Polestar 2: Swedish car built in China

Little is known about the Polestar brand. Some people know that it is the electric car division of Volvo, which is partly owned by the Chinese brand Geely, similar to the Chinese General Motors in the United States or Toyota in Japan. But since then, to save Polestar, Geely has become a 50% owner of the brand and the Polestar 2 on our roads today is built in China.

A week behind the wheel of the Polestar 2 is enough to familiarize yourself with the cars of tomorrow. Everything is there to rethink our way of approaching driving taking into account all the innovations that equip this car in terms of advanced and active safety or, in other words, Driving Equipment. The changes made to the 2024 Polestar 2 do not change the lines of the car. The main one concerns the front with a closed grille. This grille has a belt called by the brand Smart Zone, which integrates safety sensors as well as the front camera and radar system.

Inside, there is no change in presentation compared to the previous version. We see the quality of the materials used and the designers have also focused on durability. The screen in front of the steering wheel provides important driving data and the infotainment screen, in the vertical position in the middle, is packed with features. You can, if you like, get a lot of information about battery usage, generate alerts when you think you’ll need to visit a service station, or even check tire pressure. All with a simple tap of an icon. For a novice, it will be difficult to distinguish between the two generations, the first dating from 2020. In fact, the manufacturer has chosen to focus on technical improvement over the first advantage of efficiency and freedom. Speaking of freedom, the change is important as we are talking about models with around 515 km of freedom, where we had to be satisfied with around 350 km for the previous generation. Forget the push button to get started. All you have to do is sit in the driver’s seat so that the communication is done. A butt address if there ever was one. Once installed, with your foot on the brake, select position D of the small lever between the two front seats and that’s it. Silence is required at low speeds, in and out, to the point of scaring pedestrians crossing and relying only on their ears. At high speeds, rolling noises are heard, especially since the suspension is firm and the car still had snow tires. Let’s add the feel of Montreal’s streets and neighborhoods so that the vibrations are part of the experience. Nothing too bad, we are used to it or, at least, we are used to being stuck on the road in Quebec.

Another surprise: breaking. All you have to do is lift your foot off the accelerator and the car will break. Applying brakes proportional to the speed at which you are traveling. In the city, we almost never used the brake pedal, which remains useful in an emergency for automatic braking. We had the option to turn off the additional low speed icon on the car control screen, causing the car to slow down to 5 km/h. To stop completely, then you had to use the brake pedal. This system allows energy recovery, with three possible options: free wheel, low and normal, the last one allowing driving with one pedal while ensuring energy recovery. It should be mentioned that you just get used to playing the accelerator pedal very quickly. The tested version was the Polestar 2 Long range Dual motor, with the Performance package, including 21-inch wheels with Brembo brakes and gold-colored seat belts, as we find in the most luxurious cars where we see Brembo brakes entering. yellow or red. With all
Performance, power goes from 449 horsepower to 469 horsepower. This package includes the options of the Plus package, namely, a Harman/Kardon sound system, a paneled roof and heated rear seats.
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From the first moment of driving on the highway or on the road, we notice the excellent handling of the Polestar 2, especially since there is a choice of three modes of stability from the management. The most suitable, in my opinion, remains Firm mode, which gives better feedback to the steering wheel about the behavior of the car. The car encourages long-term increases in conscious comfort. Comfort that encourages “peppy” driving. This will be the only side for a week at the wheel of the Polestar 2. Even after adjusting the driver’s seat to the highest position, you feel sinking, which today is a big difference between being behind the wheel of a sedan or a sedan. dominate the road behind the wheel of an SUV. This required paying more attention to the different parking aids, assessing the distance with other vehicles or even with obstacles.
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All Polestar 2 variants are eligible for government subsidies, namely $5,000 from the federal government and $7,000 from the provincial government (starting in 2025, the provincial government will gradually reduce the subsidy until its complete abolition in 2027). Polestar 2 prices are estimated, before subsidies:
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Polestar 2: From 54€‰950$
Polestar 2 with two electric motors: from $ 62,950
It will cost $3,000 more for the Plus package and $6,750 for the Performance package.