Polestar 2 review - Interior, design and technology
Polestar has engineered plenty of quality, style and great tech into the 2.
The Polestar 2 is a fastback-styled family car with stacks of Swedish cool. It has a classy, Volvo-like feel to the interior, while the frameless door mirrors and glass roof panel just add to the stylish look.
Leather upholstery isn’t offered as standard with the 2, instead Polestar offers a ‘vegan interior’ with no animal products used in the cabin. However, if you really want to specify leather trim, then you can tick the options list - adding an extra £4,000 to the list price.
Polestar doesn’t feature typical trim levels, instead it provides specific ‘themes’ inspired by different cities, including Shanghai, London and Berlin. Each theme brings together different colour and trim combinations for the cabin and exterior bodywork.
Sat-nav, stereo and infotainment
The central 11.5-inch touchscreen infotainment system is one of the best in the business and is easily a match for the Tesla’s tech. It’s powered by Android with Google Assistant and the voice control is the best of any we’ve used.
It’s an easy set-up to operate, because Google Maps powers the navigation, so traffic data is really accurate. The screen’s graphics are superb, too, and the same is true of the standard 12.3-inch digital dashboard.
The speed of response to your inputs is just as good, and there’s very little lag. Apps such as Spotify are included, so you can stream music, but only Android Auto is supported, due to it being a Google system. Apple CarPlay isn’t offered yet on the Polestar 2, although should be available via an over-the-air update in mid-2021.
However, the Tesla features neither of these apps anyway, so it’s only a minor point compared with its Swedish rival. Otherwise, the Polestar’s tech is superb.