Polestar 2 Review 2024
Quick overview
Pros
- Minimalist Scandi-cool design
- Decent build quality
- Easy to live with
Cons
- No Apple CarPlay on older models
- Tesla Model 3 is quicker and has better range
- Lack of on/off button will be unsettling for some
Overall verdict on the Polestar 2
"Fancy a family-focussed electric vehicle with a sporty edge? Then the Polestar 2 could be just what you’re after. This mid-size five-door hatchback has an impressive range, loads of space and – best of all – it's great to drive."
The Tesla Model 3 might be the electric car to have these days, but not everyone wants to follow the crowd. The popularity of the Musk-mobile has also meant that it's become rather ubiquitous, which could be a turn-off for some people, as could the Tesla's below-par build quality. For those people, the Polestar 2 is a cracking alternative, and our Polestar 2 review explains why.
Being owned and operated by Volvo, in partnership Chinese company Geely, Polestar inherits the Swedish firm's sense of Scandi sophistication, and that, plus the 2's expressive design and quirky fastback body style, instantly makes the car interesting and likeable. You'll be even more impressed when you open the door, because you'll find that the standard of the materials and the quality of the fit and finish have those of a Model 3 well and truly beaten. This is one very plush-feeling car.
Yes, there is a familiar over-reliance on the touchscreen infotainment system, which you'd expect from any car going head-to-head with Tesla, but there is a separate digital instrument panel so that you're not glancing towards the central screen every few seconds, and there is some very interesting infotainment tech on show. This includes having Android built-in. Apple fans will note that Carplay wasn't supported on early examples, but this has now been rectified.
Elsewhere inside you'll find plenty of passenger space, even if rear headroom is slightly limited by the unconventional roofline, and generous cargo capacity. There's also a small 'frunk' under the bonnet to store your charging cables in.
There's just one trim level, which gives reasonably generous kit, and to this you can add up to three option packs, which deliver more in the way of driver assistance kit, luxury kit, or performance.
Not that any version of the Polestar 2 is slow, mind. Every one has well over 200PS of instantly available performance, making the car very quick off the mark, and the acceleration feels keen at speed, too, which isn't always the case with electric cars. Granted, an equivalent Model S with be a bit faster in a straight line, but the Polestar is sharper and more deft in corners, and it rides marginally more comfortably, too.
All versions also have a very decent range, especially so following a facelift in 2023 that brought extensive revisions to the batteries and motors. That brought the official range of the entry-level car up to 339 miles at the lowest end of the spectrum, while and the highest end, the long-range single-motor version can manage upwards of 400 miles between charges, according to official figures.
heycar has 1000s of used cars for sale, including a wide range of Polestar 2 cars for sale.
Is the Polestar 2 right for you?
If you’re after a midsize electric car, but you find the Tesla Model 3 a bit too ubiquitous to be appealing, or a bit shonky in terms of build quality, then the Polestar 2 will suit you. It's a high-grade, interesting and likeable alternative.
What's the best Polestar 2 model/engine to choose?
The Polestar 2 comes in just one trim level, to which you can add one of three option packs. We reckon the Plus Pack is definitely worth having as it gives you some very tempting luxuries.
Otherwise, it all depend on how far you'll be driving. Yes, the various versions also have varying levels of power, but they're all fast, so range will be far more of a deciding factor. High-milage drivers will want the long-range version, which in post-facelift (2023) form, delivers a WLTP figure in excess of 400 miles. If you do fewer miles, though, you'll save a decent chunk of cash by settling for the standard-range version.
What other cars are similar to the Polestar 2?
The electric car landscape has changed quite a bit since the Polestar 2 arrived. If you're looking for an affordable tried and tested family electric car, then the Nissan Leaf is better value for money and there are lots around on the used market. However, it's not in the same league as the Polestar 2.
You could splash out and pick up one of the more premium offerings like the Jaguar I-Pace, Audi e-tron or Mercedes EQC. Also look at the Volkswagen ID.4 and its Skoda stablemate the Skoda Enyaq iV. If you like the Scandi design, Volvo has its own EV in the shape of the Volvo XC40 Recharge.
And how could we forget the electric Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 - some of the most complete electric cars to date.
Comfort and design: Polestar 2 interior
"The Polestar 2 is a really relaxing place to spend time – as long as you don’t mind the expanse of black and charcoal. The seats are comfortable and supporting while all the controls are logically laid out."
One big difference to most cars is the lack of a start button with the Polestar 2. You pull the door handle to unlock the car, and the car ‘wakes up’ as soon as you sit in the driver’s seat. From there, just select a gear (drive or reverse) and off you go. It’s the same procedure in reverse to stop the car… which can take some getting used to.
There are some neat design touches, too. Most noticeable are the Polestar 2's gold seatbelts, which can be accented with gold brake callipers and gold dust caps on the tyres. Other highlights include the ‘Thor’s Hammer’ daytime running lights and the rear taillight that stretches across the boot and wraps around the car.
Then there are the frameless door mirrors, which means that when you adjust the mirrors the whole unit moves. The theme is continued inside with the frameless rear-view mirror.
The design team have gone out of their way to make the Polestar 2 ‘feel’ safe. Which is a curious psychological trick that involves huge windscreen pillars and dashboard that reaches quite a long way into the cabin, hampering visibility. Thankfully, there’s a 360-degree camera, which is pretty much essential as visibility out of the rear window is poor.
Overall we think the design of the Polestar 2 is a good balance of modern lines with a refreshing lack of showiness. You'll also find refreshingly tight panel gaps, which isn't the case in some of the Polestar 2's tech start-up rivals.
Quality and finish
When it comes to the interior of electric cars, it can be a mixed bag. The Nissan Leaf, for example, has great seats but is let down by an infotainment system that feels like it’s from the past century, while the Tesla Model 3's interior quality doesn't match its price tag.
The Polestar 2, however, has got it mostly right. For a start, there’s plenty of good quality materials on display, and it’s not until you reach the lower echelons of the footwells that you find some lower grade plastic.
The company has clearly benefited from its relationship with Volvo as the steering wheel and switchgear are straight out of the Swedish company’s cars. There are lots of nice touches like a vegan interior (although a leather one is available) and an illuminated Polestar badge that sits in the sunroof.
In all, it’s a really good effort – but there some niggles. The wipers need to be re-calibrated so they don’t hit the A-pillar, while the side air vents on the dash feel very cheap.
Infotainment: Touchscreen, USB, nav and stereo in the Polestar 2
As you’d expect from any would-be Tesla rival, the infotainment system dominates the Polestar 2's interior, and it's based around an 11-inch tablet-style screen that sits on the centre console. It’s from here that you’ll access all of the key functions: navigation, music, phone and settings.
Thankfully, there are still some physical buttons such as a rear boot release, front- and rear window defrost and hazard warning lights, but everything else is on the touchscreen. This includes the heating controls, which are available on the home screen. We’d prefer they were ‘always there’ occupying the space at the bottom of the tablet, but they do disappear occasionally.
This is where Google’s Android Automotive comes in. Different to Android Auto, Android Automotive allows you to use voice commands to change the car’s settings. For example, you can say: ‘Hey Google, set the cabin temperature 20 degrees’, and it does so with incredible reliability, and all manner of tasks can be performed in this way. If you already use a Google Android-driven device, the interface ‘knows’ your voice, so it should work even better.
And, of course, if you’re a paid-up member of the Android ecosystem then you’ll be familiar with Google Maps as your navigation tool while you can access your Spotify to stream music or access the music on your smartphone via Bluetooth.
Apple CarPlay wasn't available with the Polestar 2 initially, but the good news is that this has now been resolved.
The location of the screen in your peripheral vision means it’s not quite as intrusive as some other systems. However, the Polestar 2's interface does need a tweak as some of the menu icons are far too small to jab at with your finger when you’re on the move. We’d always advocate the use of a separate control – it’s so much safer.
Space and practicality: Polestar 2 boot space
The Polestar 2 has been designed with families in mind. There's 405 litres of rear boot space that’s easily accessible via the hatchback. This can be accessed hands-free, and the sensor claims to be ‘extra wide’ – we certainly had no trouble getting it to open.
There is a slim boot lip, but you have plenty of options for storing items. There are cargo nets and tethering points, while half the boot floor folds up – handy if you need to separate items or stop your shopping bags rolling about.
If you need a bit more space, there’s a ski hatch to help you carry long items, or you can take advantage of the 60/40 rear seat split. Be warned, though, that they don’t fold completely flat.
Storage in the front trunk (or ‘frunk’...) is pretty minimal. It’s where you’ll keep the charging lead and find the car’s jack and tyre kit (there’s no spare wheel). According to the specs, there's 35 litres available but really you’re not going to be doing more than stashing a medium backpack in it.
There’s plenty of rear legroom and shoulder room for rear-seat passengers, but the central tunnel means that sitting three across the back won’t be comfortable for long periods of time. Taller passengers may also have to shrink down in their seat because the car’s coupe-like lines eat into rear headroom. There are no such problems up front, though, with plenty of space for driver and passenger.
There’s also decent storage space, with door bins for larger items and two cup holders located in the centre armrest. One of those is for very short drinks, however, because the armrest slides over the top of it. You won’t be putting a bottle of Evian in there, that’s for sure. Other mineral water brands are available.
If you’ve got young children to carry, you’ll find ISOFIX points in the rear- and front passenger seats (the airbag can be deactivated if you’ve got a rear-facing child seat). And entrance in and out the car isn’t too bad – although again those coupe lines make the door apertures a little tight.
To make sure you've got enough room close to your home charger the Polestar 2 is 4606mm long, 1985mm (including wing mirrors) and 1479mm tall.
Handling and ride quality: What is the Polestar 2 like to drive?
"There’s no other way of putting it – the Polestar 2 is sensational to drive. Everything about it inspires driver confidence in a way that some EVs don't quite seem to get right."
Teslas, for example, are great in a straight line, but you’d never want to push them too hard through the bends. A big part of that is how the car communicates information to the driver.
As with all modern cars, EVs use electric steering, which can be hard to get right. The very worst systems are numb, completely lacking feel and often carry a ‘dead zone’ in the centre where steering inputs seem to have little consequence. Of course, this is to make driving around town feel easy, but as speed increases, the dead zone should be dialled back. On the whole, the Polestar 2 gets this mostly right, but don’t expect any feedback if the wheels start to lose grip.
One thing that can’t be mitigated is the car’s heaviness. Again, all EVs are heavy due to the weight of the battery packs they have to carry around. Here, the Polestar 2 uses that weight to its advantage to deliver a sense of firmness and stability.
Standard cars get 19-inch wheels, but go for the optional Performance Pack, and you get 20-inch wheels, gold Brembo brake callipers and manually adjustable dampers. It’s not an upgrade we’d recommend. While the brakes are excellent, the 20-inch wheels simply increase road noise. And then there’s the high-performance manually adjustable dampers. That’s right – manually adjustable.
Whereas premium rivals like BMW and Audi offer various damper settings from within the car at the touch of a button, if you want to make any adjustments to the Ohlins suspension fitted here, you’ll need to take the car to a dealer...
Over poor road surfaces, you might find yourself cursing the high-spec suspension as it’s often a case of too much information. The chassis remains fidget-free, though, but we certainly wished for a way of calming the dampers down, especially on poorly surfaced motorways.
Of course, the payoff is that out on the open road you are free to explore the car’s sure-footed handling. That said, we’d much prefer an adjustable suspension system that allows you to select ‘comfort’ or ‘sport’ from the driver’s seat.
What engines and gearboxes are available in the Polestar 2?
The Polestar 2 underwent a comprehensive facelift in 2023, and the answer to this question depends on whether the car in question as produced before this facelift, or after. If it was before, then the dual-motor Polestar 2 came with a 78kWh battery, giving a WLTP range of 299 miles, but expect to see anywhere between 250-270 miles under real-world driving conditions, depending on the kind of driving you do. Hopefully, that should be enough to cover most daily journeys.
The single-motor Polestar 2 arrived later and brought with it more choice. The entry-level standard car almost matched the range of the dual-motor car at 294 miles, and it cost some £6,000 less. The long-range single motor Polestar 2, meanwhile, had an official range of up to 336 miles.
Of course, what’s really going to win buyers over is the performance. With no engine revs to chase, turbos to spool up, or manual shifts to crunch, the power and torque is ready to go whenever you need it. The dual-motor Polestar 2 packed 407PS and 660Nm… or about the same as a Mercedes-AMG C63, with the single-motor Polestar 2 producing 331PS.
The official 0-60mph time was 4.5 seconds of the dual-motor car, but it definitely felt quicker. And, of course, all of that pace is readily available in the crucial 30-60mph range, which makes light work of nipping past a truck or overtaking a caravan going uphill on a crawler lane. Out on the motorway, the car has plenty of power available with a top speed of 127mph. What that means is that the Polestar 2 doesn’t struggle at motorway speeds, unlike some other EVs which seem to run out of steam after you get to 70mph.
The 2023 facelift saw extensive changes to the batteries and motors, resulting in improved performance and longer range figures for examples produced afterwards. From that point on, the standard-range single-motor car got 272PS and a 69kWh battery for a range of 339 miles. All other variants got an 82kWh battery. In the 299PS long-range single-motor car, this meant a stunning range of 406 miles, while in the long-range dual-motor, that dropped to 368 miles, although you do get 421PS to compensate. Add the Performance Pack to your dual-motor car, and you'll get 476PS and a range of 352 miles.
Refinement and noise levels
Many electric vehicles are among the quietest cars there are, simply because there's no combustion engine chuntering away as you move along the road. In some cases, this can mean that you hear more squeaks and rattles from other sources, but the Polestar 2 does a pretty good job of resisting this, with strong build quality and good soundproofing.
Some EV manufacturers give their cars synthetic 'whoosh' noises under acceleration to make them feel more dramatic, but this is conspicuously - and to be honest, refreshingly - absent from the Polestar 2.
Otherwise, the Polestar 2 is quite refined from the driver’s seat. There's only a little bit of road noise to be heard, but the car's rather un-aerodynamic nose creates a bit more wind noise than in some rivals. Cars fitted with the Performance Pack get 20-inch wheels, which increase the tyre noise.
The Polestar 2 also has a very slick regenerative braking system, which harvests energy under deceleration that would other be lost and feeds it back into the battery. There are various levels of regen', so you can tailor it to suit your preference or the driving situation you happen to be in (or you can turn it off completely), and the most severe of these is a proper ‘one-pedal’ experience, which works well.
Safety equipment: How safe is the Polestar 2?
As you’d expect from a brand with such strong links to Volvo, the Polestar 2 is well-equipped when it comes to safety.
For a start, you get gold-trimmed seatbelts. These aren’t necessarily any safer, but they do remind you that it was Volvo which invented the three-point safety belt. And they look amazing.
There’s lane-keeping assistance and driver attention monitoring, as well as various pre-collision warnings and interventions. That means if the system detects a collision is imminent (both front and rear) it can intervene with steering and braking.
On top of that, you also get a multi-function 360-degree camera. This detects other vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists, informing the front- and rear parking sensors. But it also reads road signs and displays them on the 12.3-inch driver display.
There’s also an extensive collection of airbags, including inner-side airbags designed to protect the driver and passenger from a side impact. Other safety equipment includes auto-dipping headlights that follow the road to improve visibility on bends, and to aid turning in dimly lit areas.
Maximum EV range in the Polestar 2
With pre-facelift cars, the dual-motor Polestar 2 had a WLTP range of 299 miles, while the single-motor long-range Polestar 2 had a range of 336 miles. These figures were very competitive compared with rivals such as the Tesla Model 3 and Kia EV6, although they were by no means class-leading.
The 2023 facelift saw extensive changes to the battery technology, resulting in improved range figures. The standard-range single-motor car got a 69kWh battery for a range of 339 miles. All other variants got an 82kWh battery. In the long-range single-motor car, this meant a stunning range of 406 miles, while in the long-range dual-motor, that dropped to 368 miles. Add the Performance Pack to your dual-motor car, and you'll get a range of 352 miles.
Obviously, all these are WLTP laboratory figures, and will be all but impossible to replicate in the real world. Bank on getting a good slice less - at least 50 miles or so - even when conditions are perfect, and even less when it's cold or you're doing long motorway trip, neither of which are things electric cars like very much.
Charging times: how much does it cost to charge the Polestar 2?
"As a rough guide, fully charging a Polestar 2 at home will add about £8.50 to your electricity bill each time."
This makes it a lot cheaper than putting petrol or diesel in your tank. And while some people might consider it a bit of a hassle to charge a car, it’s really very simple – just plug it in when you park up for the night.
It’ll take 24 hours from a 3.7kW power supply like you get with a three-pin domestic plug. If you’ve got an 11kW wall box charger, you’re looking at a cool eight hours, but few UK homes have the three-phase electric needed to deliver that sort of output, so a 7.4kW home hookup is more likely, meaning a charge time of around 10 or 11 hours. Plug in at a 100kW DC rapid charger (like the ones you see at motorway service stations) and you’ll be looking at a charge of 0-80% in about 35-40 mins.
In reality, if you cover 1000 miles a month or 250 miles a week, then you’ll only need to charge it once a week.
How reliable is the Polestar 2?
Considering Polestar is owned by Volvo it should maintain Volvo's reputation for good reliability. However, because Polestar is still a relatively new brand with far fewer cars on the road than rivals like Tesla, it's hard to establish precisely how reliable Polestars will be.
Insurance groups and cost
Insurance groupings for the Polestar 2 start at group 34 for the standard-range single-motor model, while upgrading to the long-range single-motor model pushes this up to group 40 or 41. Go for the dual-motor version, and you'll be looking at group 44 or 45, which actually isn't all that much higher considering the considerable hike in power you get.
VED car tax: What is the annual road tax on a Polestar 2?
Like all zero-emissions vehicles, the Polestar 2 is exempt from paying road tax. The government has promised that this status is guaranteed to last until 31 March 2025, so during that time you'll be saving yourself quite a tidy little sum.
If you live in London, the Polestar 2 will also be Congestion Charge and Ultra-Low Emissions Zone exempt, so you can drive it freely into the heart of the city without needing to pay (as long as you've registered the car first).
How much should you be paying for a used Polestar 2?
"Despite being such a strong contender, Polestar is expecting sales volumes of the 2 to be quite modest."
Prices for a new Polestar 2 start at £45,000 for the standard single motor car, rising to £49,000 for the long range single motor car and hitting £53,000 for the dual motor Polestar 2. That's all before options and packs, though.
There are considerable savings to be made on the used car market, mind. Browse our listings, and you'll find early cars starting at around £23,000, and these are around three years old with about 25,000 miles on the clock.
Trim levels and standard equipment
There is only one trim level available, so let's take a look at what comes as standard with the Polestar 2.
Whatever Polestar 2 you plump for, it comes with a decent set of features as standard. This includes Google Built-in (including Google Maps, Google Assistant and Google Play), an 8-speaker stereo system, dual-zone climate control, 4 USB-C connectors, a rear view camera, LED headlights, heated front seats, rain sensors, an electric tailgate and keyless entry and start. 19-inch alloy wheels are also standard.
If you want more, you'll have to choose from one of the three 'packs'. Pilot lite includes a 360-degree camera, adaptive cruise control, Pilot Assist, Blind Spot Monitoring and Rear Collision Warning.
The Plus pack includes a panoramic sunroof, Harman Kardon sound system, full electric seats with 4-way lumbar support, heated rear seats and tinted rear window.
The Performance pack (only available on the dual motor Polestar 2) gets a performance software upgrade (boosting power to 475PS and reducing the 0-60mph time to just 4.2 seconds), 20-inch alloy wheels, gold Brembo front brake calipers, Ohlins shock aborbers and gold valve caps.
Ask the heycar experts: common questions
Who makes the Polestar 2 car?
Is Polestar a Volvo?
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