Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor 2022 Review

The 2022 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor sits atop the range at $69,900 plus on-road costs, though that’s not quite the full story.

In order to keep the initial cost as low as possible, Polestar offers three option packs for the 2.

The $5000 Pilot Pack includes advanced driver assistance features such as adaptive cruise control, a 360-degree camera, blind spot assist, cross traffic alert, rear collision warning and LED front lighting.

While Polestar’s desire to keep its EV as affordable as possible is admirable, there’s a strong argument to be made that this extra safety equipment should be made standard.

The $6000 Plus Pack sounds like something you might order at the local fish ’n’ chippery, but it adds plenty of niceties like a full-length panoramic glass roof, a heat pump to reduce energy consumption, and a 13-speaker Harman Kardon stereo.

There’s also WeaveTech vegan upholstery that’s lighter than leather and made primarily from recycled materials, plus fully-electric front seats, Black Ash wood interior trim and heating for the rear seats, steering wheel and wiper nozzles for those icy Nordic mornings.

Finally, the $8000 Performance Pack is available only on the Dual Motor 2 and features 20-inch forged wheels, manually-adjustable Ohlins dampers, Brembo brake callipers with drilled 375mm front discs and gold details for the callipers, valve caps and seat belts.

Our test car had the works for a grand total of $88,900 plus ORCs – a somewhat steeper ask than the standard $69,900.

That’s more than the Kia EV6 GT-Line (from $82,990) and Tesla Model 3 Performance (from $84,900), for example, but places the top-shelf Polestar 2 below the forthcoming BMW i4 eDrive40 (from $99,990).

Sales are exclusively online, though Polestar intends to have retail experience spaces in major cities shortly.

Plenty of people will buy, or at least consider, the 2022 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor purely on the strength of its styling. It’s a great-looking thing, though one that defies categorisation.

There are elements of sedan and hatch and SUV without it really being any of the three, hence the application of the generic crossover term.

The interior continues to impress. Those who love glitz and glamour might not agree, but the Polestar’s neat, minimalist design is enhanced by the unusual material choices – wood in place of plastic, and fabric in place of leather. I like it a lot.

One downside of the interior is that because the Polestar 2 doesn’t sit on a bespoke EV platform it’s unable to take advantage of the packaging flexibility battery power affords.

For example, there is a traditional centre console that covers a transmission tunnel, rather than having spare room like in a Tesla or the Kia EV6 and Hyundai IONIQ 5, the latter judged the 2021 carsales Car of the Year.

Polestar has followed the trend of cramming every possible feature into the central infotainment screen in order to minimise button count and while, as usual, it’s a step too far in terms of ultimate useability, the speed and layout of the Polestar’s Android-based unit makes it much less of an issue than with some other manufacturers.

Switching between the various car, climate control and media functions is quick and easy and, being Google-based, having high-resolution Google Maps handle the navigation is a real benefit.

This is especially the case as a simple scan of a QR code links the car to your Google account, loading in saved addresses, contacts and more. Combine this with the ability to download apps directly onto the vehicle and smartphone mirroring starts to feel a little old hat.

On that front, though, while Apple CarPlay wasn’t available in our test car, an over-the-air update should mean customer cars have it. Wireless charging is standard, along with a pair of USB-C ports.

With the optional Pilot Pack installed, the Polestar’s safety offering is up to date and it works well, primarily by not being intrusive in day-to-day driving. The only thing worth mentioning is the strange fish-eye lens of the rear-view camera which distorts the image slightly.

Rear accommodation is reasonable, though the optional glass roof limits headroom for those over 180cm tall and the seat itself is quite firm. The door bins are also quite small, but there’s a pair of cup holders in the fold-down centre arm rest, another two USB-C ports, air vents and controls for the heated seats.

ISOFIX points are provided on the outer two seats with three top tethers, and there’s a ski port for access to the boot. Space is a reasonable 360L, or 1095L with the rear seats folded, but lift the boot floor and there’s another 41 litres of cargo room in addition to another 35L under the bonnet.

Where the 2022 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor differs from its cheaper siblings is, as the name suggests, its pair of electric motors, one on the front and rear axle.

Combined they produce 300kW and 660Nm, resulting in a claimed 0-100km/h sprint of 4.7sec.

A 78kWh battery offers a claimed 480km of range – obviously heavily dependent on your driving style – and charging times are quoted as 24 hours from 0-100 per cent on a typical wall outlet, eight hours from 0-100 per cent on a three-phase AC outlet and 35min from 10-80 per cent on a DC fast-charger.

Public charging still can be a patience-trying exercise, however, with multiple attempts required on two occasions to get the car, charger and app all speaking the same language. No fault of the Polestar, necessarily, but of little consolation when the car refuses to start charging.

Nevertheless, once on the move the top-shelf Polestar 2 offers the smooth, silent experience that makes electric cars such a pleasure to drive, though in this case the edge is taken off by the dull throttle response. A Sport mode to sharpen it up would be greatly appreciated.

It's certainly quick enough to have passengers gasping if caught unawares, though it lacks the explosive punch of the quicker Model 3 variants.

Performance may improve, however, with Polestar announcing an over-the-air update to lift outputs by 50kW and 20Nm, the resultant totals of 350kW/680Nm cutting the 0-100km/h claim to 4.4sec.

At the time of writing, it’s unclear if or when this update will apply to Australian cars.

Another area of concern is the 2’s regenerative braking settings. Altering them requires accessing a menu rather than just clicking a paddle, but even then the settings need some finetuning.

Off allows the car to sail freely, which is fine, but Low is really as strong as you’d ever want and Standard is akin to braking with moderately high force.

Other manufacturers offer better calibrations.

Surprisingly, the 2022 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor shines when some corners are introduced into the equation. We say ‘surprisingly’ because this mid-size crossover weighs a very substantial 2113kg before adding a driver, a good 350-450kg more than a petrol-powered car of the same size.

There are a number of factors working in the Polestar’s favour. The first is that it carries the majority of that weight down low, helping its centre of gravity; the second is that it wears grippy Continental SportContact6 tyres; finally, there are those optional Ohlins dampers.

They’ve been a common inclusion on Polestar-brand products but they’re arguably even more incongruous in the 2 than in performance Volvos.

Not because they don’t work. In fact, they work brilliantly, controlling the 2’s mass and answering every question the road surface may ask in the manner familiar to expensive, motorsport-spec suspension – the harder the hit, the smoother the reaction.

The trade-off is a firm ride in typical use, the kind a keen driver doesn’t mind but a passenger finds wearing. The dampers are adjustable but it’s a manual job that requires taking wheels off and getting your hands dirty, so it’s difficult to see any owner being curious enough to do so.

Still, the focused ride is excusable when the Polestar 2 has genuine handling talent. The steering is a little slow but the combination of strong (albeit hard-working) brakes, plenty of grip and fantastic all-wheel drive traction makes the dual-motor 2 extremely quick on a twisty road.

Quick enough to give most hot hatch drivers something to think about, at the very least. Just don’t expect to get anywhere near that 480km claimed range if you dip into the performance regularly.

There is a lot to like about the 2022 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor. It looks great, inside and out, the Google infotainment is truly excellent, it’s sufficiently practical, easy to drive slow, enjoyable to drive fast and, with those option boxes ticked, has all the kit you’d expect.

It would be nice if some of that optional equipment was standard – in particular on the safety side – but, equally, the fully-loaded 2 wears its near-$90K price tag quite well.

This only makes it more unfortunate that the Polestar trips up on some of the details.

Throttle and brake response could use some tweaking and the firm ride is at odds with the way these cars will be driven the vast majority of the time. The built-from-scratch Kia EV6 brings the Polestar’s shortcomings into sharp relief.

Nevertheless, don’t dismiss the Polestar 2. While it’s not quite a home run, it’s still a very easy car to like and one that’s enjoyable to both drive and be in.

As such, it’s a welcome addition to Australia’s EV club.

How much does the 2022 Polestar 2 Long Range Dual Motor cost?
Price: $69,900 plus ORCs ($88,900 plus ORCs as tested)
Available: Now
Powertrain: Two asynchronous electric motors
Output: 300kW/660Nm
Transmission: Single-speed reduction gear
Battery: 78kWh lithium-ion
Range: 480km (WLTP)
Energy consumption: 19.4kWh/100km (WLTP)
Safety rating: Five-star (ANCAP 2022)