MOTORING REVIEW: Polestar offers powerful electric performance for Limerick drivers

POLESTAR was once a performance section of Volvo but is now a brand in its own right, dedicated to electric performance vehicles. Both companies are Chinese owned. The Polestar brand’s first car to go on sale here is the Polestar 2, with the Tesla 3 in its sights.

The car could be termed as a five-door hatchback, a four-door saloon or even a fast back with its high opening tailgate. Whatever, it is causing quite a stir among the motoring public curious to see what it’s all about.

Polestar 2 is based on the same architecture as Volvo’s XC40. Only one body style is available. The design is typically minimalist Scandinavian with clean lines, contemporary styling. An understated look that I found appealing. It has a substantial road presence.

The exterior ‘Snow’ white colour showed off my review car to perfection as did the big 20-inch 4-Y spoke black forged alloys, rimless side mirrors (with a good blind spot alert), and smart door handles. The Performance Pack, an option in my car, comes with gold painted Brembo brake discs and Ohlins adjustable dampers.

The interior is both spacious and comfortable. It keeps the minimalist look of the exterior and uses many environmentally-friendly materials. Some nice silver trim along the dash and the bright yellow seatbelts relieve the overall grey look and add some cheer. There was also a huge tinted glass roof that allowed more light into the cabin.

Centre stage is the 11.5-inch i-Pad type central touchscreen infotainment system with sharp colourful graphics and also views from the reversing camera with an overhead view of your car and its surroundings. The navigation system is provided by Google.

The driver’s 12.3-inch digital driver display can also feature maps of your route, your digital speed and the projected range of charge left in the battery.

Front seats have power adjustments including 4-way lumbar support, and can be heated as can the two outer rear seats. Three adults will fit at a push in the rear, two in comfort. Tall people will find there’s plenty of head room. Indents to the front seat backs help with knee space for rear occupants. There are four small USB C ports, two up front and two in the back.

The tailgate is power operated; boot space is 405 litres expandable to 1,095 litres with rear seats folded. There’s some more space under the bonnet.

Three grade options are Pilot, Plus and Performance. The standard range single motor version has a claimed range of up to 478km and 2WD. There’s also a long range single motor providing up to 551km, or a long range with dual motors which uprates performance by nearly three seconds to 0-100km/h in 4.7 seconds. It has a claimed range of up to 479kms. My review car had the long range dual motor with the Performance Pack.

MOTORING REVIEW: Jeep brings new 4xe PHEV technology to Limerick

I appreciated being able to get a high driving position and liked the whole solid feel of the car. It just takes off when you hit the accelerator pedal and handles beautifully aided by its low centre of gravity. As an electric car, it has automatic transmission. You can also set it for ‘one pedal’ driving, which increases energy recovery and minimises the need to brake.

Polestar has achieved a top five-star safety rating from EuroNCAP. Safety Assistance features including Collision Avoidance, oncoming Lane Mitigation, Hill Start Assist, and eight airbags.

Options were metallic paint (€1,070), the Performance Pack (€6,420).

Polestar sells only online. There’s a ‘hub’ in at Spirit Motor Group in Sandyford in Dublin, where visitors can get information about the brand, and how to order their own car online. They can also take a test drive from that location.

Orders are open for Polestar 3, an upcoming new electric SUV, delivering up to 610km range with 517hp, and priced from €99,900.

Polestar 2 entry price is €56,135 (excl. grants); the MY23 Long range dual motor entry price starts at €63,850. Delivery is €1,000.