Polestar 2 2022 review

Despite the new brand wanting to establish itself in a similar premium market position to its Volvo parent company, the Polestar 2 arrives with blockbuster pricing across its three-variant range.

It's clearly targeting the Tesla Model 3, but surprisingly undercutting many mainstream EV offerings from the Nissan Leaf e+ to the Hyundai Kona electric.

The most basic front-wheel drive version of the Polestar 2, the Single Motor Standard Range, wears an MSRP of just $59,900 and offers a long driving range of 470km (WLTP), offering Australians a relatively affordable entry-point to electrified motoring.

This matches the current pricing of the Model 3 Standard Range (also a 2WD) coming close on range, too (the $59,900 Tesla Model 3 will travel a claimed 491km on the WLTP test cycle).

Next up in the Polestar 2’s range is the Single Motor Long Range, wearing an MSRP of $64,900. It ups the battery capacity significantly, allowing 540km of range between charges.

The Polestar 2 arrives with blockbuster pricing across its three-variant range (image: Tom White).

Its equipment matches the base car, and Polestar’s local division expects this model to take the largest share of sales.

Finally, the top-spec Polestar 2 is the more performance-oriented Dual Motor Long Range.

Wearing an MSRP of $69,900 this all-wheel drive version undercuts the equivalent Model 3 (the Long Range AWD - $73,400) although it doesn’t quite offer the Tesla’s absurd 614km range, delivering 480km on a single charge.

Its second motor almost doubles the power output on offer, making it more than just an all-wheel drive offering.

Standard spec continues many of the similarities with Tesla, as even the base Polestar 2 features a big free-floating 11.15-inch multimedia screen which has a Google-integrated nav suite and always-online features (meaning the car has its own sim card, regardless of whether you’re connected to a phone).

It’s also capable of over-the-air updates, but unlike the Model 3, the Polestar has a real 12.3-inch digital dash suite, in what I would consider a significant win for driver usability.

Even the base Polestar 2 features a big free-floating 11.15-inch multimedia screen (image: Tom White).

Elsewhere, regardless of grade, the Polestar 2 range has 19-inch alloy wheels, dual-zone climate control, LED headlights, keyless entry with no ignition (the car is just ready to go once you put it in drive), vegan textile upholstery with charcoal headlining, a synthetic leather trimmed steering wheel, premium audio system, a powered tailgate, and a rear-view camera.

In a polite move, Polestar throws in a six metre long 11kW Type 2 to Type 2 charging cable as part of the standard gear.

Of course, in typical European style, there are three comprehensive packs which are essentially a way for you to create your own variant.

These include the 'Plus Pack' ($6000) which includes a panoramic sunroof, Harmon Kardon 13-speaker premium audio system, ‘WeaveTech’ vegan upholstery, blacked out bodywork, power front seats with memory function, and a heat pump which more efficiently manages the climate control while providing a heated steering wheel and wiper nozzles.

There is also the pack that we would most recommend, the 'Pilot Pack' ($5000) which includes the rear-facing safety gear notably missing from the standard equipment (more on that later).

It scores you adaptive cruise control, blind spot monitoring with rear cross-traffic alert, rear auto braking, higher-grade LED headlights with cornering function, and a 360-degree parking suite.

The launch car we tested was Performance Pack equipped, adding forged 20-inch alloy wheels (image: Tom White).

Polestar points out that you can equip this pack on the base car and still be under the EV rebate scheme thresholds in NSW or Victoria.

Finally, there is the 'Performance Pack' ($8000) which is only available on the top-spec Dual Motor Long Range variant.

The launch car we tested was Performance Pack equipped, leaning into the performance angle, adding adjustable Ohlins dampers, a Brembo brake package, forged 20-inch alloy wheels, and ‘Swedish Gold’ highlights.

It’s a lot of very neat gear at an appealing price, and I’d be surprised if the Polestar 2 doesn’t take at least a few sales from its main electric rivals.

How is the brand able to do this? Well, it leverages Volvo’s R&D resources in Sweden, while being built in China where it can rely on Geely supply chains.

This leads us nicely into practicality. The Polestar 2 isn’t bad here, but considering it’s an EV, it could definitely do better.

To be fair to the brand, it is clear about the fact that it is more about driver engagement than it is about having a massive interior space, saying it seeks to move away from the family-oriented design of its Volvo parent.

It’s obvious in some areas, like the single cupholder in the centre console, the fact that there’s no cutaway under the dash for larger objects, and the fact that you have to choose between a second cupholder or any space inside the armrest console.

There are areas which are very good though. Like driver ergonomics. For a start, it’s nice that you just hop in and the car is on and ready to go, but the seating position is excellent, as is the floating screen; one of a handful of examples of touch functions actually being easy to use.

I was surprised to find how big the doors are given this car’s coupe roofline, making it easy to step in and out of. (image: Tom White)

While we normally don’t like the majority of a car’s functions, particularly things like climate, being moved to a touchscreen this is one of the best implementations on the market.

The touch elements are huge, and almost every function you need while driving is just two presses away, thanks to tabulated menus with simple option groups. It’s a good thing too, because more dials in this instance would clutter up an otherwise minimalist design.

The combustion platform compromises extend to the rear as well, with a raised transmission tunnel cluttering up the rear seat space and making the middle seat hardly comfortable for an adult.

Rear passengers score the same comfortable seat and door trims, plus a drop-down armrest with two bottle holders. (image: Tom White)

I was surprised to find how big the doors are given this car’s coupe roofline, making it easy to step in and out of, and I also had plenty of knee room and headroom behind my own seating position, despite a raised rear bench.

Rear passengers also score the same comfortable seat and door trims, a drop-down armrest with two bottle holders, a big bottle holder in the doors, nets on the backs of the front seats, and some handy appointments like two USB-C outlets, dual adjustable air vents, and even dual heated outboard seats with three levels of adjust. Nice.

The boot comes in at a little over hatchback-sized 405 litres VDA. The space is deep and wide, but not very tall, so I found to shut the boot with our three-piece CarsGuide luggage set inside, I had to remove the luggage cover.

It also scores a small frunk, which varies in size depending on variant. Weighing in at a minimum of 35L, though, it’s hardly a space for luggage, more a convenient spot to store all your charging cables.

The Polestar 2 has two powertrains, either a single motor front wheel drive option, or a dual-motor all-wheel drive option,

The Single Motor produces a respectable but not outstanding 170kW/330Nm, while the dual motor adds a second motor of nearly equal outputs on the rear axle, almost doubling performance to 300kW/660Nm.

You should see a lot more of these motors in the future, as they seem to be the standard units set to be fitted to future Volvo and Geely models.

Backing the Polestar 2’s motors is either a standard range 69kWh battery or a long range 78kWh version.

Range is officially stated as 470km on the standard range single motor, 540km on the long range single motor, or 480km on the long range dual motor.

These ranges aren’t as excessive as the ones achieved by the Polestar 2’s key Tesla Model 3 rival, but are certainly healthy when weighed up against most EVs from mainstream competitors.

It’s impressive the brand has managed this on a platform shared with a combustion vehicle.

Charging is a decent story, too. The Polestar 2 has a single European-standard Type 2 CCS charging port, and on DC it can charge at a rate of 130kW on the standard range variant, or 155kW on the long range variants.

At 11kW the AC charger will juice the Standard Range Polestar 2 in seven hours, or the Long Range version in eight hours. (image: Tom White)

This should allow a charge from 10-80 per cent in around 35 minutes, regardless of variant.

On the lower-speed AC charging standard, the Polestar 2’s inverter can charge the battery at a max rate of 11kW. This matches most large battery rivals, and is necessary to make the most of convenience charging from more widely available AC public chargers as well as home wall box set-ups.

At 11kW the AC charger will juice the Standard Range Polestar 2 in seven hours, or the Long Range version in eight hours.

From a wall socket you can expect a charge time in the realm of 25–35 hours.

One small disappointment is the Polestar 2 has no two-way charging, so you can’t power devices or charge wallboxes with it, unlike the Nissan Leaf or Hyundai Ioniq 5. Worth keeping in mind.

Polestar matches its Volvo parent company’s five year and unlimited kilometre warranty in Australia, with a separate industry-standard eight-year and 160,000km warranty for the high-voltage lithium-ion battery components.

Polestar says it is ironing out the details of its service arrangement in Australia, but you can expect to be able to take it to select Volvo workshops.

The interval is long thanks to its relatively simple electric drive components, at 24 months or 30,000km, whichever occurs first.

A service plan, covering five years or 100,000km, is complementary, so like its Volvo XC40 Recharge cousin it will cost you near nothing to run over the life of the warranty. A good offer.