Worth its wait
There’s that saying where you wait ages for a bus and then two show up at once
terrible cliche but that’s what’s happening at Polestar It feels like decades since the Polestar was launched centuries since that nifty plug in hybrid sports car the
of course Now it’s the turn of the Only with this particular bus it was still hiding round the corner short of the bus stop and we got to have a quick go in Sweden before everyone else Still in prototype form ahead of final sign off if there’s anything we don’t like they can pretend they’re working on it but it’s basically there Nice eh?
A bus won’t drift through the simulated country lanes of Volvo’s Hällered proving ground but then neither should a sizeable electric SUV Polestar’s man in charge of vehicle dynamics Roger Wallgren flings the thing about the place with abandon and we’re all delighted to follow suit Likewise the way the car hops about the off road route soaking up ruts and bumps and slopes Your new Polestar will quite happily drive down a flight of stairs if you’re feeling lazy Useful to know
It’s definitely an SUV this but trying hard to disguise it with design and things It’s got estate vibes with a long low look to it that ends in a sleek rear hatch but it’s still high riding It’s also very pared back and minimalist when you compare it with some of the efforts in the premium end of the market that like to throw chintz at a car and see what sticks
The design is neat the size of the car well judged and effectively disguised The aero tricks are fun at the front and rear especially that nose wing and the height of the rear hatch is lower than you expect the car tapering down coupe style The shares all its underbits with the new Volvo EX but it’s mm shorter mm lower and mm wider than the upright range topping SUV from across the other side of Gothenburg
Polestar is especially keen to point out the many ways in which it isn’t in fact Volvo There’s all this fancy extra sustainable stuff in the interior to hammer home the eco message You can also get real leather the firm couldn’t find a decent replacement with a lower carbon hoofprint so you get well kept cattle with names and a friendly disposition The free range elephant in the room of course is why anyone who’s interested in sustainability would want a
tonne SUV but we applaud the effort The in portrait infotainment has been reworked by a trendy Spanish fellow and his team and it’s much better than what Volvo’s come up with Chunky icons well thought through menus and a setup that’s easier to use on the move Still Google based and naturally we will need a longer drive in an
actual production version of the car to see whether we’re happy to surrender the buttons no carmaker has nailed the bare look yet
Often when the word ‘sporty’ is deployed mid briefing you tend to drift off another terrible cliche but the is at least able to back it up You get bhp/ lb ft in the one flavour of Long Range Dual Motor spec bhp/lb ft if you opt for the Performance Pack The mph dash is over in secs knocking off secs with the extra power The acceleration is linear and well judged rather than getting blitzed through the front wheels and leaving the car scrabbling
the power is sent to all four wheels wherever it’s needed as much for handling as grip The direct handling gives the car a nimble feel but at the same time it’s stable at a cruise
The air suspension and active dampers are a first for the brand and they’ve been well integrated into the car It’s easy to forget that there’s tonnes of car underneath you the weight is nicely contained and roll kept in check thanks partly to fancy suspension but also to the low centre of gravity with most of the mass contained in the obese kWh battery pack beneath the floor The Performance Pack adds some engineering and software tweaks a power boost gold seatbelts and valve caps and fancy in alloy wheels On the we never felt like the k Performance Pack was worth having Same here
That huge battery and fancy gearing that disengages the motors from the wheels is how the manages a mile range you lose about miles with the Performance Pack The onboard charger will juice the car at up to kW find yourself a suitably beefy rapid charger and you can fill up at up to kW You’ll want to with that many kWh to find otherwise it’ll feel like waiting for a bus An kW AC charger from empty will take hours while a kW bad boy will get you from per cent in minutes
Actually with the electric revolution upon us this will be our lives now waiting It’s good to get some practice in and the is probably worth the wait
“THE DESIGN IS NEAT, THE SIZE OF THE CAR WELL JUDGED AND EFFECTIVELY DISGUISED”