Flawed Genius
James Fossdyke finds out whether Scandi brand Polestar can really take the eco-friendly fight to Tesla
If Boris Johnson is to be believed, electric cars are the future. Someday soon we will be zipping about the country in silence, with the clatter of exploding petrol replaced by the quieter and cleaner hum of electrons. No more washing smelly diesel off your hands after a trip to the filling station; instead you’ll simply plug into a nearby lamp post to recharge the batteries.
That’s the dream, at least. For the time being, the reality is somewhat less appealing. Instead of refilling the tank in a matter of minutes, you spend hours sipping tepid coffee in miserable motorway service stations while the charger transfers power as grudgingly as Donald Trump. Instead of blatting down the motorway with music blaring, you sit in cold silence at 56mph, desperately hoping the car will hold enough charge to get you home.
Unless, of course, you own a Tesla. The cars will drive a long way between charges, and the Supercharger network is reliable and fast, all of which means you spend less time with your nose in a disgusting flat white from Stella’s butty van.
But now there’s a new company on the scene, and it’s here to play Tesla at its own game. Unless you’re a fan of niche motorsport or high-performance Volvos, you’ve probably never heard the name Polestar. But the company that started out turning Volvos into race cars is now building its own cutting-edge eco-friendly vehicles that play Tesla at its own game.
Key to this fight is the new Polestar 2 – a £50,000 four-door designed to take on the Tesla Model 3. With two electric motors providing 402bhp and four-wheel drive, as well as a 78kWh battery that (allegedly) offers up to 292 miles of all-electric driving, it stacks up well.
It works on the road, too, because unlike a Tesla, the interior doesn’t feel as though it’s made from old wheelie bins. Although that might be down to the fact Polestar has nicked half the interior trim from a Volvo. And the touchscreen is based on a sort of Android operating system, meaning it works just like your mobile phone. All of which makes the Polestar cleaner and more intuitive than pretty much any other car on the road. Combine that with strong performance, fine handling and decent ride comfort, and it’s every inch the premium saloon. In fact, it’s better than a Tesla.
Or at least it would be, were it not for one fundamental flaw. You see, it might manage 292 miles to a charge if you pootle around town like a saint, but on a long drive – where range really matters – I couldn’t get it to do much more than 180 miles between trips to the plug, even driving at a snail’s pace. Admittedly, the weather was cold and the days were short, but not excessively so. It wouldn’t be such an issue were the charging network larger and more reliable, but the world just hasn’t caught up yet. It’s a crying shame, but it’s hard to recommend the 2 as anything other than a second car.
Fortunately, though, Polestar makes another car that isn’t waiting on the world to catch up. It’s called the Polestar 1, and it’s a breathtakingly pretty two-door coupe with a clever plug-in hybrid powertrain that effectively combines a petrol engine and two electric motors. The 77-mile all-electric range is perfect for plodding around town, while the 2.0-litre petrol engine is there to provide some peace of mind on longer journeys. When the battery dies, you can either recharge as you would with an electric car, or let the engine take over, turning the car into a conventional petrol-powered vehicle.
But the engine does more than just save you from dodgy coffee and unappetising burgers. Working in tandem with the electric motors, it provides a massive 601bhp that takes you from a standstill to 62mph in about four seconds. That’s fast in anyone’s book, and although the delivery is eerily subdued, it will very quickly put you on the wrong side of the law.
And it isn’t just the engine that’s high-tech. The bodywork is made from carbon fibre, the rear spoiler rises and falls depending on the situation and the suspension is adjustable to make the car comfier or more agile, depending on your preferences. It all allows the Polestar to handle beautifully, with an impressive lightness that’s missing from, say, a Bentley Continental. It still has a slightly soft side, though, which is ideal for covering long distances in comfort.
But again, there are catches. For starters, just 1,500 examples will be built, so Polestar hasn’t bothered to develop a right-hand-drive model for the UK. You can buy a 1 in this country, but the steering wheel will be on the wrong side. And when you slide into that left-hand seat, you’ll find yourself ensconced in a cabin stolen entirely from Volvo. That’s no bad thing – Volvo parts are hardly found in the bargain basement – but it’s a bit galling when you’ve paid a frankly outrageous £139,000 to own one of these cars.
But for all that, I like the Polestar 1. Nothing else on the road attracts so many admiring glances, and few things intrigue like a car nobody is likely to see elsewhere. I know all about its flaws, but somehow, I just don’t care. That’s the sign of a truly great car.
Polestar 1
Price from: £139,000
Top speed: 155mph
Gearbox: Eight-speed automatic
Engine: 2.0-litre plug-in hybrid
0-62mph: 4.2 seconds
Power: 601bhp
Polestar 2
Price from: £46,900
Top speed: 127mph
Gearbox: Single-speed fixed gear
Engine: Two electric motors
0-62mph: 4.7 seconds
Power: 402bhp
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