Polestar 2 Long Range AWD Performance Pack - long-term review

I’ll start with a disclaimer that you should in no way trust my science, methods, or even my opinion. But I believe I have possibly discovered the holy grail of electric car tuning. Yes, having downloaded the over-the-air performance upgrade for the dual-motor Polestar 2 that currently resides in the TopGear Garage, not only have I gained power and performance, but what appears to be another 30 miles of range. So THAT’s where it came from. Faster and longer is not something that usually happens at the same time. And no, you don’t get the extra range if you make use of the extra grunt, but that’s physics for you. Or possibly chemistry. 

So what are we talking about here? Well, the P2 fairly regularly suggests that it needs to do a little software update  - exactly like your mobile phone. Most of these are the same as your device; software fixes and improvements that you don’t really catch. But if you order the 1,000 euro (about £850) hop-up via the Polestar online shop, your car simply goes to sleep for 90 minutes and then wakes up with another 67bhp and 15lb ft of torque. So you get a grand total of 350kW (about 475bhp) and 680Nm (502lb ft), 0-62mph down point-3 of a second from 4.7 to 4.4, and a 50-75mph time down to 2.2 seconds, half a second quicker than before. It’s like magic - in old-car tuning, we’d be talking an exhaust and air filter, if not a lumpy cam to get those sorts of gains. It’s muscle-building creatine for your car, except digital and without the attendant excess sweating. You also get a little self-fit grille badge and new stickers for the side of the car, but I’m yet to receive those, so will remain a sleeper for a little bit longer. 

Back on the practical side of things, does it drive like a lightning-snorting M3 competitor? Well, no. To be entirely honest, I didn’t really pick up on the bump immediately - mainly because I don’t use all of the power all of the time and you surf a chunk of torque in an electric car anyway, plus 15lb ft extra in a car over two tonnes is a blip. But once I was paying attention, the car just spins its electric motors more freely - like an ICE car with more than 5,000 miles on it, when the engine has finally loosened up. I’m not entirely sure an electric motor does the same thing, but the upgrade increases the P2’s You can feel the mid-range pep - that’ll be the more significant 67bhp at play - but honestly its more that the car feels freer, rather than terribly more urgent. It’s a proper upgrade though - and well worth doing. And in case you were wondering, the Polestar 2’s suspension and brakes were largely overspecified in the first place, so the minor jump in power and performance isn’t a problem. 

Of equal significance is the fact that if you don’t use the extra power, the P2 apparently gains range - which is even more of a big deal with energy prices soaring across the board. Now this could be a slight rise in ambient temperatures (though not by much), it could be the fact that I drive like a fragile old-person with sore feet, or some other software-related tweak, but the P2 is now doing roughly 240 miles of range if you keep the aircon in ‘Eco’ mode and become religious with the pre-heating. Drive with ‘everything on’ and pay no mind to driving style, in the depths of midwinter, I was looking at 180-190 miles. This is hugely significant to me; usually a couple of times a week I have a 104-mile each way journey. In winter the car would need a charge, now it doesn’t. Similarly, if super-careful, I can now also manage to get to Heathrow from Lincolnshire and back without needing to charge, and that’s a big deal when you’re home on a late flight and want to just get under a duvet. It’s all a learning experience, and I’m getting used to getting the best out of the car. But don’t get me started on airport’s lack of even the slowest forms of charging; with the rise in EVs, it would make sense for a few slow-plug points to enable travellers to return to a charged car - I’d pay for it. Although I did manage to sneak a charge in an underground hotel carpark when away overnight. Just don’t tell anyone.

In other news, I’ve been to visit Prodrive (imagine what they could do with the P2), and off driving the Rimac Nevera. Four times the power of the P2, similar weight. Now that was a power hike I noticed… and yes, I did find a spare Rimac unit in the garage, although for the life of me couldn’t figure out a way to get it into my hand luggage.