It’s time to fire up the motors!

Typical of any life event in England, it started with a rainy day. I patiently awaited a call about the delivery of my Polestar 2, hoping that it wouldn’t be cancelled due to unforseen circumstances. I had driven over an hour back to Plymouth the night before to make sure I would be there for the agreed date. The call came. The driver wasn’t going to be able to fit into our lane. He was driving a massive enclosed car transporter and, knowing the area, correctly judged that we should meet up at a green nearby with plenty of parking.

Handover was meant to take around an hour. Stepping into an electric car isn’t just a matter of sticking in the key and going. The first time in the Polestar 2 requires a number of logins and account linkages for full functionality. One of the key advantages is the software in the car. It runs Android Automotive OS so if you’re a Google Maps user like me, you’ll get the hang of it immediately. Navigation is excellent and provides an estimated battery use for the chosen route with the option of adding charging stops along the way for long journeys. I digress.

The handover started smoothly enough. I added my Google and Polestar accounts to my profile, but to the technician’s chagrin the setup decided to halt there. Part of the process is generating a digital key which allows the car to be driven with a paired phone instead of a physical key, but that step was failing. The car wasn’t detecting the physical keys. Then we tried a hard reset, and the car refused to detect the keys and as a result would not restart. After some back and forth with a colleague over the phone, we got out of the car for a while then re-entered and repeated the steps. No luck. Finally we restarted the system, got out and locked the car, stayed away for five minutes. Then re-entered and were able to complete the setup as normal. A bit of a protracted process, but once it was done I didn’t need any further information. I had already driven the car extensively back in January so I was familiar with all the normal functions.

My first stop was back home to move a few things over from the other car and to plug into our Ohme Home Pro charger to make sure everything was working. The charger engaged fine and I was ready to head down to Cornwall with 96% battery.

The drive down the A38 is one I normally dread and do not at all enjoy, but once I’d reacquainted myself with the car I started to really enjoy it. The level of adjustments on the seats is excellent and they’re much more comfortable than the other cars I’ve driven over the last few years. The seats offer ventilation and heating, and the coolest thing? The adjustments are stored as part of your profile, so if you and a partner have wildly different driving positions, the car slides the seat exactly where it needs to be for you. In theory the profiles are tied to different keys too, so the car should recognise the driver and automatically adjust the settings.

I opted for the Long Range Dual Motor model which is quick. I mean, really quick. 0-60 in 4.7 seconds quick, with over 400 hp equivalent. When you are used to the Fabia and Fiesta, it’s quite a step up. It does make getting up to speed and overtaking a breeze. The amount of cabin noise is also a big difference in electric cars compared to internal combustion engine cars. It’s incredibly powerful while being incredibly quiet. Can you tell I’m enjoying it? The transition to an automatic-style single gear is also a little weird when you’re used to manual transmission cars, but having the chance to drive a Polestar 2 back in January helped me ease into it. I find it the most odd whilst driving slowly and doing manoeuvers as I’m expecting to have to do a lot more work like in previous cars.

The only real quirk I’ve experienced so far is with the keys. The main key works fine, but the smaller key fob is not functional. It just about associates with a profile when in the car, but outside the car it doesn’t allow unlocking. The digital key functionality has been intermittent too. It allows me to drive the car when inside, but in theory it should allow unlocking when the phone is within arms distance which is not currently working. You can open the app and unlock it, but that feels clunkier than just carrying the key which works really well. As long as you have the key on you then touching the inside of the door handle unlocks the car, and the outside locks it.

The key fob/tag issue will require a call in with a service partner but hopefully it will be a simple fix or straight up replacement. There is a design flaw inherent in the key fob as the larger key has an easily replaceable battery, but the smaller fob is sealed. Great for dropping it in a lake and still surviving, but once three years are up then it needs a costly replacement. Of course the internet provides an alternative solution in form of a stanley knife: the cover can be removed and the battery replaced manually in the event of it dying for those confident in their DIY skills. Since this is a brand new car I don’t quite feel up to tearing down the key.

How has it performed in Cornwall? So far I’ve driven about 180 miles and it has performed admirably and been really comfortable. Bringing a new car down the narrow country lanes of Cornwall has been a bit hairy, but barring some dodgy moments with inconsiderate drivers, things have been fine. I even got a chance to try the adaptive cruise control in some slower roads which also worked well.

There is a decent range of available apps for the infotainment system including Spotify and Amazon Music, although we’ve noticed a problem with play order in some albums which is very weird. The Harmon Kardon sound system is great though and the cabin is a really welcoming place with excellent climate control, extending to heated seats for passengers in the rear of the car. There’s even a spot for wireless phone charging in the front, and four USB-C ports (two for the front seats, and two for the rear).

Aside from the key niggles, it really is a fantastic car and a great introduction to the world of electric vehicles.