Tuesday 8th October 2019

Polestar announces new Performance Pack

The Polestar 2 isn't even out yet, but customers are already being offered a £5k upgrade

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Just because Polestar has been re-launched as a standalone EV manufacturer, doesn't mean it's lost its performance edge. Of course, with the company's debut Polestar 1 being its first and last hybrid vehicle, there'll be no internal combustion engines to tune, fettle or boost going forward. No, it's electric only from here on out, but that still leaves plenty of room to improve other parameters, with vehicle weight, aero and driving dynamics all still up for grabs.

Now the Swedish marque has announced a 2020 release for its new Polestar 2, a £49,900 'performance fastback' putting out 400hp and 487lb ft from its all-wheel drive electric powertrain. And, without interfering with the 78kWh battery, its engineers have set about coming up with ways to make it even more performance-focussed still.

In order to "take the car's driving dynamics to the next level" they've installed a four-piston Brembo front brake setup, adjustable Ohlins dampers, 20-inch forged alloy wheels and, erm, gold seatbelts and valve caps. Hmm. Still, better brakes are no bad thing in a 1,900kg car, and Ohlins expertise - another Swedish company, don't forget - has been proven on Polestar products before, as well as one or two others...

The Performance Pack will cost UK buyers an additional £5,000 on top of the cost of their Polestar 2 - which can be pre-ordered online now for a guaranteed 2020 delivery. Explaining how the additional items improve the car, head of chassis development Joakim Rydholm said: "We spent a lot of time obsessing over the finest details of the Performance Pack chassis set-up to find the car's sweet spot; we call it the 'Golden Ride'. Comfortable but focussed, we want you to feel positively connected to the road, the car alive and communicative, but balanced and predictable. It really is unlike most electric cars. It feels Polestar."

'Feeling Polestar' should certainly be a welcome quality, given the former racing outfit's previous achievements. And if it's one of those petrol powered products that you're really pining after, then there are of course a few worthy options in the PH classifieds...

[CedricN]

Not bad for a set of real quality performance parts

[jjwilde]

Ah cool, means Tesla will bring some sort of Model3 upgrade (if they need to, i'm not sure).

[Oldwolf]

I like the look of that and pricing doesn't seem outrageous. Quoted range of 500KM would suit me for my commute for the week without charging.

One thing that concerns me....

Phone-as-key

With the Polestar 2, the driver’s phone is the authentication device. Simply connect to the car via the Polestar Connect app.

[JD]

CedricN said:

Not bad for a set of real quality performance parts

Yea, if it’s one thing an electric high riding crossover needs to become a performance model it’s gold seatbelts and gold valve caps

[modeller]

Brembos kinda pointless in an EV with regenerative braking

[connoisseur21]

JD said:

Yea, if it’s one thing an electric high riding crossover needs to become a performance model it’s gold seatbelts and gold valve caps

Polestar 2 is not a high riding crossover, it’s a low riding electric sports hatch, with Brembo and Ohlins and uprated suspension layout in the performance pack, plus top class build quality.

[RobDickinson]

Oldwolf said:

I like the look of that and pricing doesn't seem outrageous. Quoted range of 500KM would suit me for my commute for the week without charging.

One thing that concerns me....

Phone-as-key

With the Polestar 2, the driver’s phone is the authentication device. Simply connect to the car via the Polestar Connect app.

In using this with my tesla, it works and works very well. Bluetooth communication is much more secure than your traditional keyfobs.

[drpep]

Oldwolf said:

I like the look of that and pricing doesn't seem outrageous. Quoted range of 500KM would suit me for my commute for the week without charging.

One thing that concerns me....

Phone-as-key

With the Polestar 2, the driver’s phone is the authentication device. Simply connect to the car via the Polestar Connect app.

Oh wow. What could possibly go wrong? Even using NFC, this means you need charge on your phone. I'm OK with lock/unlock via app, as a secondary/emergency means of accessing your vehicle but as the primary authentication device this is a terrible idea.

All that said, the proof will be in the pudding. Well executed, this could be pretty cool apart from the bit where you have to give Volvo constant location access to your phone so it can 'helpfully unlock the vehicle as you approach'. Carjacking! Coming to a Volvo near you!

[drpep]

RobDickinson said:

In using this with my tesla, it works and works very well. Bluetooth communication is much more secure than your traditional keyfobs.

Say it ain't so: https://thenextweb.com/security/2019/08/16/critica...

Kudos to the InfoSec researcher who penned the name for this too, lol.

[RobDickinson]

drpep said:

RobDickinson said:

In using this with my tesla, it works and works very well. Bluetooth communication is much more secure than your traditional keyfobs.

Say it ain't so: https://thenextweb.com/security/2019/08/16/critica...

Kudos to the InfoSec researcher who penned the name for this too, lol.

yeah except both devices need to be vunerable and both devices in this chain can be updated, and it takes a st ton of skill and knowledge to even begin to start to exploit this compared to normal keys or dongles.

[RobDickinson]

Also if my phone is out of power (cant remember that happening in several years..) I have an rfid card to use instead.

[RobDickinson]

Remember that tesla model S dongle attack/theft? (the one that could have been prevented with pin to drive anyhow)

Tesla pushed out an update days later that both updated the car and then updated the dongle to prevent it. I'm assuming the polestar has similar OTA updates available and the app certainly will.

[Dave Hedgehog]

jjwilde said:

Ah cool, means Tesla will bring some sort of Model3 upgrade (if they need to, i'm not sure).

Performance comes with 20” rims, MPS4S tyres, upgraded suspension (probably the best fast road handling / ride I have owned) upgraded cooling, upgraded inverter and track mode

[CedricN]

JD said:

Yea, if it’s one thing an electric high riding crossover needs to become a performance model it’s gold seatbelts and gold valve caps

Whether anyone actually need the parts is a completely different question, I was just reflecting over the parts themself. Except for the bling, the other stuff like Öhlins and brembos are quite expensive stuff, which make the value of the upgrade not that bad, compared to how options normally are priced (3 grand for a differend shade of grey, etc)

[ntiz]

modeller said:

Brembos kinda pointless in an EV with regenerative braking

Regenerative braking doesn’t work all that well from high speed. Works fantastic from around 60 and below, but if you are punting it at 100 you are going to need those brakes to get it slowed down.

[gwardman]

ntiz said:

Regenerative braking doesn’t work all that well from high speed. Works fantastic from around 60 and below, but if you are punting it at 100 you are going to need those brakes to get it slowed down.

I was going to say the same. I only have a lowly PHEV, but if you spin up the energy recovery so it is just on max, you are not losing that much speed. Definitely need the old fashioned discs too...

[Dave Hedgehog]

ntiz said:

modeller said:

Brembos kinda pointless in an EV with regenerative braking

Regenerative braking doesn’t work all that well from high speed. Works fantastic from around 60 and below, but if you are punting it at 100 you are going to need those brakes to get it slowed down.

and even when it is working its only about 0.4g of braking far from the max of about 1.2g many performance cars can achieve

[JD]

connoisseur21 said:

Polestar 2 is not a high riding crossover, it’s a low riding electric sports hatch,

Are we looking at the same pictures as it looks to have loads of ground clearance and a tall body.

Or is there some PH weirdness going on with them?

[Reciprocating mass]

Looks like the volvo version of the x6

[connoisseur21]

Reciprocating mass said:

Looks like the volvo version of the x6

Really should have gone to Specsavers lol
Polestar 2 height 1478mm
BMW X6 height 1702mm