If you own a long range dual motor Polestar 2, you are about to be made an offer that we find hard to refuse. Polestar is offering an over-the-air (OTA) update that will give you more power, which Tesla has done with its models in the past. While Tesla’s updates mainly add efficiency and range, Polestar’s update is all about performance.
The $1,195 performance update adds 68 horsepower and 15 pound-feet of torque to your Polestar and brings total output to 476 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. The gains aren’t negligible, and Polestar says the 2 will now sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 4.2 seconds, which is 0.3 seconds down from its pre-OTA 0-60 mph figure. Polestar also says that 50 mph to 75 mph takes just 2.2 seconds, which is half a second quicker than before.
Considering that the Polestar 2 starts at $54,600, an extra $1,195 (that’s just 2.2% of the purchase price) for the extra performance sounds like a pretty attractive deal to us – especially considering that the Polestar 2 has not noted any drop in the maximum estimated range. In our real-world range test, a Polestar 2 in Dual Range Long Range trim traveled 288 miles on a single charge, which is 39 miles more than the 249 miles the EPA estimates it to go between charging sessions. Will go
Polestar’s main problem is actually Volvo. Once both brands go electric, how will Polestar differentiate itself from the company that spawned it? The answer that Pollstar CEO Thomas Ingenlath recently gave us was simple: performance. Volvos will be more comfortable places; The Polestar will be for those who value performance and aren’t afraid to compromise utility to get it. This over-the-air update only strengthens Polestar’s case as a performance brand, and it makes the 2 more attractive.
