Polestar 2 Performance Pack review

This is the second Polestar model after the 1, but that was a very limited-run luxury GT with a high price and a hybrid powertrain, neither of which series production Polestars will have. So the 2 really is the first. It’s an immediate rival to the Tesla Model 3. To my eye, the Californian car is made to look like a grumpy frog by the Polestar’s crisp, modern Nordic design. Meanwhile, the 2’s cabin is the best of any £50,000 car I’ve come across.

I drove the Performance Pack model. For £5000 you get Brembo brakes, stickier tyres, gold accents and, somewhat unexpectedly, manually adjustable Öhlins dampers. Around a third of buyers are choosing the upgrade. Polestar doesn’t anticipate owners fiddling with damper clicks day by day, but rather finding a setting they like and leaving it well alone. The ride on the Öhlins is taut and ultra-controlled, only becoming overly firm across heavily sunken drain covers.

The handling is sharp and responsive, as is the steering. Acceleration is violent. The 2 drives beautifully and I find it enormously desirable, but in terms of range and charging infrastructure it falls short of its main rival. The WLTP range is 292 miles (compared to 348 for the Tesla), but I almost halved that on a quick-ish motorway run. Polestar says over-the-air updates should improve the range in time, in which case all I’ll need is the cash.

Polestar 2 Performance Pack
Powertrain: Twin motor, 78kWh battery
Transmission: Single-speed auto, 4WD
Power: 402bhp
Torque: 487lb ft
Range: 292 miles
Weight: 2123kg
Power-to-weight: 189bhp/tonne
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
Top speed: 127mph
Price: £51,900 (after £3000 EV grant)
Ti rating 8/10