Increased power, performance and range, as well as a move to a rear-wheel-drive layout, are key changes to the updated Polestar 2, which will arrive later this year.
Available to order now with a £2800 bump in starting price, the 2’s update is more than just cosmetic. Single-motor versions of the electric saloon are now rear-driven, having previously been front-driven, in a move to increase efficiency and improve range.
Parent company Volvo has recently undertaken the same move with its XC40 Recharge and C40 Recharge EVs.
This move to a rear-drive set-up has been something that Polestar has been looking at “for some years”, chassis-development head Joakim Rydholm told Autocar.
The change has also helped with other aspects of the car, giving it “slightly improved comfort and handling” while “keeping the same DNA”, he said.
“We start from a very good platform; we were very happy. But now when we change the rear wheel, we have lifted comfort [and] improved the agility, the steering position and the speed of response at the front axle.
“The whole car feels a little bit more agile and even a little bit lighter.”
This is similar to the dual-motor version of the 2, which is now tuned with a rear-biased torque split that “increases driving pleasure and performance”.