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Polestar 2 Review by FullyCharged

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The "spartan interior" is a design choice ... which many of us find is a step forward over the features more usually found in quality cars. In other words, for those of us who prefer the style, this makes it better not worse! I have to say I was blown away by the interior and when I get into other cars they invariably feel outdated in comparison. I realise this is a personal thing but I don't think the design aspect can be put alongside, for example, questionable build quality as something that makes the car lacking in comparision to other vehicles of similar price.

I agree 100%. For me, the Model 3 interior is innovative, unique and super practical. It’s also great for visibility. If I was picky I’d like Apple CarPlay as my household is very Apple centric and I’d like to use Apple Music. But I can live with Tesla’s built in Spotify now that I’ve worked out how to save favourite albums and playlists, only took me 6 months to do that :) Also, I always smile when I get in and see software upgrade release notes on the screen to tell me exactly how my car has got better overnight too.

As well as the screen, other interior elements of the Model 3 are also great - the ventilation is innovative, the seats are comfortable, there is loads of storage space, the glass roof makes it a light and airy. I don’t have anything to moan about in terms of interior, it feels a thoroughly modern, pleasant environment to be in.

On the Polestar review, I think it looks fine and it’s great to see more credible competitive EVs. But I still prefer my Model 3 in terms of style, range and charging network.
 
Comfort is a matter of opinion. I find the Model 3 more comfortable than my I-PACE. I don't sit in it hating its interior either, I appreciate the minimalism. I'm a millennial so I guess I don't have a fondness or attraction towards "traditional" interiors and am used to large screens being a big part of my life. So I'm not missing that traditional feeling when I'm driving the Model 3 at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like the simple interior of the M3. I’m also used to large screens - my current home office has six 28” monitors. But having a single screen, however large, means that it’s very limited in the amount of information it can display at any one time. As a minimum I’d add a decent binnacle display (Audi Virtual Cockpit is fantastic) and a HUD. Apparently though Elon doesn’t like HUDS which means we can’t have one.

But my main gripe is refinement. There’s just way too much wind and tyre noise at motorway speeds. This could never be described as a quiet car. The front seats are not nearly supportive enough for a car with sporty credentials. I expect much better from a car in this price range.
 
Don’t get me wrong, I do like the simple interior of the M3. I’m also used to large screens - my current home office has six 28” monitors. But having a single screen, however large, means that it’s very limited in the amount of information it can display at any one time. As a minimum I’d add a decent binnacle display (Audi Virtual Cockpit is fantastic) and a HUD. Apparently though Elon doesn’t like HUDS which means we can’t have one.

But my main gripe is refinement. There’s just way too much wind and tyre noise at motorway speeds. This could never be described as a quiet car. The front seats are not nearly supportive enough for a car with sporty credentials. I expect much better from a car in this price range.

Sell it and buy something that meets your needs?
 
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I was delighted to hear that those hideously expensive Ionity chargers are about as reliable as Ecotricity ones - that fact alone needs to be broadcast far and wide. The shameless motor manufacturing owners of Ionity are lobbying for the Tesla supercharging network to opened up to everyone thereby kiilling a key Tesla market advantage at a stroke and years of investment into constructing a reliable, fast international charging network. Instead, they need to improve what is clearly an overpriced 2nd rate product. Much like their overdue cars.
 


Is it just me that gets overly wound up by their inaccurasies? I mean... Whats the point of listing statistics if you are going to get them wrong?

They took "real range" from EV databse and then compared it to estimaed "real range" for polestar 2 ... Where the disclaimer is clrealy stated Polestar 2 "All specifications on this page with a * are still estimates."

So why??? Why do this???

Plus why compare it to the 3 at all? its more of a Y competitor, both are "pre-order" in UK right now if you want to get picky about availability.


Also no closeup on the "much better interiour" ... No metion of autopilot/cruise control functions .... No mension of efficiency of HVAC (important in an EV) ... no mention of any kind of built in dashcam....

Why even bother?

This very car is currently sitting in my driveway. I’ve spent a couple of hours in it, comparing it against my Model 3 P.

Happy to answer any questions on it...
 
No issues with chassis rigidity, Feels very solid, but low speed ride on city streets isn’t that pleasant.

Might be a big ask. Any data on 150kw charging speeds? How does it compare to your model 3 when supercharging at 150kw, much slower? Similar?

Is there battery preconditioning systems for charging in place? Similar to the model 3?

Does the smaller size account for much in day to day driving?

Any comparisons of the Level 2 driver assistance vs Autopilot ?

Cheers!
 
Well, the only thing the Polestar will have over the M3 is the quality of the interior. That’s where it will win points for a more conventionally minded customer. Otherwise - it’s plain fugly. To me, the M3 is too tall for its width, but the Polestar makes it look sweet. Now if only the M3 were better put together....
 
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Might be a big ask. Any data on 150kw charging speeds? How does it compare to your model 3 when supercharging at 150kw, much slower? Similar?

Is there battery preconditioning systems for charging in place? Similar to the model 3?

Does the smaller size account for much in day to day driving?

Any comparisons of the Level 2 driver assistance vs Autopilot ?

Cheers!

Not charged it on anything but my TWC, so can’t say anything about charging speeds. Doubt it’ll beat what my Model 3 was doing the other day though;

58CBE6FB-002E-41AC-85D9-9361679792C7.jpeg


As for the other questions? No idea, I shall consult {deep breath} the manual....
 

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Not charged it on anything but my TWC, so can’t say anything about charging speeds. Doubt it’ll beat what my Model 3 was doing the other day though;

View attachment 569596

As for the other questions? No idea, I shall consult {deep breath} the manual....

Since this is a press car did they give you any idea of the annual number they can build?

In the UK it looks like the Polestar is almost identically priced to the Model 3 but in the US it’s considerably more expensive than the Tesla. In your own situation would you consider the Polestar over the Tesla at the same price? Would you pay more for the Polestar?
 
can you share some pic and videos of interior, what colour did you get. Is is a lease ?

Sure, I’ll take a few pics in the morning when there’s some light to be had. Was there something specific not covered in all the other vids and photo material on this car?

Just to be clear, it’s not actually my car, so regarding spec and options? Honestly, I’ve no idea, but it’s literally the exact car shown in the video posted by the OP, so I imagine some clues are in that.
16576752-4CBF-4BA5-9EC5-5555CF3B8B73.jpeg
 
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Since this is a press car did they give you any idea of the annual number they can build?

In the UK it looks like the Polestar is almost identically priced to the Model 3 but in the US it’s considerably more expensive than the Tesla. In your own situation would you consider the Polestar over the Tesla at the same price? Would you pay more for the Polestar?

Ah, now I’m not a journo, I just make the stuff these cars run on. The journalist who is the cars current custodian might have those answers, I’ll ask him when he returns with my Tesla.

As for whether I’d consider it over a Tesla at the same price? I need to have a think about that. It’s certainly good enough to be a contender. There’s things I like and there’s things I don’t like, but make no mistake, this is as serious a competitor as the model 3 has yet faced.

I’ll report my impressions when I’ve driven it some more, don’t want to jump the gun with half formed opinions.