Polestar battery size vs Niro EV efficiency

[POIDH]

I'm buying one of these two cars.

Live in central Scotland, usually use is 10-20 miles round trips midweek, 30-80 miles a weekend day, and 10x a year longer (around) 230 mile each way trips to Yorkshire

A couple of questions:

I'm trying to work out how range in the real world plays out between a Polestar Longrange single motor (claimed 314-340miles) and a Niro EV (new shape) with smaller battery but more efficient.. (285miles).

Polestar convectively - is this a subscription? Can it connect to home WiFi to do updates or operate pre heating etc?

What's the Kia Warranty like on a 3year old second hand car bought from non Kia dealer? I know they are fussy about exatr service schedules, but surely as the car gets older and higher miles they will claim 'wear and tear' more?

Edited by POIDH on Sunday 22 February 18:35

[andrewpandrew]

Polestar Connect is free. You can hotspot to your WiFi but I’ve never found it necessary.

[POIDH]

Thank you.

[kambites]

This might help with the range question: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6ucyFGKWu...

[samoht]

I assume you're talking about the pre-facelift FWD Polestar (with the 'grille')? (The post facelift RWD are more efficient but obviously more money).

EV Database Real Range (Highway) is pretty accurate IME

https://ev-database.org/uk/car/1666/Kia-Niro-EV
https://ev-database.org/uk/car/1487/Polestar-2-Lon...

This has the 70mph range of the Niro at 170 miles (-10C) to 220 miles (23C), with the LRSM Polestar at 185-240.

I have the Dual Motor version which EVDB rate as 175-225, and that's proven to be pretty accurate.

Note these are at constant 70mph; as soon as you hit traffic or an average speed camera 40 or 50mph stretch, your range will extend noticeably. If you're coming down the A1 the northern single carriageway leg will be at a lower speed and the range likely a chunk longer.


Polestar "Connected Services" are split into 'standard' and 'plus'. The ability to download new updates for the car, and use the app to pre-heat, monitor charge etc are all in the standard group and don't expire. The 'Plus' officially will expire at some point, however as far as I've seen to date, Polestar have just kept extending it for free for all cars. I suppose this may end at some point. The Plus is needed for the google maps navigation (one of the strong points about the car as it routes you to suitable chargers as needed depending on charge level).

https://www.polestar.com/uk/owning-a-polestar/conn...


I suspect that any real world range difference will be small compared to the differences in how they feel to sit in and drive.

[POIDH]

kambites said:

This might help with the range question: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6ucyFGKWu...

What's the context/ source for this list

[Evanivitch]

POIDH said:

What's the Kia Warranty like on a 3year old second hand car bought from non Kia dealer? I know they are fussy about exatr service schedules, but surely as the car gets older and higher miles they will claim 'wear and tear' more?

Edited by POIDH on Sunday 22 February 18:35

As long as it's serviced then warranty applies.

Can still be an expensive bill for corroded disks all round.

Bare in mind the Niro has an abysmal rapid charging rate of like 77kW, and that's not even guaranteed.

[samoht]

POIDH said:

kambites said:

This might help with the range question: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1V6ucyFGKWu...

What's the context/ source for this list

Bjorn Nyland, aka Tesla Bjorn, an EV YouTuber https://www.youtube.com/@bjornnyland
He spends his life driving up and down the local motorways at night time logging range and charging of various EVs. It's only one person but at least he tries to be fairly systematic and consistent with the different cars. If you want to know 'real range' it's a decent reference I think.

[Phunk]

Worth considering that due to the elevation changes in Scotland you’ll get approx 10-15% less range than those living in England

[SWoll]

Phunk said:

Worth considering that due to the elevation changes in Scotland you ll get approx 10-15% less range than those living in England

There's also the drop for colder average temperatures and considerably more rainfall to consider.

[POIDH]

Evanivitch said:

Bare in mind the Niro has an abysmal rapid charging rate of like 77kW, and that's not even guaranteed.

I've just been reading this. It seems to make quite the difference on a long journey.

[Evanivitch]

POIDH said:

Evanivitch said:

Bare in mind the Niro has an abysmal rapid charging rate of like 77kW, and that's not even guaranteed.

I've just been reading this. It seems to make quite the difference on a long journey.

If you were doing multiple charges, yes. Otherwise, great cars.

[SWoll]

POIDH said:

Evanivitch said:

Bare in mind the Niro has an abysmal rapid charging rate of like 77kW, and that's not even guaranteed.

I've just been reading this. It seems to make quite the difference on a long journey.

Yep. Combine that max speed with a poor charging curve and long journeys requiring a decent charge stop (10-80%) aren't going to be much fun.

[andrewpandrew]

samoht said:

Polestar "Connected Services" are split into 'standard' and 'plus'. The ability to download new updates for the car, and use the app to pre-heat, monitor charge etc are all in the standard group and don't expire. The 'Plus' officially will expire at some point, however as far as I've seen to date, Polestar have just kept extending it for free for all cars. I suppose this may end at some point. The Plus is needed for the google maps navigation (one of the strong points about the car as it routes you to suitable chargers as needed depending on charge level).

https://www.polestar.com/uk/owning-a-polestar/conn...

Yeah, the idea has always been that you get Plus for three years, however when I had my P2 it renewed for another three years when the car was three years old. I guess they may start charging for it, but I don’t think they’ve ever even said how much it would be.

[Evanivitch]

SWoll said:

Yep. Combine that max speed with a poor charging curve and long journeys requiring a decent charge stop (10-80%) aren't going to be much fun.

That's idealised conditions, cold battery will slow it down too.

[POIDH]

Thanks all. Time to really think on this. Seems real world range is 20-30 miles in it.

- Niro EV - slightly more expensive to buy in '3' guise, slower charging, more efficient and has a warranty left on it for 2-3 years, 'white goods' feel to it but head says sensible.

- Polestar - cheaper to buy as basic LRSM model has all we need, no warranty, longer real world range, faster charging when on long journey, feels a nicer place to be and heart says 'want that one'.

[TheRainMaker]

We had a twin motor Polestar 2, I can't comment on the range of the single motor but the connected services all still worked when it went back a few weeks ago, which was into year five.

If you can stretch to it, go for the plus and pilot pack

[kambites]

SWoll said:

Yep. Combine that max speed with a poor charging curve and long journeys requiring a decent charge stop (10-80%) aren't going to be much fun.

The fact it's relatively efficient will mean it's not quite as bad as that graph implies in terms of the more relevant "miles per hour" charging metric but yes, it's still not good a good choice if you need to do regular trips longer than its range in a hurry.

[Evanivitch]

kambites said:

The fact it's relatively efficient will mean it's not quite as bad as that graph implies in terms of the more relevant "miles per hour" charging metric but yes, it's still not good a good choice if you need to do regular trips longer than its range in a hurry.

But again, that charge curve is idealised. It's not unusual in mild conditions on a motorway run (i.e. cold battery) to see 45kWnat 30% SOC. It's incredibly annoying.

[POIDH]

Evanivitch said:

But again, that charge curve is idealised. It's not unusual in mild conditions on a motorway run (i.e. cold battery) to see 45kWnat 30% SOC. It's incredibly annoying.

Watching a few videos last night - had not seen the Kris chap in Norway for example - shows that the Polestar seems to charge so much better 'in the real world' than the difference of headline figures between them suggest.

I am erring Polestar's way..