Almost a week since I’ve has the Polestar 2 now so I thought I’d share a few perspectives.
Why an Electric Car?
Let’s start at the beginning. I’d love to say that I chose an EV for environmental reasons, or to save a few quid on fuel but tbh the decision was almost entirely down to company car BIK being so low.
For £350 a month, I could get a fully subsidised >£60k car (insurance, maintenance, even the electric). Winner.
For context, my previous cars have been a 320D, E89 Z435i, M135i, F10 530D and a new A6 50TDI
First Impressions
I had never seen a Polestar or even driven an EV before I took delivery of the car, so I was unsure what to expect. What I can say, is that the car looks MUCH better in the flesh than in pictures. It sort of has an understated muscle car feel about it.
Stepping in to the car for the first time I felt it was a bit small - not a massive surprise coming from an A6 I guess. After a week, though it feels about right. Not massive amount of storage but should just about suffice for a couple of kids (and we have a bigger car for my wife).
The quality of the interior is exceptional. I went with the Napa Leather option which is well up there and probably above the quality of the 5 series I had. It feels very premium inside indeed. It’s very minimalist, very well thought out and exceptionally relaxing to be in. A decent step above the A6 for me.
Performance
Wow. I’d watched every YouTube video you can imagine before I got the car, but I wasn’t prepared for just how fast and just how immediate the power delivery is.
This feels significantly faster than anything I’d owned before. I thought I’d miss the engine noise but I really don’t - the silence is rather relaxing.
It’s a proper sleeper. It has surprised a few premium sports cars over the last few days
Handling
This is the one that surprised me a bit. It’s a heavy car, no doubt - but the centre of gravity is so low that it feels much more ‘chuckable’ that you’d expect. It handles rather well considering - it’s only at quite high (mostly illegal) speeds that you feel the weight wanting to push you into the hedges when cornering.
Practicality
Storage is decent and very creative (thanks, Volvo) so it’s really the EV aspect that I wanted to discuss here. I’m still getting used to it. I don’t yet have a charger at home so have relied (albeit only a couple of times) on public chargers.
The process seems super easy to me - it’s just taking some getting used to planning journeys in a more deliberate manner. Today, for example I took a book to a local charger and spent an hour there - actually a nice break from the screen.
Overall this is an incredible piece of kit. I know I’m only a week in and very much still in the honeymoon period, but I think this might just be the best car I’ve ever owned.
