It's kind of funny. If you went back in time by four years and you would ask yourself 'which brand will have a lot of electric cars in their range',
the average response was Volvo. Despite the fact they didn't sell any electric cars. Sure, they had hybrids and plug-in hybrids,
which were very successful. Take the V60 and XC90 for example. That might've contributed to the thought, but we had to wait for quite...
some time to see their first fully-electric car. The XC40 was the first Volvo available as an EV, and now there's the sub-label Polestar.
It's positioned as a stand-alone manufacturer by Volvo. The Polestar 1 was an exclusive coupé, with only 1.500 being built.
However, that was a plug-in hybrid. Polestar has now gone fully electric as well, with this Polestar 2. And it's aiming directly at...
the Tesla Model 3-monopoly. Prices start at €58.000, which is 3-series or A4-money. And because of that, it's the first real competitor...
for Tesla in this segment if you ask me. Up to this moment, the Model 3 only had rivals in the form of crossovers.
Let's talk specs. It has four-wheel drive as standard, with an electric motor on both axles. Both are able to work in sync.
It produces 408 horsepower and 660 Nm of torque. It does 0-100 km/h in a little over five seconds, which is quick enough for an electric car.
It's a tad higher up as well, because it's a fastback according to Volvo. It has a fifth door as well. However, it's not because people want crossovers...
or anything, but because there are lots of batteries in the floor. So if you still want headroom to work with, you need to raise the car.
So what does that mean for space in the back?
Right, it looks great first of all. The finishing is very good. These rosters here, heated seats there, USB C-ports over here...
However, it has a panoramic glass roof. Because of that and the sloped roof, my head touches the ceiling. If you're taller than 1.83 m.,
headroom is going to be an issue. The legroom is very good though. Also, despite the batteries in the floor, my knees still don't touch my nipples.
That's because the car is higher, so the seat could be positioned higher. That's scoring points right there.
Let's take a look at the boot. It can fit 405 litres, which is less than the Model 3. However, it's a fastback so it has a fifth door.
It's not a real saloon, but more of a hatchback. If you fold down the seats, you can up the luggage space to a little over 1.000 litres.
Also, underneath the floor there's some more space. That's because an electrical car doesn't have all kinds of mechanical parts here.
There's another trunk in the front, called the 'frunk'. That holds up to 35 litres.
Right, let's talk electrics. It has a 78 kWh-battery pack, which should be able to get you around 450 kilometres on a single charge according to WLTP.
It has a Mennekes-port, which is standard. It also comes with a CCS-port. You can quickcharge it up to 150 kW, for which Polestar promises 80%...
battery capacity. It's less than in the Model 3, but it's pretty quick for the Netherlands, so I think it's going to be enough.
At home, you're able to three phase-charge it up to 11 kW. That means you can fully charge it overnight.
Let me show you the frunk by the way. Of course, there's not an engine in here, because the electric motors are on the axles.
It's a small compartment for your charging cables and other trinkets, so you can use the boot for the bigger stuff.
However, this Polestar has the Performance Pack fitted. What that means? It has bigger stabilizers, sturdier dampers, nicer wheels,
Brembo brakes and calipers, and even Öhlins-dampers. Indeed. You can configure those dampers in 22 different ways.
They're the same dampers found on the Polestar Tuning-versions of the V60 and XC60. And you're able to adjust them over here at the front axle,
all 22 different modes. But if you look at it, not a lot seems to have happened. Do you have to lift it yourself?
Polestar themselves however have stated you that you have to visit the Polestar Experience Store, so that you can finetune your settings...
with a Polestar-expert. You can't do that on your own. I'll get back to that when we drive it, but it kinds of defies its own purpose that way.
First of all, who even does that? Altering the dampers quickly before a mountain road. Also, if you can only do it in a garage,
it's a little far-fetched, wouldn't you think?
Something I find very funny, is how this car shows how big the power of electric driving is nowadays.
It's remarkable that a worldwide-known brand like Volvo, which is known as a strong brand without any flaws unlike BMW or Audi,
with their agressive drivers. I find it remarkable that they've launched their electric sub-label under an entirely separate umbrella.
So they couldn't use the famous Volvo-name to help their car forwards. However, does it suffer from that? Not at all, because everybody seems...
to know the Polestar-name. It's incredibly hot, if I have to judge by the reactions people give with this car. When I pull up somewhere,
people ask me if it's a Polestar. People really know what's going on when it comes to a brand which was recently founded.
A very positive gamble for the Volvo-group, we can say.
Right. The Polestar 1 was a very expensive plug-in and this Polestar 2 isn't only a full EV, it's much cheaper as well.
Prices start at €59.800, which is right in the Model 3-territory.
The performance is very good as well. Let me state them again for you. Two electric motors, one on each axle, with a synchronized run and a...
permanent magnet. Both are always running at the same time and they produce a total of 300 kW, which translates to 408 horsepower.
With 660 Nm of torque it's very quick off the line as well, it does 0-100 km/h in under five seconds.
I do have to say, when I first took it for a spin, I really asked myself 'if this was it', but I've come back on that.
I'm properly impressed by this car, but I expected a lot more because of the sporty Polestar-label.
Especially since the car has the Performance Pack, but it's not incredibly sporty or anything.
Partly, that's because of the throttle response. It's not incredibly quick and you're not able to alter it in any way.
You've got one mode and that's it. In sportier EV's like the Porsche Taycan or a Model 3, the throttle is sharper.
Especially in Sport-mode, as long as you can select that. And it's the same story when it comes to the steering.
It's pretty direct, but you won't be caught by it, like you have when you first get into a Mazda MX-5.
And that's something I expected to feel in the Polestar. Not solely because of the name, but also because of the fact this has the Performance Pack.
It's a Volvo with a more dynamic drive and less understeer than normal. But it still has that Volvo-feel to it.
So is that a bad thing? Not if you ask me, because it offers lots of comfort and quietness. However, the handling goes beyond what Volvo...
usually offers. And the amounts of grip are even crazier. It's almost impossible for you to get understeer on a dry surface.
Of course, that's because there's no engine to weigh down the front, which means the tires are able to hold on for longer.
The Performance Pack fitted on this particular car comes at an additional cost of €6.000. For that money you get 20-inch wheels,
Continental SportContact-tires instead of the standard Continental PremiumContact-tires, Brembo-brakes and you get Öhlins-dampers.
Very expensive ones which are fitted on the V60 Polestar as well. You can adjust them in 22 ways, but you can't do that yourself.
You have to go to Polestar to let them adjust it, and I already told you' outside, that completely defies the purpose of the adjustable dampers.
If you're able to adjust the dampers in a 911 GT3 RS with a simple button, it's crazy to have to jack up this car to adjust them.
That could've been simpler. However, at the end of the road, it drives very well. It's in mode 8, I've been told. 1 being hard and 22...
being soft. I don't think it's too hard, but I really like the handling. It's able to find stability very quickly after a speed bump or something.
Without it becoming uncomfortable of course, so if we put everything together, this is a very comfortable car to drive.
You're not able to change the throttle response, but you are able to choose the way it regenerates energy.
From almost nothing to quite a lot, with the latter still not coming close to what the BMW i3 regenerates.
I think it's a very decent mode. However, it doesn't react as sharply as you'd expect from a sports car though.
But it's nice to be able to drive it with one pedal when you're driving in the mountains or anything.
Also, you're able to change the power steering from light to heavy.
Electric car-enthusiasts say that this isn't a rival to the Model 3, because they complement each other. You know? They say things...
like 'the only rival is petrol-power'. But I think that when people want to buy a new car and they want an electric one,
they actually are going to choose between this and the Model 3. So what differences can we find?
Well, first of all there's the interior. It looks a lot better than in a Model 3, nicely dressed up and everything.
A Volvo-experience with some additional details. People who say that dashboards doesn't matter should look at Audi, BMW and Volvo.
They didn't build dashboards for themselves over the past fifty years. They built those because people wanted them.
When it comes to involving the driver in the drive, the Tesla does better. That's because it's lower and a few hundred kilograms lighter.
This Polestar weighs over 2.100 kg, and that's something the Model 3 won't reach. The seating in the back of the Polestar is better whilst the Tesla...
has more luggage space. Also, the Tesla will have quicker updates for their multimedia system.
In here, we've got a nice screen in front of the driver. Also, there's one in the middle which works pretty well for a touchscreen.
At first sight, you might think you know the system, but it's entirely different. This Polestar 2 works with Android, which is fully integrated...
in the car and it's able to answer questions like you might ask your own phone, Siri or your Google Home-system.
Okay Google, tell me something about this Polestar 2. - I'm not able to help you with that yet.
Because of the buzz this car generates with people I'm sure it's going to become a success. And it's a good deal as well,
because it comes with lots of kit as standard. And we're not used to that with premium brands, usually you'll have to pay extra.
Also, there will be people who saw the Model 3 for the first time and didn't like the build quality or the dashboard, and remained with their...
Audi A4 or BMW 3-series. And all of a sudden, this car rocked up. And this does look like a premium car from the inside.
So this car could finally push some people over the edge to go fully electric.
The Polestar 2 will be delivered from august 2020 onwards and there already are lots of orders. There will be four dealers in the Netherlands...
Or rather, they're not dealers. Polestar wants us to call them Polestar Spaces. They won't be dealing in there, the Spaces are only to look at and test drive...
the car. If you want to purchase one, you'll have to do that online.