The Polestar 2 gets a facelift, more power – and more range

The Polestar 2 was the first real competitor to Tesla’s Model 3 in 2020. Of course, the design is debatable, but many would probably describe the electric sedan as the more beautiful Model 3.

However, in terms of range and driver assistance systems, the Swedish-Chinese co-production lost out to Tesla, as our test showed.

Now Polestar, a subsidiary of Volvo and China from Geely, is bringing a refreshed version of the Polestar 2 with a revised look, more standard assistance systems and new electric motors. These have more power and increase efficiency and therefore range – the latter in particular has not been a strong point of the Model 3 rival until now.

The characteristic grille on the front is a thing of the past. As with the Polestar 3, the corresponding area now houses the front camera and radar sensors.

More power, charging speed and range

With the new model, the single-engine variants are switched from front to rear-wheel drive and the range increases to a maximum of 635 kilometers according to the WLTP standard. According to the manufacturer, the Polestar 2 has more environmentally friendly batteries with improved cell chemistry.

As before, there are four versions:

The standard range variant comes with an LG battery with an unchanged capacity of 69 kWh. This should now be possible up to 518 instead of 478 km.

The three long-range variants now have 82 kWh batteries from CATL instead of the 78 kWh battery. With the Single Motor Long Range model, the official range increases from 551 to 635 kilometers.

The maximum charging power increases from 130 to 135 kW for the cheaper model with the smaller battery and from 155 to 205 kW for the long-haul versions with a larger battery.

The standard equipment has also been revised: it now includes blind spot assist with steering intervention, cross-traffic warning with brake support, a rear-end collision warning system, a 360 degree all-round vision system and auto-dimming exterior mirrors.

The refreshed model can be ordered now from CHF 48,900 and delivery is scheduled for the third quarter of 2023.

(oli)