I get about 29 MPH with the 240V @ 32A dedicated circuit.

 

so i guess you don't have a clothes dryer?

so over 8 hours to add 13% to your battery. pretty darned slow, but i already figured 120v is pretty bad.

by the way, i recently did a bit of research on u.s. electricity and while many refer to a regular outlet as "110" it's actually been 120v for decades.

 

Yes, I do have a washer and dryer, they use 240v, I guess the correct answer is I don't have room for another dedicated 240v circuit. And yes you are correct, it is 120v, not 110v. So far it works for me, as even if drive to the point where I reach 50 percent, I can be charged enough by morning, and if needed, I can top off by going to an Electrify America fast charger 10 minutes away for free. This will work fine until I get my new panel

 

On Wednesday my wife's aunt passed away, so it's been a busy weekend and a lot of driving. Today was a family memorial at my brother in law's house, and my wife's nephew who is part of the San Mateo County Sheriff's department asked me if he could take my Polestar for a spin. I gave him the keys and he was off. He came back about 10 minutes later with a huge smile on his face, and said something to the affect that this would have sex with a Mustang (of course he used a bit more explicit word ). He than rushed passed me and came out a few minutes later with his wife, then asked me if she could take out for a spin. After coming back, she was like a giddy teen, couldn't believe how smooth it was, how easy to drive (you just sit in the seat, put it in D or R and drive), and told me they were getting one. LOL! This was the first EV she has ever driven and was sold on a quick drive!

I've already put a little over 200 miles on it, and look forward to many more

 

very sorry to hear about your wife's aunt.

glad your wife's nephew and his wife love your polestar and want one!

 

I've had the Polestar now for a week, and I've driven it enough to be able to give it a general review. First off, let me start with the purchasing experience, which is just as important to me as the driving experience. I did some initial research on various EV's, including Tesla, Lucid, Rivian etc. and for various reasons, found the Polestar to be the best option. I filled out the online form and requested a test drive, which was easy to schedule and the car was brought to my work at the scheduled day and time. I was given 30 minutes to kick the tires and drive it wherever I wanted to, and the rep answered all my questions. After driving it, I was pretty much sold and a couple of days later I ordered online, which was also very easy. All the pricing, including OTD was all right in front of me. I was sent the leasing application and once that was approved (which was instant), a rep emailed me to confirm everything before officially placing the order. I could check status of the car online, and it arrived less than a month later. I picked the date I wanted it delivered, and it showed up at my house, on time. I had to sign some paperwork, pay the downpayment, the Polestar rep walked me through all the features of the car, and in 20 minutes, it was all done!. My last new car I bought in 2018 I did all the negotiations ahead of time through phone and email, even did the financing online but spent almost 2 hours before I finally was able to drive off with the car.

Technology: the Polestar has pretty good tech, from collision detection, lane and parking assistance, and all the standard stuff offered in other modern vehicles. It has an intuitive, easy to use infotainment system based on Android, there is no need for Android Auto because it has built in LTE, so it can run most of the apps your Android phone runs, that is if you have an Android. It does not yet support Apple CarPlay, but that is coming soon with an OTA update. You can also download the Polestar app, which lets you store your key, remotely lock and unlock your doors, operate the climate controls, and monitor and control charging. Most features like Climate control are operated in the infotainment screen, but very easy to access and control. Also drive modes can be changed on the fly with easy access. Also it has a one touch on the screen if you need to find the nearest charging station, and will tell you which ones are in use and which ones are free, how much time is left before they are free etc. It also has a trip planner map that will give you the best route and let you know when you need to stop for a charge.

Comfort: This is not a luxury car by any means, but it is very comfortable, and does a good job isolating you from the road. If you are one of those people who likes to feel the road and the raw feeling of a revving engine, this is not the car the car for you. The seats and materials used are also very comfortable and hold you in place, but this is also a smaller sedan. The back seats are comfortable, can fit 3 people, but realistically any more than two tall adults will be cramped. I do find that the seatbelt holders in the front are too far down and the area is a little cramped. If you have a bigger hand or wear a ring, it will make it harder to buckle your seat belt. Climate control works really nice, the cabin heats up quickly on a cold day (much quicker than an ICE car), and you can easily change the zones where the air blows from the infotainment screen. Windows are defrosted quickly, and there is even front and back defroster buttons in the center console for quick access. Heated seats also help on cold days, but because of the cloth materials, they don't get that cold where I've had to use this feature.

Practicality: In this class it scores well as a daily commuter. It has a roomy trunk that opens like a hatchback, and folding rear seats. It also has a frunk where you can store smaller items. It is very efficient, getting a combined city/hwy 86 mpg equivalent, and it costs roughly about .04 cents a mile in energy use. At a 90 percent charge it gets you about 220 miles, but realistically I've been getting about 210 miles, which is plenty for my daily use. And because I don't need to take it to the gas station, I plug it in when I get home, and at 9PM the charging cycle starts. Although right now I'm charging using 120v, because I generally only lose 10 percent of the charge commuting, it's fully charged by morning, and even days when I've had to drive it more where I got it down to 65 percent, It will be 80 to 85 percent by morning which is plenty. And for those times when I really have to drive a lot, I'll just visit the fast charging station, a 15 to 20 minute charge will get it up to 80 percent or so.

Performance: This is where the Polestar shines. There are not a lot cars out there not named Tesla that can beat it, especially 20 to 80 mph. It pulls so hard and so fast you feel like you left a part of yourself behind. When SSD's hard drives first came out, I was disappointed that they never delivered "Instant On". Well, the EV delivered that when it came to torque. I believe with all my heart that if the hardest core ICE enthusiast put their foot down to the floor, they would have an "Oh ****" moment. Besides that, it's effortlessly smooth, and feels extremely stable at all speeds. Steering is pretty direct, although steering feel is not all there, which I don't believe is a bad thing because a lot modern drivers don't want to feel the road. You can change the steering feel, it has 3 setting from soft, to normal and hard. Brakes are also really good and have a good feel. You know exactly how much pressure you need to slow down or stop. Lastly you have AWD paired with 19" Michelin tires, so road grip is really good.

Pricing: The Polestar is up there a little in pricing, but not too much starting at $39K for the single motor. My Polestar as spec was $45,900, and came out to $43,700 after the tax credit. That is roughly in line with other cars in its class. One of the cars I considered buying was the 2021 IS350 F Sport RWD, which has an MSRP of $44,225, and with dealer markups I would most likely be looking at almost $60K OTD (the PoleStar was $52,345 OTD). So I would say I got a great deal for a 4.1 second 0 to 60 five seater Sedan!

Looks: Its definitely a unique looking car. There's not much other car on the road like it. I get a lot stares from other drivers, and I get co workers, friends and family members fascinated by it. IMO, it's a very nice looking car, and it's definitely a sleeper.

Overall impressions: It's a great starter EV, with it's quality build, comfort, economy and performance. With 249 miles range (with a full charge) and 2 years free Electrify America charging, if you live in an area where EV adoption is high, this is a good choice. It's cheaper than a Model 3, and IMO more comfortable and has better build quality, although a Model 3 is technologically the better car. Also the PoleStar 2 was not built from the bottom up as an EV, but shares an ICE platform so It doesn't get the range the Model 3 gets, but that also means it has a more normal look.

How does the Polestar 2 compare with my IS350? To put it simply, they are two different cars with different characteristics. The IS350 has a timeless look and feel that can't be matched. When you go down on the throttle, it makes a loud ruckus and you feel the jolts from the engine and transmission, and when you are just cruising, it's quiet and smooth. The Polestar on the other hand is way faster, but is always quiet no matter how far your foot is down. The Polestar is pretty much normal to drive unless you put your foot down, then comes an "Oh ****" moment as you seemingly break the laws of physics. But the biggest difference is that the IS350 expends a lot of energy while the Polestar has very little overhead, even when it's full 408 hp/487 ft-lbs torque is released. Which is one of the reasons I leased it

Regrets: I wish I had included the performance pack, which included adjustable dampers. Not a big deal, but in hindsight I probably should have just got it

 

Great review. Such a great car and the performance is really nice to have. Its funny because it will pretty much beat the IS500 too in terms of speed and way cheaper to boot. Does the Polestar come with a recommended maintenance schedule?

 

Yes, and when it's time for maint, PoleStar will send a tech to your home or work location. I think it's every 10K

 

What do they do and how much does it cost?

 

Maint is free (or at least it's built into the cost) for the first 3 years. I have to look in the manual, but it's probably tire rotation, inspections of the motors, brakes etc and maybe any updates that are needed, although updates are OTA

 

 

Yeah. I wouldn't pay for the additional costs. EVs barely need maintenance for powertrain.

 

In three years I won't have this car anymore, I'll be moving on to something else. PoleStar is planning to come out with the PoleStar 5 which is competing with the Tycan. Who knows, Lexus might be out with an IS EV version in 3 years

 

Great write up.
Glad to see that you are enjoying the Polestar 2.
In terms of first scheduled maintenance, I remember that it was due at 2 years or 20k miles, which is fantastic. Pretty care-free if you ask me!

 

EV's could likely do with less maintenance, but I understand the dealers bodies demanded that there be some sort of annual interval at the bare minimum for their revenue cadence.