The Little Fat Turbocharged Car’s Author

Some cars belong to the “minority” in the eyes of many people. Just like when driving an Alfa Romeo Giulia in front of “car enthusiasts” who care about fuel cars, it will inevitably be attacked: If you have this much money, why not buy a XXX instead…

Every time I see this, my thinking is actually very simple: If someone likes it, why bother?

I don’t want to say which car is good or bad, I just want to say that each car has its own personality and audience, just like fuel cars and electric cars.

As a new energy brand from Northern Europe, I think Polestar has perfectly expressed its brand tone: temperature-controlled minimalist design. And this time, I drove the Polestar 2 single-motor long-endurance version to take over the last leg of the “Hainan Island Zero Carbon Journey”.

The Single-Motor Born out of Necessity

In 2019, the Polestar 2 was officially launched. At that time, Polestar 2 only had a dual-motor version with a system maximum power of 300 kW, maximum torque of 600 N·m, zero-to-hundred acceleration of 4.7 seconds, battery pack capacity of 71 kWh, and NEDC range of 450 km.

At that time, GeekCar held a new energy vehicle test event for users, selecting several models that most people voted for, including Polestar 2. In the final user feedback, several models including Polestar 2 received certain praise.

The impression left by Polestar 2 at that time was that it was fun to drive and had good design. Of course, that was a dual-motor version equipped with a performance package, which included a test drive with 22-step adjustable Ohlins front and rear double flow valve shock absorbers and four-piston Brembo calipers.

This year, Polestar 2 officially released the single-motor version, including the standard range and long-range versions. As for the single-motor long-range version I test drove, it has a system maximum power of 170 kW, maximum torque of 330 N·m, zero-to-hundred acceleration of 7.4 seconds, battery pack capacity of 78 kWh, and NEDC range of 565 km.

Sacrificing some acceleration performance and increasing the battery pack capacity has resulted in better endurance performance. Or, it can be said that the appearance of the single-motor version has expanded the audience of Polestar 2 to some extent.

Even though the current single-motor version no longer has a performance package, it still offers sufficient driving pleasure, and that is something I’m gratified about.

Addition and Subtraction in Car Design

I’m not an automotive design major, but I do have some thoughts on current automotive design. Nowadays, more and more car models are taking a minimalist approach, which is subtraction, and I think this is the trend of the future. However, subtraction does not mean simplicity. Subtraction is actually difficult because automotive design should first do addition and then subtraction.

That means thinking about all the functions, scenarios, designs, and user needs, and then doing corresponding deletions and optimizations. Like the Polestar 2, although I can’t say it’s the best electric car in the world, I believe it embodies minimalist design and brand characteristics perfectly.

The exterior of the Polestar 2 looks like it was carved out of a block of plaster. The use of lines and angles creates a highly sculptural appearance. It even uses body-colored logos that not only meet regulatory requirements, but also maximize a car’s beauty.

In addition to the exterior, the interior design of Polestar 2 is also highly restrained. The black-gray interior looks a bit monotonous, but the warm ambient lighting enhances the overall atmosphere.

Whether it’s the Weave Tech material instead of real leather, the headliner’s projected logo, or the many details that accentuate the design, Polestar 2 brings simplicity and design sense that more resembles postmodern Nordic home design.

The 12.3-inch instrument panel and 11.15-inch central touch screen, along with touch, voice, and physical buttons, constitute the interactive core of the Polestar 2 intelligent cabin. The HMI design of the infotainment system is also in keeping with the Polestar minimalist design style, especially the navigation display on the instrument panel, with a gradual fade-out design at the edges of the navigation map.

Unfortunately, the main navigation color of the overseas version of the infotainment system is black, which is more coordinated overall. However, in the domestic version, due to the use of Amap, the deep blue navigation color is slightly abrupt.

The Polestar 2 infotainment system was developed by Aptiv based on Android Automotive OS, but due to various restrictions, it does not have access to the Google ecosystem in China. Therefore, in China, the Polestar 2 has access to the “Huawei App Market”. In the Huawei App Market, in addition to common functions such as navigation and music, we can also download many applications such as video, weather, radio, stocks, and flights, and it also provides many application recommendations.

Compared to previous versions of the infotainment system, the online music function of the Polestar 2 is only equipped with KuGou Music. During the experience, I found that the Polestar 2 has introduced the more user-friendly Tencent AiQuTing.

Uncompromising Driving

It has to be said that Polestar has put a lot of effort into tuning the chassis.

The single-motor version of the Polestar 2 adopts a front MacPherson and rear multi-link suspension configuration, with a sporty tuning. The suspension has strong support, and is somewhat stiffer than most vehicles on the market, especially when going through bumps and potholes. However, in the bends, the chassis of the Polestar 2 performs absolutely stable, and the vehicle roll is well controlled, which can give the driver enough confidence.

The single-motor long-range version of Polestar 2 has a motor power of 170 kW, which cannot bring us the joy of the dual-motor, but for daily use, the performance of the dual-motor is indeed a bit excessive. The acceleration experience of the single motor is very comfortable and more suitable for daily driving.

Polestar 2’s single-pedal mode with three adjustable levels, including strong, low, and off. Compared to new energy vehicles, even in strong mode, the drag feeling of kinetic energy recovery is not obvious. But for those who are used to driving fuel vehicles, putting the kinetic energy recovery in the “low” gear feels more like the idle speed of a fuel engine.

Overall, the single-motor version of Polestar 2 still supports the excellent driving and riding performance that Polestar has always had, even without Öhlins and Brembo.

Let’s talk about endurance

Compared to the dual-motor version, the most core competitiveness of the single-motor version of Polestar 2 undoubtedly lies in two points: price and endurance. As for the price, the subsidized price of the single-motor long-range version I test drove is RMB 282,800.

As for endurance, for the last leg of our zero-carbon tour around Hainan, we traveled from Dongfang to Haikou, with three men in the car, air conditioning set to automatic at 20 degrees, and single-pedal mode set to low:

Before departure, the remaining power was 75% and the remaining endurance was 420 km, and the mileage subtotal was cleared:

The whole journey was less than 200 kilometers, about 85% high-speed + 15% provincial road and urban area. The navigation estimated that there is 25% remaining power when arriving at the destination:

Drive throughout the journey at a limited speed, but due to heavy rain during high-speed driving (the type with zero visibility), it was necessary to maintain distance and crawl until passing the storm, then increasing speed to the limit:

After arriving at the destination, the traveled distance was 185.5 km, the remaining battery was 23%, the remaining range was 130 km, the average energy consumption was 20.7 kWh/100 km, and the average speed was 78 km/h:

During this trip, the actual battery drain was 290 km, which is approximately 64% when compared to the traveled distance. Calculating for a full battery, the actual range would be approximately 362 km, and approximately 377 km according to the average energy consumption. Of course, this is based on the performance of three passengers and mostly high-speed driving conditions, but I think there is still some room for improving the energy consumption performance of the Polestar 2.

Finally

In the wave of electric and intelligent development, it is difficult to find a few car brands and products like Polestar that do not follow the trend. Polestar’s persistence in brand attitude is reflected in its products.

The so-called “minority” represents its choice of audience groups. After experiencing Polestar’s products several times, I can see that the users Polestar is targeting are those with taste, who enjoy driving pleasure and have unique views.

The feeling that the single-motor version of the Polestar 2 brings me is that it has enough artistic expression, strong car-making skills, and far-reaching goals in the new energy era, but it appears somewhat conservative in intelligent development.

Perhaps, in future new products, especially after the Precept model is mass-produced, we will be able to see a different Polestar.

This article is a translation by ChatGPT of a Chinese report from 42HOW. If you have any questions about it, please email bd@42how.com.