New single-motor Polestar 2 drops price while boosting power
Now that the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid is about to be discontinued — it will be no more after Q4 2021 — Polestar is expanding its all-electric range. In fact, it will now offer three different versions of its award-winning Polestar 2.
The first edition of the Polestar 2 — conveniently called the Launch Edition — will continue largely unchanged. It's loaded to the gills and remains the premium option.
A lower-cost version, dubbed the dual-motor Polestar 2 — the company obviously trying to wow us with fancy names — will feature fewer frills but retains the Launch Edition's 408-horsepower dual-motor drivetrain, all-wheel-drive, and 78-kilowatt-hour battery for a maximum range of 386 kilometres. Pricing for the dual-motor will be released in a few weeks.
Of bigger news is the new single-motor version of the 2. With just one electric motor but retaining the same 78-kWh battery, Polestar says it's good for 418 klicks before it needs recharging. Worth noting is that, unlike the dual-motor variant which produces 204 hp at each axle, the new single-motor has been pumped up to 231 hp for front-wheel-drive use.
Additionally, all three variants will be available with what Polestar calls its Plus Pack. And while it contains the usual high-end luxury doodads — Harman Karmon audio system with 13 speakers, WeaveTech vegan upholstery, Black Ash wood deco panels, fully-electric heated front seats with memory, heated rear seats, heated steering wheel, and heated wiper blades — the real big news is the addition of a heat pump.
Essentially a more efficient way to heat the cabin — it captures ambient heat and residual thermal energy from the drivetrain — which reduces the climate draw on the battery by as much as 50 per cent and extends range. At an exterior temperature of five to 20 degrees Celsius, Polestar says the vehicle can gain as much as 10 per cent more range and its effect is even greater in truly frigid climates.
Lower pricing and better cold weather range; it sounds like the Polestar 2 is finally ready for the Great White Frozen North. And to make the deal even sweeter, Polestar is offering $2,000 of trade-in assistance to those who are dumping their old internal-combustion vehicle until the end of April 2021.