The name Polestar will have been familiar to Volvo aficionados for many years. It was initially used to identify a more powerful and tauter version of the model with the highest engine output.
Most police Volvos in recent years would have had the Polestar engine upgrades, for example.
A couple of years ago Polestar became a separate brand in its own right, upmarket and only selling plug-in models.
It launched with the high-end Polestar 1, a large two-door coupé too expensive for most company car choice lists, but 2020 witnessed the arrival of a fully-electric four-door ‘fastback’ saloon.
If Volvo had produced a new S40, the Polestar 2 might well have been its twin.
The Polestar is targeting drivers of electric cars costing between £40,000 and £60,000, with sales currently dominated by models produced by an American tech company.
Although electric cars priced higher than £35,000 no longer qualify for the plug-in car grant in the UK, this range taps into a rich vein of user choosers seeking to minimise their tax liability on their company car.
The Polestar 2 launched with a 300kW/408hp electric motor with a 78kWh battery, giving the car a range close to 300 miles on the WLTP cycle.
We’re likely to see less powerful versions and a shorter range entry-level variant as Polestar seeks to capture the people seeing something more upmarket than a Peugeot E-2008, but can’t stretch to the costs of the high-output version.
The Polestar has an elegance missing from saloon/hatchback rivals, and while clutter-free, big-screen interiors are becoming common, this one looks and feels of quality far superior to a Tesla.
Seats are super-comfortable and supportive with a good range of adjustment – a trait borrowed from Volvo, perhaps – and the interior is more spacious than you might expect. The Polestar 2’s wheelbase is longer than that of a Ford Focus.
This 408hp Polestar 2 has two motors and all-wheel drive. Performance is supercar-fast, with 0-62mph dispatched in 4.7 seconds, and there is a setting to maximise energy regeneration when lifting off the accelerator, so most of a journey could be done without even touching the brake pedal.
The Polestar 2’s dashboard touchscreen is powered by Google and the car’s systems are capable of over-the-air updates. As with any entirely new system, it takes a while to get used to it, but a few times the on-screen map displayed the incorrect location for the car and made using it for navigation impossible.
But, otherwise, the Polestar 2 is the slickest and one of the most desirable entrants to the EV market yet. We can’t wait to try less powerful and more accessible versions as they become available.
Polestar 2
P11D: £45,845
Residual value: 51.5%
Depreciation: £22,230
Fuel: £2,688
Service, maintenance and repair: £2,928
Cost per mile: 46.1p
Range: 292 miles
CO2 (BIK %): 0g/km (1%)
BIK 20/40% a month: £8/£15
Luggage capacity: 405 litres
Battery capacity/power: 78kWh/408hp
