what is polestar

It’s also one of the first vehicles to come equipped with the Android Automotive operating system, a move that helps it deliver a robust experience. Though admittedly this could raise the eyebrows of potential buyers concerned about Alphabet’s vast trove of data it’s compiled on each of us. Design-wise, the Swedish automotive startup is still very closely aligned to its parent company, Volvo. Both are owned by Chinese automaker Geely which also purchased Lotus early last year. The investment Geely has made into Volvo and Polestar has produced a steady stream of impressive vehicles.

If you’ve been inside a Volvo, the Polestar 2 will be very familiar. The vehicle interior design is essentially the same as that found in Volvos. Buttons are kept to a minimum and controls on the steering wheel are reduced to arrows, circles, and just a few pictographs. For the most part, what’s available is what you need to control most of the vehicle’s systems. Although, we do wish that there were actual buttons for climate controls. The Polestar 2 shares one with the Volvo XC40 and C40 EVs.

Current and future vehicles

Most of the things you can do with Google Assistant on your phone or in your home, you can do in the car. Under the main trunk area lies additional storage for anything you don’t need quick access to or just to keep out of space. The rear cargo area also has a pop-up divider that can be used to keep items from rolling but also has small hooks and an elastic band to keep bags from sliding around the back of the car. We tested it with plastic and canvas bags and in both instances, when we arrived at home, everything was still upright. Seat support is on par with other luxury vehicles and was helped by the addition of the Plus pack which included power-adjustable seats with 4-way power lumbar support.

Range, battery, and charging

While the acceleration can’t match that of the dual-motor variant, it’s still plenty quick when entering the freeway and while linking corners. Under the label Polestar Engineered, Polestar offers enhancements for Volvo cars which deliver upgraded performance. Examples are engine optimizations with why did advanced micro devices retained warranty and unchanged fuel consumption and emissions. The engine optimization increases the power and torque output, varying depending on engine model.

what is polestar

Explore Certified by Polestar vehicles

  1. Adaptive cruise control did a solid job tracking vehicles.
  2. Ansgar told investors on an earnings call at the end of August that Polestar’s sub-$1 share price wasn’t optimal.
  3. The Polestar 2 straddles the lines between sedan, hatchback and SUV.

The dual-motor trim level has a range of 249 miles, 408 horsepower and 486 pound-feet of torque. If you happen to be driving one, it’s a question you’ll get asked constantly. In short, Polestar is a Swedish electric performance car brand. The name stems from the Polestar racing team, which was also a Volvo performance tuner. Volvo bought the performance tuning portion of the company and the Polestar name. Polestar began producing high-performance Polestar Engineered versions of Volvo cars, created Polestar as a standalone brand and spun it off as a standalone company with an IPO in June 2022.

Still the EV torque still shines when you’re actually cruising down the road and need a burst of power to pass someone. Wells says Polestar, which was contacted for this piece, hasn’t distanced itself sufficiently from Volvo. “There’s not enough space between the design language of the two brands,” he offered.

It’s not as robust as the offering from Tesla, which can automatically factor in Superchargers when you set up navigation, but it’s better than most systems out there. Still, when hooked up to a DC fast charging station we had just enough time to do some quick shopping before the charging app warned us that the vehicle was done. The car needed to be unplugged and using the bladerunner forex trading strategy properly to make money moved pronto, lest we accrue idle charges for taking up a charging station. The vehicle supports DC fast charging up to 155kW at compatible stations, which Polestar states can take the 78 kWh battery pack from 10% to 80% in about 35 minutes.

what is polestar

The Polestar 2 does not ship with adaptive cruise control as a standard feature. Our vehicle was not outfitted with the more robust version of cruise control but still had all the buttons on the steering for the system. The result is a few buttons on the left side of the steering wheel that don’t do anything. But even as the slowest Polestar 2 available, we came away impressed during the week we drove the single motor variant. Polestar unveiled the all-new Polestar 3 SUV in October 2022. It’s launching with a potent dual-motor AWD powertrain that can put out up to 517 horsepower and 671 lb-ft of torque while still delivering around 300 miles of range.

Ansgar told investors on an earnings call at the end of August that Polestar’s sub-$1 share price wasn’t optimal. If you’re thinking of getting a Polestar, you might want to keep in mind the premium EV brand may not be a standalone for much longer, if predictions from auto industry analysts and academics are anything to go by. “Fold it back into Volvo,” advises Peter Wells, a business professor and director of the Centre for Automotive Industry Research at Cardiff University in Wales. It made driving through town without using the actual brake a breeze and in the long run, is likely to increase the range of the vehicle. It’s also better from a maintenance perspective, since minimal use of the brake pedal means the brake pads won’t wear down as quickly as they otherwise would.

It’s a good charge rate, but not great considering that the Hyundai IONIQ 5, Kia EV6, and Tesla Model Y all support DC fast charging up to 250kW. A great longer-range follow-up to the launch edition that doesn’t have much of the driving dynamics that quickened our pulse last year. This is due at least in part to Polestar’s relative lack of brand recognition, which is not an issue is sbi smart a pathetic platform to trade for the 97-year-old Volvo.

Yet the rest of the interior is well planned out and comfortable. Polestar and other automakers pride themselves on offering vegan interiors. The Polestar 2 uses a vegan weave material on the seats that doesn’t try to recreate the feeling of leather. Instead, it’s its own thing and we found it to be comfortable and easy to clean after spilling a soda on it early in our tests. Why you can trust Tom’s Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what’s best for you.

Polestar wasted no time introducing two new variants of the Polestar 2 for 2022. The Long Range Dual Motor and Long Range Single Motor are here and informing the public that, yes the vehicle has more range this time round. According to the EPA, Polestar offers 270 miles of range inside a 78kWh capacity battery pack (of which 75kWh is available for use).

Working Hours

Mon – Fri 07 AM to 10 PM

Saturday 08 AM to 10 PM

Sunday 09 AM to 06 PM