2023 Polestar 2 Dual Motor Review – Silent Luxury

What if I told you there exists a small luxury sedan with Swedish roots and an uncanny ability to go about its business with unfussy silence?

Well, there’s at least one of those on the market – the 2023 Polestar 2 Dual Motor. If your idea of luxury is no fuss, no muss, no noise, you’ve found your huckleberry.

Unfortunately for the Polestar performance rep, the enthusiast buyer might demand a bit more.

Polestar, remember, is the performance-electric arm of Volvo. And while sometimes the Polestar 2 feels right at home as a sporty EV sedan, there are other times when it feels more like a luxury commuter giving a too-small dose of steroids.

Body roll is a bit too noticeable in a nearly $70K performance sedan, as one example. Another issue: Steering that’s too numb and artificial.

On the other hand, most EVs deliver swift acceleration these days, and this Polestar is no different. My tester was a dual-motor unit without the Performance Pack, meaning it made 421 horsepower and 546 lb-ft of torque from its front and rear electric motors. This car is quick enough in a straight line to be satisfactory in the stoplight races.

Where the Polestar is a tad better is when it comes to coddling the driver and passengers. It doesn’t swaddle occupants in luxury or high-end design like a Genesis might – instead the motif is Swedish simplicity. Modernism in a modern automobile.

I do like the large infotainment screen, though there's a learning curve to using it. Once you get it figured it out, however, it's a decent system to use.

If you think it looks like a dressed-up Volvo, you’re not wrong. That sounds like damning with faint praise but it isn’t – one could do worse by starting with a Volvo cabin and spiffing it up. That said, those who prefer a more complicated aesthetic should shop elsewhere.

As befits a car of this price – and one with near-silent electric motors at each axle – the silence is nice. This is a quiet car. And the ride is pleasant, too, never veering too much into unnecessary stiffness or softness. I didn’t get a lot of highway miles on this test unit, but this car seems built for freeway cruises.

The estimated range here is 260 miles.

Modernism doesn’t come cheap. This car based at a reasonable $51,900, but options that include Nappa leather interior materials ($4,000), a Pilot (LED fog lights, adaptive cruise, and more, $3,400), and Plus Pack (Harmon Kardon audio and more, $4,200), and 20-inch black silver alloy wheels ($1,300) took the price to $67,450.

In general, I found the Polestar 2 to be an enjoyable, well-rounded sedan, but the performance could be a bit better – though to be fair, this car didn’t have the Performance Package that boosts horsepower and has a chassis tuned for better handling. The price could also be a bit friendlier to the wallet.

Perhaps enjoyable is enough. Being good at many things isn’t a bad thing, necessarily, though sometimes, as the old saying goes, it means that there are no trades mastered.

That would be easier to swallow if Polestar didn’t make performance its whole thing. If this were a Volvo EV, this car would seem properly positioned. As it is, it’s a shame one must fork over well more than another five grand to fully unlock this car’s potential.

For those who don’t, this car is just fine for commuting in silence with a nice touch of luxury refinement.

That will be good enough for some. Still, we’d like a bit more for our money.

[Images: Polestar]

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