Polestar 2 (Long Range Dual Motor) review: performance crossover with lots of power

With the Polestar 2, the Volvo joint venture with the Chinese group "Geely" is ushering in a new era of performance crossovers. How did the Polestar 2 fare in our everyday test? You can find out here.

Polestar is a joint venture between Volvo Cars and Chinese manufacturer Geely. This is also the parent company of Volvo Cars. Polestar is one of around 50 Procent to both companies. But this is only marginal information. You can see the reuse of Volvo-specific components in some areas, but that's not a bad thing at all. Polestar has a lot to stand out from the crowd on its own. We found out for you what makes the Polestar 2 so special!

Design: Thor's Hammer & Tile Grill

The front of the Polestar 2 is quickly reminiscent of the connection to Volvo. The headlights have the typical Volvo "Thor's Hammer" look. Unlike the Volvo, the front grille, which is similar in shape, is completely black and has a tiled or square look.

The Polestar logo is enthroned on the front, in front of the bonnet. This is kept in the body color of our test vehicle. The rear, on the other hand, is a unique selling point of the Polestar 2. The long strip of light runs along the entire rear of the car with smaller interruptions on the left and right. A welcome animation is also played.

Interior: Good workmanship & yellow seat belts

In addition to the yellow seat belts, the Polestar 2 uses high-quality imitation leather and a kind of wood reproduction in the center console. Of course, a little piano lacquer should not be missing. Everything feels good and looks good or even very good. That's how you praise yourself.

And someone should say again, Chinese cars are poorly made. Those times are long gone and outdated. And yes, you read that right. The Polestar 2 is currently only built in China. But you don't notice that. Everything is valuable and corresponds exactly to the idea that one has of a performance vehicle.

Infotainment: Android Automotive in Polestar design

Once again, Android Automotive comes along as an infotainment system. But this time in Polestar's own design and with one or two new functions. Among other things, there is a web browser with which you can even watch YouTube or Netflix. But of course only while parking.

There is also a performance app with which you can measure the launch control speed or the acting G-forces. Settings around the car and the steering can of course also be found. The classics like Spotify or Radio.de are also included. Everything can be operated just as well as you are used to from Android Automotive. The display in the Polestar 2 is larger than in the Volvo models, but has a thick frame that could well be a bit smaller.

Driving impression: performance upgrade provides the necessary momentum

We received the so-called performance upgrade with our test car. This increases the kilowatt or, in old currency, the horsepower from 408 hp in the all-wheel drive model to 478 hp. We already had a four-wheel drive model from Volvo in August, the C40 recharge, with exactly 408 hp in our test. The 70 hp more power is clearly noticeable. The Polestar 2 pulls well, lays neatly on the road and is really fun to accelerate and drive.

Picture: TechnikNews

Thanks to the BREMBO sports brakes on all four wheels, which are standard on the performance model, the Polestar 2 comes to a standstill very quickly. All in all, one can say that the driving experience in the Polestar 2 is really very good. But if you're hoping for a smooth ride, you'll probably be disappointed. The chassis is rather on the hard side, which of course benefits the sportiness.

Range & Loading: Could be a bit further and faster

With a realistic range of 390 kilometers, everything is fine. With economical acceleration, even 450 kilometers should be possible in summer. However, the loading speed worries me a bit. This is specified as a maximum of 150 kilowatts. We saw a maximum of around 111 kilowatts at the highest point during the first minus degrees (between 20 and XNUMX April). Procent and 80 Procent charge level). The AC charging capacity of 11 kilowatts is standard so far and is maintained without problems. However, for a future OTA (over-the-air update) or a facelift, a higher charging speed for the large 78 kWh battery would make a lot of sense.

Sound system: Harman / Kardon is back at the start

Harman / Kardon supplies the loudspeakers with the Polestar 2. Without saying too much about it, since we have already tested the similar or equivalent system in the Volvo C40 Recharge: The system sounds decent, has a lot of bass and just sounds good. As we've often said, there are no longer any bad audio systems in cars. It's now much more a matter of personal preference. The sound system in the Polestar 2 is definitely suitable for almost all types of music lovers. Not too much bass, but not too little either. Highs and mids are reproduced well and on the whole you can really hear a lot of details. A solid sound system, as it says in the book.

Conclusion: almost everything done right, Polestar!

The Polestar 2 is a really successful electric car, despite the smaller ones Proproblems with the charging performance and that once a charging process simply did not want to start (possibly it was simply due to a defective charging station). However, if Polestar were to tweak the charging curve and charging performance again with an OTA or a facelift, there really wouldn’t be much left to complain about. Due to the persistent lack of chips, only the standard LED lighting was installed in our model. The automatic dimming worked surprisingly well and very quickly. The matrix LED lighting system with pixel LEDs, on the other hand, may then be examined more closely in a summer test. The Polestar 2 even has the option of using your smartphone as a key. We couldn't do this either because we didn't have three car keysprobeer In the future we will try to explain the full features of cars and their smart functions as well as possible and of course test them in everyday life.

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