Polestar 2 Review

With such a focus on the 'latest and greatest' in the EV space, savvy shoppers might spot that used electric cars can offer sensational value for money.

Take the Polestar 2, for example. Our 71-plate test car undercuts similar fuel-powered models like the BMW 3 Series and even equivalent models from sister brand Volvo like the XC40 or V60. Bear in mind that EV running costs can be substantially lower than fuel-powered cars, and a used Polestar 2 suddenly starts to make lots of financial sense.

It needs to appeal to more than just your wallet, though, and the Polestar makes a strong case for itself, both to the head and the heart.

Starting with the sensible stuff, the 2 feels well made and neatly designed. Despite its saloon-like silhouette, it's only 4.6 metres long – shorter than most mid-size SUVs and only a bit longer than family hatchbacks – which makes it easy to park in tight spots. You aren't short for space inside, either, with a decent amount of room for passengers and cargo.

It might lack a scintillating engine note to help it feel exciting on the open road, but the Polestar is both easy and satisfying to drive. There's plentiful power from the electric motor, allowing you to zip past slower traffic with just a flex of your toe, but it doesn't snap your neck back when you floor the accelerator. Instead, the Polestar gathers speed swiftly and smoothly, with enough softness to the suspension so long journeys don't become a chore.

There are plenty of deliberate design touches in the Polestar's cabin to lift the atmosphere. Many models come with a lighter grey 'slate' colour scheme, which includes modern suede-like upholstery and contrasting textile panels on the dash and door panels. Build quality is solid and reassuring, although we did spot some cheaper-feeling materials on the lower dash and the sides of the centre console.

Polestar has, like Volvo, really leaned into the minimalist look for the 2. There are barely any buttons to be found save for the smattering of steering-wheel controls and the big volume knob just ahead of the gear selector. Most of the cabin is focused around the central infotainment system with its portrait-aligned touchscreen. There's enough storage for a couple of smartphones under the screen, a decent central cubby and useful door bins.

The infotainment system itself is a highlight – despite committing the cardinal sin of hiding the climate controls in an on-screen menu. There are persistent icons along the top of the screen that let you jump between functions, or back to the main display, which has individual panels for navigation, audio and phone connectivity.

Key to the Polestar's success here is the visual simplicity of the menus. Great care has been taken to avoid overloading the screen with different icons, graphics and fonts. As a result, you're rarely hunting around the screen for the option you want because it's so intuitively laid out. You'll also spot obvious tab headings that make it clear when you've stepped up or down a layer in the menu hierarchy.

The same applies to the digital instrument cluster screen. Only the most important information – current speed, range estimate and gear selection – is presented to the driver, with warning lights sensibly clustered off to one side. Beyond that, there's no visual clutter to distract the eyes and extremely judicious use of fonts and icons, which means you can easily spot what you're looking for at a glance.

Compared to the Tesla Model 3 or Hyundai Ioniq 5, the Polestar is actually a little shorter, so it can't quite match their Tardis-like cavernous interiors. That's not to say the 2 scores badly here, however, with more than enough passenger and cargo space for a family of four – especially compared to fuel-powered vehicles of the same size.

There's lots of room up front and good outward visibility ahead of you. Over-shoulder visibility is blocked by thick pillars – just like all the Polestar's rivals – and while rear visibility is better than the Model 3, it's still not brilliant.

You'll be able to sit adults in the back seats, although rear passengers well over six-foot tall might nudge the limits of head and knee room. Once you're sat down, the seats themselves are supportive and comfortable despite our car lacking adjustment for the lumbar support.

On paper, the Polestar 2's 405-litre boot is pretty close to the Model 3's 425-litre space but, in practice, the Tesla's cargo area is larger and its 'frunk' is both more useful and more easily accessed. That said, the Polestar actually has a hatchback-style bootlid with glass that lifts with the tailgate, which means access to the cargo area is handier than the saloon-style Model 3. There's a cargo passthrough between the rear seats if you're carrying long, thin items, or you can drop the rear seats to access a total of 1,095 litres of storage.

Our Polestar is an earlier single-motor car fitted with a 228hp electric motor on the front axle. With the long-range 78kWh battery, it has a claimed max range of 317 miles. It can DC fast charge at up to 150kW, allowing it to recover a 0-80% charge in as little as 40 minutes.

Despite not being the latest setup or the fastest model in the lineup, we weren't left wanting by the Polestar's performance. Pinning the accelerator doesn't produce the violent neck snap that you'll find in Tesla cars. Instead, the Polestar deploys its torque to the road smoothly, and feels plenty powerful when you start to explore the furthest reaches of the throttle pedal. It pulls hard all the way to motorway speeds and holds a fast cruise effortlessly.

Rather than drowning you in a million different drive modes, the Polestar keeps it simple. You can select whether the car creeps like a traditional automatic when you release the brake pedal, and choose how strong you want the regenerative braking to be. And that's about it – there's no 'sport' or 'race' modes to navigate and customise, just one well-designed experience with a minimum of fuss. As for brake regen, the 2 can one-pedal drive in its strongest setting or coast along in the weakest setting, but we found the middle setting that replicates a fuel-powered car's engine braking to be the most intuitive.

Newer single-motor cars have since swapped to a rear-wheel-drive setup rather than the front-wheel drive version we're testing here. Performance and range have both improved thanks to enhanced efficiency and a more powerful standard motor.

You also have the option to upgrade to a dual-motor version. These have four-wheel drive and prodigious acceleration thanks to their power output being north of 400hp. Latest versions have pushed this figure all the way up to 470hp, bringing the 0-62mph figure down to four seconds flat, which is basically supercar territory.

All Polestars have decent performance thanks to their brawny electric motors, but they don't feel like they've been designed for sporting driving. There's a bit of roll to the suspension that robs some of the front end's reactiveness, with the car rewarding you for making calm, smooth inputs on the wheel, while feeling a tiny bit wobbly if you drive like a hooligan.

You'd hope this translates to a comfortable ride and, at least on our test car, this mostly proved to be the case. The setup tries hard to absorb most of the impacts from the road surface before they make it to the car – tricky considering the Polestar's heavy batteries means it needs fairly stout springs. Bigger impacts can be both felt and heard in the cabin, however, with cars like the Mercedes C-Class and Audi A4 doing a better job of isolating you from the road. We've heard the ride quality is a bit firmer in dual motor and sporty Polestar 2s, so take one for a spin before deciding whether it's comfy enough for you.

Around town, progress is swift and nearly silent, with very minimal noise from the motor or the car's mechanical parts making it into the cabin. At motorway speeds, however, you will start to spot tyre roar and audible thuds from the suspension. These are likely no worse than any of the Polestar's fuel-powered rivals and might even be better in a back-to-back comparison but, with no engine noise to mask them, they feel a little more obvious in the 2. Nevertheless, the Polestar is both quieter and softer than its key Tesla Model 3 rival.

Like some recent Volvo models we've tried, the Polestar has very light steering. This is unlikely to inspire keen drivers who might want a little more weight and feedback, but does make it easy to use everyday. We did spot a little torque steer, however, when hitting the accelerator hard out of tighter junctions – something that won't affect newer rear-wheel-drive single-motor cars.

The Polestar might not be the last word in fun on the road, but it's still definitely satisfying. We like the easy calibration of the steering and pedals which, combined with the fairly soft ride and the smooth-yet-powerful electric motor, means the 2 is simply effortless to cruise around in, making it a great everyday car.