Polestar 2

[AMG01]

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

AMG01 said:

My company is doing a EV salary sacrifice scheme (through Octopus) and the Polestar looks good at £429 a month. The model is Polestar 2 Standard Single (67kWh FWD) which is says has 240 miles range. I have started to read through this thread, everyone seems to say the dual motor but thats another £70 a month and too much of a stretch, how realistic is the range, am I looking more like 180 - 200 miles? I am home based but need to be out at sites on occasion can be once a week or 2 or 3 days a week, with the furthest site being 120 mile round trip, mostly motorway. The cost covers maintenance, tyres, road tax, MOT, AA breakdown and insurance, so seems like a decent deal. Never leased or had an EV so somewhat apprehensive, I currently have a Z4 convertible so this is a bit of a change.

Isn't that £70 more a month pre tax though? So more like half that depending on your tax bracket. And still overall cheaper than the (I assume) personal Z4?

Either way, a very small amount of money to land a fully serviced, brand new 400+hp 4x4 on the drive!

Also need to take into account that the ppm for a company EV is 5p, so if doing a lot of business miles could end up considerably out of pocket on top of the £4-500 a month for the car if paying more than 15-20p per kWh for home charging?

My Z4 has was bought and paid off years ago. My concern is the business mileage, I done 3,024 miles in 2021 (tax year) but have done 1136.3 already in 2022 (tax year), getting out more as COVID subsidies, I think it would end up costing me money.

[dino_jr]

FYI my base model P2 is averaging 3.2 miles/kWh. This is in summer weather of course.
So 69kWh battery x 3.2 = 220 miles range in theory, but I rarely let the battery drop under 10% before recharging.

[SWoll]

AMG01 said:

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

AMG01 said:

My company is doing a EV salary sacrifice scheme (through Octopus) and the Polestar looks good at £429 a month. The model is Polestar 2 Standard Single (67kWh FWD) which is says has 240 miles range. I have started to read through this thread, everyone seems to say the dual motor but thats another £70 a month and too much of a stretch, how realistic is the range, am I looking more like 180 - 200 miles? I am home based but need to be out at sites on occasion can be once a week or 2 or 3 days a week, with the furthest site being 120 mile round trip, mostly motorway. The cost covers maintenance, tyres, road tax, MOT, AA breakdown and insurance, so seems like a decent deal. Never leased or had an EV so somewhat apprehensive, I currently have a Z4 convertible so this is a bit of a change.

Isn't that £70 more a month pre tax though? So more like half that depending on your tax bracket. And still overall cheaper than the (I assume) personal Z4?

Either way, a very small amount of money to land a fully serviced, brand new 400+hp 4x4 on the drive!

Also need to take into account that the ppm for a company EV is 5p, so if doing a lot of business miles could end up considerably out of pocket on top of the £4-500 a month for the car if paying more than 15-20p per kWh for home charging?

My Z4 has was bought and paid off years ago. My concern is the business mileage, I done 3,024 miles in 2021 (tax year) but have done 1136.3 already in 2022 (tax year), getting out more as COVID subsidies, I think it would end up costing me money.

Will depend on your tariff of course, but also take into account you'll likely need a dedicated 7kW charger in order to keep the car charged fully overnight if using for long trips on consecutive days. If that's not part of the SS deal then another not insignificant cost to consider.

The difference between 5p per mile and 45p per mile is not to be sniffed at if covering 10k or so business miles per year in a car that owes you nothing.

[ajap1979]

dino_jr said:

FYI my base model P2 is averaging 3.2 miles/kWh. This is in summer weather of course.

Exactly the same as mine, 30.9kWh/100 miles. Best I've seen was 4.4miles/kWh on a long run, so a theoretical 268 miles on my 64kWh (61kWh useable) single motor car.

[dgswk]

SWoll said:

Will depend on your tariff of course, but also take into account you'll likely need a dedicated 7kW charger in order to keep the car charged fully overnight if using for long trips on consecutive days. If that's not part of the SS deal then another not insignificant cost to consider.

The difference between 5p per mile and 45p per mile is not to be sniffed at if covering 10k or so business miles per year in a car that owes you nothing.

Absolutely this.

Real world example, bear with me:

I've got the 78kwh AWD one and hover at around 30kwh/100 (3.3 miles / kwh) miles average across the year (28-29 currently in summer, 32-33 in winter), obviously less if I'm on a mission or I've forgotten to preheat etc etc.....

I've now done circa 25,000 business miles during the last 12 months (nearly 30k miles in total), and a very high proportion will be on our overnight tariff. Only public charging is for holidays / weekends away. Daytime tariff is really for when we have two long trips on consecutive days, but not that many.

I couldn't achieve that without a home 7kW charger as SWoll says, and an EV with a programmable timer (00:30 to 04:30). Budget £500-£1,200 for that, depending on what you want. Simple is best, less to go wrong and leave you short the following morning. Seems to give me about 35% charge overnight, which is anything between 75 and 100 miles.

Currently on a 5p tariff, but will be 7.5p in November. I acknowledge that I pay an enhanced rate on all of my other electricity, but compared to our combined car usage, its not enough to warrant moving away from it. My Wife also has an EV and charges on a granny charger at 2kw, also overnight, so the meter is buzzing in the early hours..... We share the 7kw, she'll make sure hers is full over the weekend.

Never had mine dip below 200 miles real range - my semi-regular commute is 202 miles round trip and I've never had to charge to complete it, usually getting home with 8-22% left in the tank.

I have, on a few very cold 04:30 winter starts, taken it steady (60-65mph) on the outward leg, especially in a strong headwind, knowing I can blast it home. On a few occasions over winter, I charge it to 100% also - not all the time, but certainly on those evenings prior to the 202 miler. Haven't been beyond 90% since back in March.

So it really does depend on your usage pattern.

Here's some mad maths....

Our combined household annual mileage is about 40,000 miles. Assuming 32,000 miles are done on overnight tariff, the remainder on the normal day tariff, at current rates:

32,000 @ 3.3 miles = 9,700kwh @ 5p = £485
8,000 @ 3.3 miles = 2,400kwh @ 18p = £432

So circa £900 for 40,000 miles of fuel or 2.25p / mile.

It will change in November though:

32,000 @ 3.3 miles = 9,700kwh @ 7.5p = £727
8,000 @ 3.3 miles = 2,400kwh @ 35p = £840

So circa £1,567 for 40,000 miles of fuel or 3.9p / mile.


It works as I never have to use public charging, certainly for work - just a 20% top up here and there when we go away for weekends etc.

It also works as my daily work drive never really exceeds 200 miles, AND I rarely do that on consecutive days, perhaps 2-3 trips a week.

[ajap1979]

P2 has done well at the AutoTrader awards, winning New Car of the Year, Best Premium Electric Car, and Most Loved Car.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/new-car-...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/best-pre...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/most-lov...

[dgswk]

ajap1979 said:

P2 has done well at the AutoTrader awards, winning New Car of the Year, Best Premium Electric Car, and Most Loved Car.

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/new-car-...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/best-pre...

https://www.autotrader.co.uk/content/news/most-lov...

Yup, certainly love mine, wouldn't swap it for anything else at the price point. Would take a decent spec Taycan Cross Turismo, 4S or Turbo to tempt me, and that's not coming to the car list anytime soon.....!

[RichB]

Polestar seem to have hit the spot with this car. The P1 was an exciting prospect rather like an electric V70 but I don't think there's many on the road. Based on the positive reviews of the P2 the P3 looks like it could be a great success too.

[AMG01]

SWoll said:

AMG01 said:

SWoll said:

TheDeuce said:

AMG01 said:

My company is doing a EV salary sacrifice scheme (through Octopus) and the Polestar looks good at £429 a month. The model is Polestar 2 Standard Single (67kWh FWD) which is says has 240 miles range. I have started to read through this thread, everyone seems to say the dual motor but thats another £70 a month and too much of a stretch, how realistic is the range, am I looking more like 180 - 200 miles? I am home based but need to be out at sites on occasion can be once a week or 2 or 3 days a week, with the furthest site being 120 mile round trip, mostly motorway. The cost covers maintenance, tyres, road tax, MOT, AA breakdown and insurance, so seems like a decent deal. Never leased or had an EV so somewhat apprehensive, I currently have a Z4 convertible so this is a bit of a change.

Isn't that £70 more a month pre tax though? So more like half that depending on your tax bracket. And still overall cheaper than the (I assume) personal Z4?

Either way, a very small amount of money to land a fully serviced, brand new 400+hp 4x4 on the drive!

Also need to take into account that the ppm for a company EV is 5p, so if doing a lot of business miles could end up considerably out of pocket on top of the £4-500 a month for the car if paying more than 15-20p per kWh for home charging?

My Z4 has was bought and paid off years ago. My concern is the business mileage, I done 3,024 miles in 2021 (tax year) but have done 1136.3 already in 2022 (tax year), getting out more as COVID subsidies, I think it would end up costing me money.

Will depend on your tariff of course, but also take into account you'll likely need a dedicated 7kW charger in order to keep the car charged fully overnight if using for long trips on consecutive days. If that's not part of the SS deal then another not insignificant cost to consider.

The difference between 5p per mile and 45p per mile is not to be sniffed at if covering 10k or so business miles per year in a car that owes you nothing.

The deal with Octupus includes the installation of a free charger and 5,000 free miles of electricity on Octopus Go I have asked them to confirm the specification of it the charger and understand what the free miles mean. I currently pay 19.4p per kWh on my energy deal, moved house last year and got stung on a poor contract. As for business miles, I dont think I would get to 10k a year maybe 6/7k based on circa 500 miles a month, I am home based, out to site when needed. Can be once a week or four times a week, with sites at various distances, furtherest being 90 miles rounds trip, more frequent trips are circa 40 miles round trip. Need to get more details and do the sums, have looked at prices direct with Polestar and they are a lot more than what I am getting quoted.

[SWoll]

RichB said:

Polestar seem to have hit the spot with this car. The P1 was an exciting prospect rather like an electric V70 but I don't think there's many on the road. Based on the positive reviews of the P2 the P3 looks like it could be a great success too.

They appear to be very popular with owners but are still a rare sight on UK roads IME. Has the P2 been a commercial success?

[Smiljan]

SWoll said:

They appear to be very popular with owners but are still a rare sight on UK roads IME. Has the P2 been a commercial success?

They sell around 20k a year through Europe, not sure on the rest of the world. This will increase as they're supplying around 13000 a year to Hertz for the next 5 years starting this year.

The seem to be doing ok, the Polestar 3 will be open for orders in October too.

Geely profits last year (a bad year) were around £520 million so not too shabby. No idea whether the Polestar brand alone made a profit though. They make around 1.3 million vehicles a year though so I'd imagine Polestar is a small niche brand to them.

[SWoll]

Genuinely interested as have had a few friends ask about shifting to EV recently when their new company car lists have come up and advised them all to look at the P2 as an excellent overall package for the money. The response from all was "Polestar 2? Don't think I've ever seen one"

They could definitely do a better job of marketing/brand awareness I'd suggest. The incredibly discreet/generic badging on the cars themselves doesn't help either I'm sure, with a lot of people having no idea what it is?

Edited by SWoll on Saturday 11th June 12:42

[ajap1979]

As an owner I’m always on the look out for other P2s, but they’re very rare. I think I’ve probably seen less than a dozen. I love driving something so unique, but obviously commercial success leads to further development and better cars, so it can’t be sustainable for the brand.

[Smiljan]

I live close to Heathrow and have seen a gradual increase in the number of EVs in the area. Polestar is one brand I really don't see a lot.

Seems to be mostly VW ID4 Addison Lee taxis and Merc EQC and Leaf seem pretty popular as does the Model 3. In terms of overall cars though, EV's are pretty scarce still.

[South tdf]

SWoll said:

Genuinely interested as have had a few friends ask about shifting to EV recently when their new company car lists have come up and advised them all to look at the P2 as an excellent overall package for the money. The response from all was "Polestar 2? Don't think I've ever seen one"

They could definitely do a better job of marketing/brand awareness I'd suggest. The incredibly discreet/generic badging on the cars themselves doesn't help either I'm sure, with a lot of people having no idea what it is?

Edited by SWoll on Saturday 11th June 12:42

They have never really advertised them much until the last 3 months. I assume it because like most manufacturers they can’t keep up with demand so no point advertising something you can’t have.

[TheRainMaker]

South tdf said:

SWoll said:

Genuinely interested as have had a few friends ask about shifting to EV recently when their new company car lists have come up and advised them all to look at the P2 as an excellent overall package for the money. The response from all was "Polestar 2? Don't think I've ever seen one"

They could definitely do a better job of marketing/brand awareness I'd suggest. The incredibly discreet/generic badging on the cars themselves doesn't help either I'm sure, with a lot of people having no idea what it is?

Edited by SWoll on Saturday 11th June 12:42

They have never really advertised them much until the last 3 months. I assume it because like most manufacturers they can’t keep up with demand so no point advertising something you can’t have.

They have sold every single car they have imported to the UK, maybe they are not after mass numbers or can't mass produce as Tesla can.

[Witchfinder]

TheRainMaker said:

They have sold every single car they have imported to the UK, maybe they are not after mass numbers or can't mass produce as Tesla can.

Polestar only plan to make 50k units of the Polestar 2 per year. Worldwide.

[Pixelpeep 135]

Drove 150 mile round trip to Milton Keynes on saturday (my nearest 'space')

Test drove the PS2 dual motor with just the Pilot lite pack which is great as that's how i would configure the car should i go for it.

had it for around 50 minutes and covered 25 odd miles

Staff were amazing, nothing was too much trouble, they don't get paid commission and you can't even buy it from them, you have to order online, so they just chat to you, for as long as you wanna chat, and then they leave you alone. Really good experience.

Few observations from the drive.

acceleration is comically quick, painful, neck strainingly, laugh out loud quick. I don't think i would EVER get bored of that shove when coming off a roundabout onto a dual carriageway. Effortless surge. Bit slow initially 0-20 ish but from 30 to 80 the thing is a missile.

Looks - i still struggle with how high the car seems. I'll learn to live with it, it's not a deal breaker, but it's a niggle. Other than that, it looks smart.

Interior - this was another struggle for me. Materials (yes, they are vegan and ethically recycled etc etc etc) don't seem the best. The massive centre console has loads of over hanging plastic which and can catch your hand on, and the edges of the plastic seem unfinished, not razor sharp but you can feel it. It was comfortable and everything worked well and placed well.

So,

Plus points - performance, dedicated & physical volume knob, frameless side mirrors, 'left field choice' and somehow cooler than a tesla and lastly price.
minus points - the interior finish - coming from the latest gen BMW who are light years ahead in fit and finish, it's really a struggle to adapt.

I have arranged an extended test drive so i can have it for a few days, just to use on the commute and work out if i could live with the interior.

[ajap1979]

Pixelpeep 135 said:

Drove 150 mile round trip to Milton Keynes on saturday (my nearest 'space')

Test drove the PS2 dual motor with just the Pilot lite pack which is great as that's how i would configure the car should i go for it.

had it for around 50 minutes and covered 25 odd miles

Staff were amazing, nothing was too much trouble, they don't get paid commission and you can't even buy it from them, you have to order online, so they just chat to you, for as long as you wanna chat, and then they leave you alone. Really good experience.

Few observations from the drive.

acceleration is comically quick, painful, neck strainingly, laugh out loud quick. I don't think i would EVER get bored of that shove when coming off a roundabout onto a dual carriageway. Effortless surge. Bit slow initially 0-20 ish but from 30 to 80 the thing is a missile.

Looks - i still struggle with how high the car seems. I'll learn to live with it, it's not a deal breaker, but it's a niggle. Other than that, it looks smart.

Interior - this was another struggle for me. Materials (yes, they are vegan and ethically recycled etc etc etc) don't seem the best. The massive centre console has loads of over hanging plastic which and can catch your hand on, and the edges of the plastic seem unfinished, not razor sharp but you can feel it. It was comfortable and everything worked well and placed well.

So,

Plus points - performance, dedicated & physical volume knob, frameless side mirrors, 'left field choice' and somehow cooler than a tesla and lastly price.
minus points - the interior finish - coming from the latest gen BMW who are light years ahead in fit and finish, it's really a struggle to adapt.

I have arranged an extended test drive so i can have it for a few days, just to use on the commute and work out if i could live with the interior.

I've came out of a 2019 X3 into a Polestar and I don't think the interior quality is much different. My car does have the Plus pack though which has different seat fabric, dark wood veneer etc.

[a_dreamer]

I love and hate the look of these. Prob the ev that would tempt me most but it's ugly. But then it looks ok at times. It's an odd looker. Nice interior and prefer that to Tesla.

Does anyone leave the sticker on too?

Edited by a_dreamer on Tuesday 14th June 23:03