Polestar 2 updated, facelifted car has more performance and range
PHOTO: Motorist
PUBLISHED ONJanuary 28, 2023 6:30 AM
One of the most well-sorted overall EVs on the market today has just received a facelift for the 2024 model year.
And the makeover isn’t purely cosmetic.
The mechanical updates are rather significant, as compared to the subtle external enhancements Polestar has opted to do.
The most notable difference on the outside is the car’s new grille. It adopts the automaker’s new “SmartZone” grille, lifted from their all-new Polestar 3 SUV.
As EVs do not require as much cooling as their ICE counterparts, the “grille” now takes on a new role, serving as a hub for all of the safety equipment you’d find in a modern car.
In the case of the Polestar, you’d find its camera, radar and a suite of other active safety sensors mounted on or behind this panel.
The car remains unchanged elsewhere - though it isn’t like the base car needed any updating to begin with!
Under the skin, the alterations to the motor technology should also yield more performance and better range.
The base single motor car, now RWD instead of FWD, will have 592 kilometres of range, instead of the 480 kilometres for the latter.
Long Range Single Motor cars can now do up to 635 kilometres on a single charge.
And you know the cars will actually achieve the close to the claimed range, since the Swedes are very conservative about their range estimates.
The new motor now outputs 295 bhp, which is 67 bhp more than the motor it replaces. This cuts the 0-100 km/h time from the 7.4 seconds in the outgoing FWD variant, to 6.2 in the new RWD variant.
All single motor variants will receive a new battery pack, with 82 kWh of capacity instead of the original car’s 78 kWh.
The cars can now charge at 205 kW, up from 155 kW.
The increase in output of the rear motor also means that the all-wheel drive cars will now be rear-biased. Combined output is now rated at 415 bhp, up from the 402 bhp of the current cars.
A Performance Pack option, which can be installed via an OTA update will further bump power to 450 bhp.
There’s also no official word yet on when the MY2024 Polestar 2 would be made available for sale in Singapore, but we’ll bring you the updates as they are announced!