car Championships which led to many successful victory's for Volvo's team year after year.
Today, Polestar's vision is to improve the society we live in by accelerating the change to a fully electric, climate-neutral future. They aim to achieve this by building design focused, high performance cars with cutting edge technology. The Polestar 2 is their first full electric car.
I got an opportunity to test drive the Polestar 2's Long Range Single Motor version which boasts a staggering 320 - 341 miles range from a 78kw battery. Below is my personal review based on 6 elements that we know consumers base their car purchase on.
STYLING - Exterior: I have to say the first thing I noticed when I saw the Polestar was that it dominated the parking spot with its incredible and futuristic exterior styling. I love the 19" Double spoke black diamond cut alloys, the way the rear lights "wrap" around and over the rear boot and the contours on the side give the car a real sporty and progressive look. Finally the frameless wing mirrors just add that extra bit of class. 9/10 for me on exterior styling.
STYLING - Interior:
Really well positioned drivers seat with everything within easy reach. Lots of hidden storage compartments and a centre console that houses the operational tablet is fantastic. The full glass panoramic roof adds extra light and really gives a sense of space. Rear seats are comfortable too and you will easily and comfortably seat 3 average sized adults in the back. 8/10 for me on interior styling.
PERFORMANCE:
The Long range Single motor had a 78kw capacity of delivering 0 - 60mph in just 7.0 Seconds with a staggering 170kw of power (that's 228 bhp to you petrol heads). Now you wouldn't be purchasing an electric car for its 0 - 60 speed but it's good to know that you will easily get out of a sticky situation if you need to. It also has 330NM of torque which gives it a towing capability of 1500kg. Now that's pretty impressive for their first version. 9/10 for me on performance.
AFFORDABILITY:
This is the key question. With all its stylish looks and ergonomic interior, let alone its range, is this car affordable.? Starting from £43,000 on the road, this car is well in line with its competitors. Take the Tesla Model 3 with less range starting at £47,500 and the Kia EV6 with similar range and spec for spec starting at £48,195 makes Polestar 2 extremely affordable. For our market if we can get this car to a below £240 p/w payment with a small deposit, I think this will make this car an attractive, affordable proposition. 10/10 for me on affordability.
COMFORT:
For most of the test drive I was sitting in the driver's seat and that was extremely comfortable with everything within easy reach.. However when I parked up in my driveway, I spent 20 mins in the back with my 16 year old son and his friend. The idea was to establish how comfortable it is for 3 adults in the back for an average taxi trip. They were both on their phones, I was catching up with my emails and none of us had any issues feeling cramp or any discomfort. There were also two usb ports in the rear which was handy for my two teenage acquaintances who constantly need to charge their phones. The panoramic roof gives an extra sense of space that doesn't make 3 adults feel claustrophobic. 8/10 for me on comfort.
ECONOMICAL:
Of course it's economical. It's Electric ! On a serious note, I drove around 35 miles and 35 miles of range had come off my battery. I did drive cautiously and very light footed but I did achieve the miles as per my trip computer. My only snag is the battery meter should come down in individual miles and not in 5 mile blocks.
Even with the spiraling energy costs, it's still about 50% cheaper than Fuel at the moment and servicing and maintenance is less than half the price of a normal combustion car. 9/10 for me for Economy.
RELIABILITY:
As a child, my father used to own a Volvo GLE estate car that we had for about 12 years. The car had almost 300,000 miles on the clock and passed every MOT without any major issues. On top of this with over 16 years in the automotive industry, I believe that Polestar's partnership with Volvo would need to be collaborated with Volvo's reputation for building reliable cars, so why would the Polestar not be reliable? It's a fairly new model , on the market for the last 2 years so hard to see any future issues but so far so good. 9/10 for me on reliability.
Total score of 8.8/10