Consumer Reports Was Far From Impressed With the Polestar 2
The Polestar 2 got less than stellar reviews due to its lack of comfortability, its confusing infotainment system, and value.
Written by Serena Aburahma
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Picking an EV is a complicated business, and it creates another layer of trouble for
car buying.
Few of them have gotten Kelley Blue Book's nod, and it can be hard to judge their specs.Fortunately, Consumer Reports goes out of its way to compare and contrast EVs for you. Their latest investigation involves Volvo's Polestar 2.
Polestar 2 specs
The four-door hatchback in
Consumer Reports'
sights is a workhorse, capable of towing 2,000 pounds and carrying 925 pounds. It will also carry a family since it seats five.However, the interior is a little snug. This is especially true in the rear seats because of the sloping roofline.
There are two engines available on the Polestar 2. The dual front and rear Electric-Cyl motor gets a range of 249 miles and gives you fast acceleration. The single-motor front-wheel drive will get you a range of 270 miles.
The dual-motor gets 408 hp, and the single motor gets a still-impressive 231 hp. They are both paired with a One-speed Direct transmission.
As far as safety goes, the Polestar 2 has two lane-keeping assistance systems, and both types of automatic emergency braking are standard. There are plenty of driver assistance features, such as forward-collision warning, rear cross-traffic warning, and lane departure warning.
The infotainment system is built on Google's Android Automotive operating system and comes with an 11.2-inch screen on the dash.
The hatchback has an overall 92 MPGE. You get 96 mpge during city driving and 88 mpge on the highway.
MORE: Consumer Reports is Looking Forward to the Nissan Ariya EV
Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
No spam · No long forms · No fees
Consumer Reports’ take on Polestar 2
Consumer Reports rated the Polestar 2 11th out of 15 luxury sedans. They gave it a 57 out of 100 overall.
They found the ride experience choppy, giving it a two out of five. The rear seats got two out of five for comfort, and they rated the emergency handling four out of five.
Consumer Reports said that the driving range did not compare well with other EVs, such as the Chevy Bolt or any of the Teslas. It also took ten hours to charge the car on a 240-volt connection.
The Polestar 2 does accelerate from zero to 60 in a zippy 4.4 seconds. It braked and handled well, although CR came down hard on the controls for having convoluted menus, confusing icons, and hidden functions.
The thick roof pillars interfere with visibility, and Consumer Reports generally felt that the interior looked cheap for a luxury sedan. It got a very low rating for predicted reliability based on Volvo's brand history and the EV type.
Overall, they recommended getting the cheaper, single-motor type of Polestar 2. There are cheaper EVs, like the Chevy Volt, and nicer sedans like the Audi A4, that got higher ratings.
What do others say?
Consumer Reports sent out a survey to owners of various cars and asked them if they would buy the car they had again if they had the opportunity. About 75% of Polestar 2 owners said that taking everything into consideration, they would definitely buy a Polestar again.
This is a 2022 model that just came out, so take that into consideration. CR did give it a predicted overall owner satisfaction of four out of five.
Ultimately, the only way to decide if it is worth the money is to test drive it yourself. You can also wait until Volvo works out some of the issues Consumer Reports noted with the model.
Insurance for all EVs, no matter what
Regardless of how Consumer Reports feels about a car, it will need insurance, and you will want it to be cheap.
Jerry
understands that, and this is why the top-rated app compares policies from dozens of big insurance companies quickly. This saves your average user
$887 a year.
4.7
