2022 Polestar 2 Reviews, Pricing & Specs

The company offers two models: the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid and the Polestar 2 electric vehicle. The 2 launched in 2021 with a single trim and pricing starting at $69,900 Canadian, not including the $1,900 destination charge. For 2022, the company has lowered the starting MSRP to $56,900 for the Dual Motor car and added the new Single Motor trim with a starting price of $49,900—again, both not including the $1,900 destination charge. It’s not every day that you see an automaker lower an MSRP, rather than raise it, from year to year. The trade-off, naturally, is that features that were once standard are now optional—so the 2022 Polestar 2 you purchase may not necessarily look or feel quite as nice as your neighbours’ 2021 Polestar 2 unless you spring for the Performance Pack and Plus Pack.

Polestar’s relationship with Swedish automaker Volvo is immediately evident, whether you’re looking at the 2’s exterior or interior. Outside, the Polestar 2 features the same “Thor’s Hammer” headlights found on virtually every modern Volvo, and the nearly vertical grille frames a similar, slab-like front end. The similarities stretch under the sheet-metal, too, as the Polestar 2 is engineered atop the CMA platform first seen on the Volvo XC40.

The five-door hatchback hides its practicality within a fastback sedan profile. Apple still doesn’t make a car (yet), but if it did, we’d imagine it could look a bit like the Polestar 2. Colour options include Void (black), Snow (white), and various shades of gray—although, in person, colours like Thunder and Midnight look very good and more blue than gray.

Overall, the 2 looks high-tech and sophisticated. Its lines are crisp and there are few curves along the vehicle’s shape. Blacked-out A-pillars and B-pillars lend a full-glass look to the front half of the greenhouse.

Inside, the Polestar 2 keeps a techy atmosphere. As in the Tesla Model S, the dashboard is dominated by a portrait-oriented touchscreen display. The steering wheel looks and feels magnificent. The gear selector is minimal and elegant, with the Polestar logo nestled within its tall and hexagonal figure. The stereo speakers are hidden within the doors, helping to keep a minimal design, and three-dimensional, etched interior trim lends more futuristic style to the 2.

As tech-forward as it feels, the 2 also shows off an admirable commitment to sustainability. Vegan upholstery 99% free of plasticizers is fitted in nearly every 2 (only the Nappa leather option is not vegan), and all Polestar interiors use recycled materials.

It’s not all roses, however. The 2’s fastback design and high parcel shelf severely limit rearward visibility, and the rear-view camera on our test car proved absolutely dreadful. Much of that frustration can be avoided by selecting the surround-view monitor offered as part of the 2’s Pilot Pack, but that adds $4,500 to the price.

Additionally, the cupholders could use some work. One lives precisely where you’d expect—between the front seats—but a second one hides inside the centre console, rendering it relatively useless.

We’ve lived in the age of EVs long enough that quick, off-the-line acceleration doesn’t surprise or impress us. So, while the Polestar 2 is undeniably quick (particularly when equipped with dual motors and all-wheel drive), we needed to see how it delivered and handled that speed.

Luckily, we had the chance to test multiple Polestar 2 trims along seriously twisty routes, and with plenty of elevation change to boot. We marveled at how flat the heavy vehicle was able stay around corners.

A 78-kWh battery pack made up of 324 “pouch”-style cells delivers 75 kWh of usable capacity. With power specs of 408 horsepower and 487 pound-feet of torque, the 2 Dual Motor has the goods to absolutely fly, but we’ve come to expect more body roll and head toss from cars this heavy—the 2 Dual Motor sports a hefty curb weight of 2,112 kilograms (4,658 pounds). Without a conservative approach into corners, the 2 still tended to understeer, but take a thoughtful line, and the 2 Dual Motor’s chassis and powertrain allow it to really hustle. Better yet, because the 2 doesn’t rely on an internal combustion engine, we didn’t suffer any horsepower loss as we drove higher up in elevation.

Polestar now offers the 2 with a single-motor powertrain, new for 2022, as well. It operates on the same McPherson-strut front-, multi-link rear suspension setup as the 2 Dual Motor, but features only front-wheel drive (FWD) rather than all-wheel drive (AWD). Drivers have 231 hp and 243 lb-ft of torque to play with, and the single electric motor offers a longer standard range. Polestar calls both its cars long-range and estimates the Polestar 2 Single Motor will deliver 427 kilometres of range on a full charge, compared with 400 kilometres from the dual-motor model, per Natural Resources Canada. Of note, that 400 figure is up from 375 kilometres in 2021, but because it was unlocked via a software update, owners of the 2021 Polestar 2 will also benefit, thanks to over-the-air update (OTA) installations from the company.

We did not have a chance to test the 2 Dual Motor’s available Brembo brakes, Ohlins DHV dampers, or sport tires, all available on the Performance Package (Dual-Motor only). However, the single-motor model we tested managed admirably along a rather bumpy route.

The 2 can charge at up to 155 kW, a figure that’s been bumped up from 150 in 2021, thanks to software updates, and it uses a CCS charge port. Polestar says to expect a 33-minute wait when charging the 2 from 10% to 80% on a DC fast charger.

Compared with the competition, the Polestar 2 suffers from a lack of cargo space. While shoppers will find 424 litres of cargo space in a Tesla Model 3, and 405 litres behind the rear seat of the Polestar 2 (a figure that includes 39 litres of under-floor storage), the Mustang Mach-E’s full-on crossover design affords it 822 litres of trunk space. Furthermore, while the Model 3 and Polestar 2 provide roughly 1,217 and 1,095 litres, respectively, when the rear seat is folded, the Mach-E offers a mighty 1,690 litres. In short, the Polestar 2 may be enough for many people's day-to-day needs, but this isn’t the car for a family of five.

Polestar positioned the batteries in the 2 in such a way that front- and rear-seat passengers benefit from a little extra legroom. They showcase a sort of stacked packaging, so you’ll notice a centre tunnel splitting the floor in the rear, and the rear seats are positioned a little higher than is typical. We found the 2’s interior to be comfortable, if a bit cramped. The centre console takes up a lot of space and the windows feature a high beltline, giving it a bit of an “inside the bunker” vibe.

A new optional mechanical heat pump arrives for 2022, helping the car extend its driving range by up to 10% in colder weather. And, with a towing capacity of 900 kilograms (2,000 pounds), the 2 looks ready to provide reasonable capability to folks looking to tow a teardrop trailer or head out on a winter vacation.

Polestar is the first automaker to employ a fully embedded infotainment system from Google. That means Google Assistant is built-in, cords are rendered unnecessary (although the 2 features four USB-C outlets), and Google Play Store apps like Spotify are available to download directly to the car’s infotainment system. With so many people running Google Maps on Android Auto or Apple CarPlay anyway, this simply cuts out the middleman.

Keep in mind, to get the most out of Spotify through the Polestar 2's Harman Kardon sound system, you’ll still want to pay for a Spotify Premium account, but if that’s already something on your monthly budget, the service’s integration in the 2 is seamless and instantly convenient.

Better yet, Google's Android Automotive system will work with non-Android phones (Polestar says it’s “platform-agnostic”). Chargepoint, a leading EV charging network service, also has an app available for the Polestar 2, and Polestar and Google promise regular OTA updates.

As with any brand-new system, there will undoubtedly be a few wrinkles to be ironed out, but during our testing, it worked flawlessly—unless we ran out of cell reception.

As with many new and expensive vehicles, the Polestar 2 has not been crash-tested by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) or the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS). However, it received a 5-star NCAP safety rating in Europe, and the North American models are mechanically identical, minus their charging ports.

Polestar also offers a compelling, if incomplete, suite of safety features and driver assistance technologies as standard equipment. Collision avoidance and mitigation, lane keep assist, forward collision warning, and post-impact braking are included on every Polestar 2.

Automatic emergency braking with pedestrian and cyclist detection, blind-spot monitoring with steering support, cross-traffic alert, rear-collision warning and mitigation are available as part of the Pilot Pack. Same with adaptive cruise control and the necessary surround-view camera. Considering the reputation for safety that Volvo has, we would have liked to see these options listed as standard equipment by Polestar.

Building a car is hard. Cars are highly technical pieces of machinery that involve countless parts and huge staffs of people responsible for engineering, designing, and manufacturing them. But building a car company is harder for very different reasons.

Despite being relatively new to the industry, Tesla has succeeded in winning the adoration and zealot-like loyalty of millions of potential buyers. It has sold its electric cars with the promise that they were not only great vehicles, but also the future. They revolutionized the dealership model with a direct-sales approach and leveraged the allure of “simple” and “easy” to build a nearly vertical maintenance structure.

Like Tesla, Polestar understands that the key to victory in the EV space will hinge on customer satisfaction. Currently, 3 Polestar dealerships (or “space partners,” as the company calls them) exist in Canada—one each in Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver—ready to provide at-home test drives to curious buyers.

Three years or 48,000 kilometres of complimentary service and maintenance is provided. The work will be done at select Volvo dealerships, but owners won’t need to find the time to drive to the shop—Polestar will pick up, drop off, and provide loaner cars during the interim, provided the owner lives within 240 kilometres of the nearest authorized Polestar service location.

So, what’s the holdup? Based on the decision to lower the financial barrier to entry, one can assume that last year, it was price. A less-expensive, long-range single-motor version and a de-contented dual-motor version of the Polestar 2 may help move units. After all, the Polestar 2 does many things well—particularly in terms of style, design, and technology.

The trouble is, entering the EV market right now is challenging. You’d better be good, because virtually every competitor is putting their best effort on the field. The Polestar 2 competes against new, cutting-edge cars in a new, cutting-edge field. Even at $50- or $60 grand (let alone more for packages), the 2 remains an expensive vehicle, and we’re not confident its new price tag will help it compete against Tesla, let alone non-luxury options like the Mustang Mach-E or the Volkswagen ID.4.

Note: Images show a US model.