Polestar blends a mixed heritage for high performance

Polestar is one of the newer car brands to appear on Irish roads that comes with a mixed heritage. Polestar was originally the performance wing of the Swedish Volvo car brand. In 2010, Volvo, then part-owned by Ford was sold to the Chinese car manufacturer, Geely Holdings.

Since then, Geely has separated out Polestar as an individual car brand with its own Swedish headquarters. The Polestar focus has been on producing higher performance electric cars and the design ethos of both Polestar and Volvo remains noticeably Swedish, rather than Chinese. The Chinese part comes into play in terms of brand ownership and manufacture as most of the Polestar models available in Ireland are manufactured in China.

I’ve driven some early models of the Polestar range and in recent weeks I’ve had the opportunity to drive the entry model Polestar 2. This is a car that’s designed to meet a price point that will allow more drivers to experience the brand.

The Polestar 2 has an entry price of €39,897 or slightly more expensive entry level in Northern Ireland at £45,160. Other higher performance models in the Polestar range will easily bring the price point close to €100,000.

What separates the Polestar from the Volvo brand includes the styling and the message that this is a higher performance electric-only car brand. The Polestar styling still bears hints to its Volvo heritage with a Swedish minimalist feel to the car that portrays a lack of clutter and is a peaceful place to be in.

The car also has a stronger technology feel to it that’s probably less evident in the Polestar 2 than in some of the more expensive models in the range.

That performance is noticeable and so too is the impressive battery performance in terms of acceleration and ease of charging. The charging performance does as it says and is efficient. And so does the battery range expectation, although I had fewer longer motorway driving journeys than with some other electric cars that I’ve driven. This was a car that came close to the range rating which is significantly higher than many of the European competitors and a match for the Kia and Hyundai range performance figures.

Acceleration and handling

The Polestar 2 is an impressive car to drive in terms of acceleration and road handling. The car’s modest weight – compared to some of the other battery electric car competition – is well balanced and allows for a good driving experience.

There is a large central display screen that supports the information from the digital dials behind the steering wheel. A lot of the car’s comfort features, heating, etc, are controlled via that touchscreen and that’s always a distraction for me.

This is a keyless entry and starting car, meaning that as you approach the car, the key fob tells the car to open the doors. There is no ignition starting button either, just engage the automatic drive and away you go. It takes a little getting used to, especially the initial anxiety that you haven’t locked the car when you leave, but you get used to it.

This entry level Polestar 2 is a sizeable enough five-door hatchback car with good space front and back. The electric opening boot has good storage space, and the seats easily fold for a bigger load. And there is a big frunk or front storage area where an engine should be, to accommodate stuff.

In an overall sense, the Polestar 2 is not a car that will hugely stand out, those that know will know that its performance is an attraction, many others just simply won’t notice.

Styling

The brand logo and styling are subtle as is the dealership footprint in Ireland. There are very few dealers and this is a car brand that’s bought rather than one that’s sold.

The Polestar brand is sold in Ireland through Polestar Ireland a division of the OHM Group that imports the Jaguar Land Rover range and operates the Spirit Group of car dealerships. The Polestar brand in Ireland is seen as a totally separate entity with some service support crossover at some Volvo dealerships.

Many buyers may be self-impressed with its technology features, the subtlety of its design and the performance image. At a competitive entry price of €39,897 or £45,160 in Northern Ireland, some will be tempted to dip into the Polestar experience.

And they won’t be disappointed while the brand is at its early stage in the market. Used car values and depreciation levels are going to be difficult to assess, which remains part of the risk of opting for any of the newer car brands.

Specs