Santa Fe, New Mexico-Most countries, including Canada, have plunged headlong into a future that does not include the sale of new gasoline-powered cars, so it’s no surprise to see many new players in the electric car market. After opening stores in major Canadian markets, the Polestar brand now feels that it is ready to enter the country’s prime time.
Not familiar with this name? Don’t worry, you are not alone. The brand was launched in October 2017, and its name was chosen to represent the “guide light” within the Volvo Group. Yes, like many other new brands before it — Lexus, Infiniti, Acura — technically speaking, Polestar is a branch of a mature company with deep engineering expertise. In conversations with Wheels, Polestar representatives referred to Volvo as their “sister brand” and praised them for the sail they needed to launch new products.
The first is the all-electric door is the Polestar 2, which is a compact electric car with roughly the same floor space as the Tesla Model 3. In the eyes of your author’s jaundice, it looks bigger than this, thanks to a thicker shape than anything that determines Palo Alto. Although it may not be obvious at first glance, the Polestar 2 is a hatchback, and its cargo area is actually almost as spacious as most compact crossovers. By the way, in terms of what we are talking about, Polestar is studying one of the popular body types. Called Polestar 3, we expect to see it next year.
But we are here to drive Polestar 2. Launched last year as a 408-horsepower dual-motor model, the 2022 variant sees some important adjustments, the most important of which is the introduction of a single-motor option, which is good for all 231-the electric pony, which is priced at $49,900 in Canada. This price point is $7,000 lower than the dual-motor trim, making it eligible for some examples of government generosity, but not all incentives apply. Check your provincial plan before pulling the trigger.
The electric motor is equipped with a 78kWh battery pack and has a cruising range of about 400 kilometers, which is about 25 kilometers less than a bicycle. The all-wheel drive Polestar 2 Dual Motor can easily start in the mountains around Santa Fe. Polestar estimates that the acceleration time of 0-100Km/h is less than five seconds. Depressing the pedal produces instant thrust, which is a typical feature of an EV, because all its power is available at 0 rpm, and its countless driving modes play an important role in the overall driving experience. Setting the steering feel to “firm” produces a weighted effort type that anyone with gasoline would like, while “light” is ideal for fingertip manipulation at parking lot speeds.
Polestar 2 is capable of single-pedal driving, which is a function of EV driving. When the driver releases the accelerator pedal, the car will actively slow down. This helps to harvest energy for battery regeneration purposes, and Polestar’s most powerful setting slows down the car from its three options, as if a metal anchor fell in its wake. Practice this function before taking Miss Daisy to church, okay?
Polestar offers a variety of option packages for single-motor and dual-motor models, including the latter’s performance package, which brings Öhlins Dual Flow Valve manually adjustable dampers (you have to change its settings under the car) and Brembos etc. through them The golden decoration is easy to identify. The irony is that installing expensive brake kits (see: Regenerative Braking, above) on electric cars that don’t need it doesn’t disappear for your author, but they are indeed visually appealing.
The clever thing is that Polestar has a few entry-level trim cars on hand, representing cars that most customers might actually buy. Even at this end of the pool, Polestar 2 has a charming interior with beautiful materials such as carbon exterior trim and charcoal canopy. If you care about these things, its cloth seats are vegan, and your author actually prefers their embossed patterns compared to the more expensive leather lining options offered. However, the $5,500 Plus Pack is a smart spend because it brings a heat pump system that can heat the cabin more efficiently, as well as details such as heating surfaces and panoramic roofs, while retaining comfortable fabric interiors.
Polestar is particularly proud of its infotainment system, which is known as Google’s first embedded system. Thanks to the technology of Google Assistant, its voice commands did work during our testing, and it made perfect use of Google Maps for navigation when we drove around rural New Mexico. Like other platforms, it will point the driver to the nearest electric car charging station and estimate the amount of juice left on arrival. Facts have proved that it is easy to use in the real world, while maintaining simplicity, and not overly pursuing minimalism like its cousins at Volvo. Over-the-air updates keep things at the forefront, including upgrading some cars from last year to take advantage of the 2022 model year’s range improvements.
The handling characteristics of the aforementioned dual-motor vehicles are largely imitated by single-motor vehicles, although the forward thrust is significantly smaller. The battery is so heavy that the weight of the front-wheel-drive Polestar 2 is only 6 kg less than 2,000 kg; the weight of the Tesla Model 3 is reduced by about 200 kg. Part of the problem stems from the fact that this car is built on a compact modular architecture provided by Volvo, and the platform can also be used as the basis for internal combustion engine vehicles such as Volvo XC40. This also explains 2′s rather clumsy position. As the brand develops, Polestar’s future machines-possibly including the 3 crossovers to be manufactured in the United States-will adopt a blank design to take full advantage of the packaging advantages provided by the EV liner.
Currently, Polestar is just using the tools they provide-and they are used very well, if we have any signs of the first drive of the carefully crafted 2. Nevertheless, if the budget is limited, we still choose the full-fat dual-motor model; give up the 25 km range in exchange for 177 additional horses and twice the torque, not to mention the close to 50/50 weight distribution, which is in our account book worth it.
This car was provided to the author by the car manufacturer. Content and vehicle evaluation do not require approval.
Body style: 5-door, 5-person fastback configuration: single motor or dual motor, front wheel or all-wheel drive motor: 231 hp, 243 lb-ft (single motor)/408 hp, 487 lb-ft (dual motor) Transmission: One-speed automatic range: 426 kilometers (single motor), 400 kilometers (dual motors) Charging time and battery capacity: 8 hours (3-phase, 16A), 78kWh Cargo capacity: 1,095 liters Price: 49,990 US dollars / 60 US dollars ( Motor)) Website: www.polestar.com
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Post time: Sep-10-2021
