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In-depth reviews

Polestar 2: range, battery & charging

Lots of charging options and competitive range figures keep the Polestar 2 on par with its rivals

Overall rating

4.0 out of 5

Range, battery & charging rating

4.5 out of 5

ModelRangeWallbox charge timeRapid charge time
Standard Range Single Motor313-339 miles10hrs 45mins (0-100%, 7.4kW)34 mins (10-80%, 135kW)
Long Range Single Motor379-406 miles12hrs 30mins (0-100%, 7.4kW)28 mins (10-80%, 205kW)
Long Range Dual Motor344-368 miles12hrs 30mins (0-100%, 7.4kW)28 mins (10-80%, 205kW)
Long Range Dual Motor with Performance Pack344-352 miles12hrs 30mins (0-100%, 7.4kW)28 mins (10-80%, 205kW)

The entire Polestar 2 lineup received significant range boosts in 2023 thanks to new electric motors and bigger batteries for the Long Range variants. Having driven the updated car, we can say that while it can’t quite match the official 406-mile maximum range (one of the longest offered by any electric car on sale right now) quoted by the manufacturer, we did see well in excess of 300 miles on a charge. For less than £50,000, that’s undeniably impressive.

Polestar 2 range

The Polestar 2 Standard Range Single Motor claims up to 339 miles between charges, thanks to its 69kWh battery pack, while the rest of the line-up consists of Long Range models which are fitted with a larger 82kWh unit. The significant 406-mile headline figure belongs to the Long Range Single Motor variant, while the Dual Motor cars claim up to 362 miles.

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We think these figures are a bit optimistic, though, as during our time with the Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor, we were only able to achieve 3.9 miles per kilowatt-hour. This translates to a range of around 320 miles which, while still impressive, is quite a bit down on Polestar’s lofty claim. 

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In comparison, we were able to get 4.4 miles/kWh out of a pre-facelift Tesla Model 3 Long Range (374 miles). That being said, our BMW i4 and Hyundai Ioniq 6 test cars only managed 3.3 miles/kWh (337 miles) and 3.2 miles/kWh (322 miles) respectively.

Charge time

Charging at home from a standard 7.4kW wallbox will take over 12 hours for the larger of the two batteries, or just under 11 hours for the entry-level version. If your property has three-phase electricity, the Polestar 2 can take advantage of faster 11kW home charging, reducing those times to around seven and eight hours respectively for the smaller and larger batteries.

As part of the recent updates, the Standard Range Polestar 2 can now charge at up to 135kW, while the Long Range versions up this to 205kW. Polestar says it will take around half an hour to top-up each version from 10-80% using a suitably fast rapid or ultra-rapid charger.

All Polestar 2 models come as standard with a Type 2 charging cable, along with a three-pin home-charging cable. There's no official home wallbox as you'll find with some other manufacturers, but Polestar is in an official partnership with Ohme in order to provide free or reduced chargers to both existing and new customers.

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Hello, I’m Shane and I’m the senior content editor both here at DrivingElectric and at our sister title Auto Express. Although I can trace my professional roots back to the radio and podcasting world, my passion (or borderline obsession) with cars saw me switch over to motoring journalism in 2021. From the very start I have been fortunate enough to try out the latest and greatest electric cars on the market, and I’m proud to help people like you make the right EV buying decisions.

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