Polestar 2

[mikeiow]

CheesecakeRunner said:

It’s not a ground up EV. It’s the same platform as the Volvo XC40.

But that’s conflating design with construction. Just because the design of something isn’t ideal, doesn’t mean it can’t be constructed well out of good materials. Which the Polestar 2 is.

Ah, I hadn’t spotted that, thanks.

I agree it looks like a lovely car, but that feels like a very wasted opportunity.

• sigh*

[TheRainMaker]

51mes said:

1) the front suspension clonks over rough roads (I'm in the lake.district, so it's not uncommon).

Mine doesn't clonk, it might be worth getting it checked

[John87]

They have actually made use of the hump in the rear floor by filling it with batteries. It isn't a flat battery like in a Tesla and instead dips down in the footwells and up in the centre. It means you get more legroom whereas anyone over 5 foot in a Tesla has their legs lifted off the seat. I would say it makes the car a 4 seater rather than a 5 seater but it's equal to pretty much any ICE car which has the same layout.




In terms of cupholders, there are are two in the front, two in the back and space for bottles in the doors. That is plenty for most people and I can't say I have actually used a cupholder in any of my cars for anything other than holding loose change, keys etc

Edited by John87 on Sunday 3rd September 08:36

[51mes]

TheRainMaker said:

Mine doesn't clonk, it might be worth getting it checked

I've heard a couple of reviewers saying theirs does, I will give them a call and get it looked at, thanks I was hoping for a response like that ;-)

[ajap1979]

TheRainMaker said:

51mes said:

1) the front suspension clonks over rough roads (I'm in the lake.district, so it's not uncommon).

Mine doesn't clonk, it might be worth getting it checked

Mine is clunky as hell. It’s supposedly down to the dodgy XC40 struts.

[Silver Smudger]

John87 said:

Music on a USB is quite outdated now with the introduction of streaming and cloud services. The only way to do it directly is using an app called audiowagon which you can download in the car. The method I prefer is to upload my library to YouTube music and just stream my own music as well as anything on YouTube.

Rant - I am not going to waste any time on another streaming service.

I was quite happy with Google Play Music. My ripped CDs were automatically uploaded, I had an inexpensive google chromecast attached to each hifi, I could stream almost anywhere, (signal permitting) on a phone, tablet, PC at work, wherever - And then they binned it - And had the "wrong type of Youtube account" to transfer existing music to the replacement Youtube music service - Back to albums on a USB stick again.

What I do like is having all the CDs I bought in the last 30 years in one place, filed in the folders I put them in so I know where they are. I like to listen to my choice of music, without hearing DJs or adverts, without paying again for the privilege and without having to hunt down mobile data in rural areas.

Thank you, I will investigate Audiowagon. - I also have all my music on a (Google) mobile phone and can play it via Android Auto when connected to the current car - The player app is called Poweramp - Anyone know if that would work? Is there a definitive list of apps that are compatible with Polestar's system?

[ajap1979]

You can just use the USB-C connection and play music that is stored on your phone.

[8bit]

JonnyVTEC said:

8bit said:

Nail on the head there IMHO. I've no experience of Teslas at all but for me until Polestar came along, EVs were all trying to be new, different, crossing different boundaries, inventing new niches etc. When we were looking for a new family car a few years ago (ended up with a Jaguar XF estate) we did consider EVs and some hybrids but nothing ticked all the boxes - decent range, enough space for a family of four and luggage for a trip away somewhere, nice to look at and doesn't cost the earth. For us, the Polestar 2 does tick all those boxes and the whole experience just feels well thought through, well put together and like Polestar have been doing this for donkeys years.

Is that why it’s got a massive tunnel and managed one cupholder. Open your eyes mate, talking about buyer justification syndrome.

Did I say it was perfect? How many cupholders do you feel it should it have?

Buyer justification syndrome my arse - we like the car for what it is.

For reference, ours has two - if you'd bothered to look under the armrest...

Edited by 8bit on Monday 4th September 00:26

[Silver Smudger]

ajap1979 said:

You can just use the USB-C connection and play music that is stored on your phone.

Excellent - Thank you

[JonnyVTEC]

8bit said:

Did I say it was perfect? How many cupholders do you feel it should it have?

Buyer justification syndrome my arse - we like the car for what it is.

For reference, ours has two - if you'd bothered to look under the armrest...

Edited by 8bit on Monday 4th September 00:26

You were the one making out polestar were the second coming. I didn’t look under the armrest, too busy looking at the rest of the EV market to avoid making statements like yours

[8bit]

JonnyVTEC said:

8bit said:

Did I say it was perfect? How many cupholders do you feel it should it have?

Buyer justification syndrome my arse - we like the car for what it is.

For reference, ours has two - if you'd bothered to look under the armrest...

Edited by 8bit on Monday 4th September 00:26

You were the one making out polestar were the second coming. I didn’t look under the armrest, too busy looking at the rest of the EV market to avoid making statements like yours

Hardly. I just said the product was good. So what should I have bought then, since you're clearly the arbiter of good EV purchasing decisions?

[John87]

I think it's fairly predictable that in a thread where most participants own a single type of car, they prefer it to the alternatives.

I bought my Polestar because it was better for me than anything else I looked at. I couldn't stretch to a Taycan and everything else was inferior in at least one aspect that was important to me

[dogbucket]

ajap1979 said:

TheRainMaker said:

51mes said:

1) the front suspension clonks over rough roads (I'm in the lake.district, so it's not uncommon).

Mine doesn't clonk, it might be worth getting it checked

Mine is clunky as hell. It’s supposedly down to the dodgy XC40 struts.

100m down the road on my first drive I went over a drain cover and thought the same. Sounds the same as my 13 year old 190k Audi (which not so bad after all it seems).

[dogbucket]

Silver Smudger said:

ajap1979 said:

You can just use the USB-C connection and play music that is stored on your phone.

Excellent - Thank you

To clarify an iPhone can be USB connected to the car which allows the Apple Car Play app to open and browse music on the phone.

Both iPhone and Android can be connected bluetooth to the car and there is a bluetooth audio app that allows you to listen to audio from the phone from pretty much any app on the phone. However you have to queue it up on the phone itself which is not ideal, although you can play/stop/skip from the car interface but it does seem a bit limited. (Some people claim they can browse music directorys using the car interface but I am not sure what has to be done). I tend to do this for BBC Sounds or Podcasts that are long enough to not having to fiddle once on the move.

AudioWagon works great (I have a 256Gb USB C Sandisk), only annoyance is everytime you start the car you get a 'usb is not recognised' error you have to dismiss. If you have thousands of tracks AudioWagon takes a while to scan them, then you need to turn off the scanning and run it manually if any new things added. Obviously all the MP3 tags need to be in order to get a nice list.

So basically the Android Automotive system works better with iPhones!

Edited by dogbucket on Wednesday 6th September 22:10

[8bit]

I noticed recently that the Polestar smartphone app (Android in my case) had suddenly started chewing through phone battery like nobody's business. To be honest it's not really that useful anyway - the digital key function is unreliable to say the least, the other features are pretty thin and also pretty flaky. It is occasionally handy to check car battery level without having to go outside, or to keep tabs on the Mrs. but that's about it.

I removed it and phone battery life returned to normal. I did wonder though, has anyone found it has any effect on battery usage if you leave it installed but disable the digital key function?

[stavers]

8bit said:

I noticed recently that the Polestar smartphone app (Android in my case) had suddenly started chewing through phone battery like nobody's business. To be honest it's not really that useful anyway - the digital key function is unreliable to say the least, the other features are pretty thin and also pretty flaky. It is occasionally handy to check car battery level without having to go outside, or to keep tabs on the Mrs. but that's about it.

I removed it and phone battery life returned to normal. I did wonder though, has anyone found it has any effect on battery usage if you leave it installed but disable the digital key function?

That'll be the Chinese harvesting everything they can from your phone

[ajap1979]

8bit said:

I noticed recently that the Polestar smartphone app (Android in my case) had suddenly started chewing through phone battery like nobody's business. To be honest it's not really that useful anyway - the digital key function is unreliable to say the least, the other features are pretty thin and also pretty flaky. It is occasionally handy to check car battery level without having to go outside, or to keep tabs on the Mrs. but that's about it.

I removed it and phone battery life returned to normal. I did wonder though, has anyone found it has any effect on battery usage if you leave it installed but disable the digital key function?

I use it with an iPhone, but don't have the digital key function activated. Not notices any detrimental effect on battery life. Starts getting useful at this time of year for turning on the climate control prior to leaving the house!

[8bit]

stavers said:

8bit said:

I noticed recently that the Polestar smartphone app (Android in my case) had suddenly started chewing through phone battery like nobody's business. To be honest it's not really that useful anyway - the digital key function is unreliable to say the least, the other features are pretty thin and also pretty flaky. It is occasionally handy to check car battery level without having to go outside, or to keep tabs on the Mrs. but that's about it.

I removed it and phone battery life returned to normal. I did wonder though, has anyone found it has any effect on battery usage if you leave it installed but disable the digital key function?

That'll be the Chinese harvesting everything they can from your phone

I did wonder

ajap1979 said:

I use it with an iPhone, but don't have the digital key function activated. Not notices any detrimental effect on battery life. Starts getting useful at this time of year for turning on the climate control prior to leaving the house!

Thanks. My wife had the app on her iPhone and deleted it when I did from mine, she also deleted the Tile app and reported that overall her battery life has improved dramatically but not sure which app was the cause of the drain. We'll try putting the Polestar app back on but not for digital key and see what happens.

[Basil Brush]

I'm looking at buying a P2 with performance pack that has done around 30k miles. Has anyone had any experience/issues with the Ohlins dampers? I understand there were some problems with the early BST units.

[John87]

I'm only about 3500 miles in but not had any issues with my ohlins and not seen any comments about them on the various Polestar groups. Worth noting the BST has a different version of the dampers which adjust under the froot rather than at the wheels.

I still have them on the factory settings but may experiment with going softer over winter