We continue to publish the stories of our readers’ experiences. This time I invite you to read an interesting story about how our reader Werner, who travels with Tesla every day, tried it in Italy Polestar 2. You can’t buy such a car in Latvia, that’s why this experience story is all the more interesting. Thank you!
I have been the owner of electrified transport for 5 years. In today’s eyes, the beginning was really fascinatingly naive. My first e-car has been passed on in the family for some time now – to young drivers. I myself have been driving a Tesla Model 3 (Tesla Model 3 Long Range Dual Motor) for 3 years / 100,000 km. It is a machine made in Fremont (USA) with a Performance “improvement”.
Before the electric era, I rolled around in a Volvo – the last classic XC70 and the still current XC90. That’s why this article will have a lot of references and comparisons with Volvo and Tesla. I have voted with my wallet for both of these brands and they have not disappointed me.
There were several events to attend in Italy at the beginning of December. Destinations about 150 km from Bologna and the time window is very limited. Renting a car is the only possible option. After scanning the offers of rental offices, Hertz, the leader in electrification, caught my eye. Polestar 2 were available for this rental and I would have to pay 55 euros for 3 days. Of course, the car is not guaranteed, but the price was so sweet that I made a reservation. And this time I got what I wanted!
What is Polestar anyway?
Since Polestar is not represented in Latvia, I think we should start by going back to the “roots”. Polestar is some kind of funny concept that originated in the marketing department of Volvo’s owners, Geely. I haven’t really delved into it, but I don’t think it’s like a Lexus Toyotai. And neither is Škoda for Volkswagen. I do not fully understand why this was necessary. Be that as it may, the kinship with Volvo is very palpable there. I have asked our Volvo dealer how they feel about the Polestar. Well, they would be happy to offer such a car to us as well, but the concept from “above” is that two bears do not live in the same den… Polestar is pushing the market in a similar way as Tesla – it is pushing in the online store, there are physical showrooms, but they are somehow very limited. Not in Latvia. Unfortunately… Polestar has another bastard cousin – Lynk&CO. I have also driven around Italy with it. A nice hybrid. But it has nothing Swedish, pure Asian.
To be honest, it’s my first time inside Polestar. My rental car, after 20,000 km, has clearly been neglected and not cleaned very thoroughly.
When starting the trip, Polestar immediately demonstrates 2 “tricks”, so to speak, hiding my Tesla right between the wheels.
- Apple CarPlay. After 3 years in Tesla, I have somehow learned to live without it. Tesla’s gifted Spotify account takes 50% of the pain away. But Waze is missing on the big screen. But it’s not like you can’t get by at all. Anyway, Polestar auto CarPlay is there and works perfectly.
- Light. It’s worse with Tesla lights. The new updated models have it better, the robot also closes them better. For my car – well… For Polestar, on the other hand, you can feel the presence of the Swedish cousins. The Swedish lights are good, the assistant is excellent.
On the first trip, it was not possible to test the range anxiety meter correctly. I could not enter the destination. Later, I realized that I tore off the raincoat myself. The destination was the Charlie Hotel, not the Charly. I navigated by memory and looked through the beginner mode of what the machine does. At the beginning of the journey, the car (86%) promised 350 km autonomy, after driving 150 km it showed 150 km remaining.
I want to emphasize that it should not judge the capabilities of the machine “gues’o’metra”. The car must specify the destination so that, taking into account the climate, road conditions, driver profile, etc., it can correctly calculate the balance at the destination. For Tesla, that calculation works out very well. for 200 km the error is within 1-2%. If the destination is not specified, then a correct calculation is simply not possible. Well, for example, if you leave Skriveris with 100 km of battery remaining, you will reach Bolderājai. But until Madonna – hardly. Those 100 meters of height with “+” or “-” change the picture quite a bit. The next day, I realized that if the destination is set correctly, then the final SOC Polestars calculates accurately.
Adaptive cruise control works well with Pilot assist. Tesla knows how to change lanes, understands navigation. However, Volvo does not care about speed limits. I would say that Polestar vs Tesla is 1:1. Well, “achtungs” are at road repair sites. Volvo distinguishes colors well, understands that yellow is more important than white. The repairs have recently been completed, the barriers have been put back together, the yellow line has almost been polished. ALMOST. However, the car noticed the excess of the yellow stripe and started driving along it. And almost bullied into the new barriers.
Electric car charging in Italy
On the car side – even very OK. At 80% SOC, around 90kW of power was still going inside. Without pre-heating and other tricks. On the Italian side – a nightmare. On time, I already loaded the application in the morning at the hotel. I’m trying to add a payment card, something went wrong… With the third one, doing exactly the same – it’s OK. Well, in the name of an eggplant, an Italian electrical dealer needs to know where I live? Here’s my peso, give me the Spanish! For a 300kW charger – 1 €/kWh. 11 kW AC – 0.69 €/kWh. You don’t have to be a math giant to realize that driving an electric non-Tesla in Italy is expensive. I mentioned Tesla, because for Teslas, Supercharger chargers cost €0.50-0.55 per kWh. While I was charging, I talked with local enthusiasts. Their houses are rather weakly electrified. Traditionally, private houses also have 1-phase connections with a power of ~ 10 kW. A more powerful connection has a significantly more expensive “subscription” section + the price of 1 kWh is higher. And often the 3F connection is simply not available. So their e-car enthusiasts are left to rely on public charging. The best offer is from the same zepers that I already charge, 250kWh/month for €100. And more. When I tried to run the charger from the app, it only worked on the 4th try. Everything slows down, hangs. Really screwing a POS terminal to that charger that “freezes” 30 or 50 € is such a space? Locals say that there will be no hanging around with the app to send an RFID card in Pastel. Thank you!
Electricity consumption
My approach to evaluating e-cars is quite simple. We open the back door, look at how the legroom looks like for the average passenger. Polestar also has a “tranny tunnel” TUR. The Polestar, like the Volvo XC40, has a “trance”. These two brothers were not born electric cars, but are ICEs with a bolted-on battery and motors. Here, I came across some kind of pun from “atjekniki”. As a rule, such “trances” are not very effective. My observations with the specific car: at +5 C, while cruising at a steady 120 km/h, the Polestar fueled around 23…24 kWh/100 km. Tesla would be 15-20% more efficient under the same conditions. Of course, this is subjective. But I’m pretty sure about that statement.
Salon and screen
The first feeling – the steering wheel is the same as my beloved XC90, which I drove six years ago. Tablet like Tesla, only cropped in portrait mode. I like the salon. Quieter than Tesla. The door closes more solidly. The padded roof against the Tesla’s glass also helps keep things quiet, of course. Arches are much better insulated. Looking at the screen behind the steering wheel, I couldn’t say that I miss that rudiment in Tesla. Also, nothing relevant is shown there. After 35 years behind the wheel, I no longer need a speedometer to determine how fast I’m going. I can peek at the big screen near the speed camera. Everything worked fine on the big screen. Not as wildly many figs as in Tesla. The interior of the Polestar is as big (more precisely – small) as the XC40. In both of them, only subjects who do not have legs or who have legs but cannot walk independently can sit behind me. Even a larger child’s chair can hardly be placed there. But yes, the Polestar 2 can be said to be an XC40 with a trunk.
Pace and dynamics
Rolls well as usual. For electric cars, the extra weight of the batteries has a positive effect on the smoothness of the ride. The dynamics are respectable. Not Tesla madness, but still – a very dynamic car. Serious reviewers have already measured and weighed everything accurately. If you are interested in being more precise, you should look for a serious review. I liked.
In general, a nice car for wealthy citizens. Respectable autonomy, dynamics, excellent interior, good equipment. Chic, but not blatantly vulgar. It’s a real shame that our market is not considered worthy of attention by Polestar. Although I liked a lot of moments, I wouldn’t change it for Tesla. My “deal-breaker” is the lack of space in the rear and the relatively low efficiency.
Well, and additionally “take-away”. As an enthusiast, this is very hard for me to say. But you don’t need to rent an electric car in Italy. Unless you have a perfect mobility plan with “all the moves written down”.
2023-12-18 21:31:56
#Tesla #driver #fared #Polestar #test #Italy
