The Polestar 2 electrical sedan received’t look a lot totally different for 2024. However beneath the pores and skin, it’s a vastly totally different automobile. Costs have elevated, as is regular this yr. However, given all that has modified, the $1,500 bump appears modest.

Whostar?

In case you haven’t seen one but, we must always clarify. Polestar is an electrical automaker from Sweden that’s within the lengthy strategy of transferring out of Dad’s home. It began as an in-house tuner store at Volvo however now builds its personal merchandise (although they nonetheless share many elements and an ethos of Scandinavian simplicity with Volvo automobiles).

The Polestar 2 is its first mainstream product (sure, there was a Polestar 1, however it was in-built small numbers). It’s a high-riding all-electric sedan that appears nearly prefer it’s constructed with off-road aspirations however is engineered for the asphalt.

FWD to RWD Is No Huge Take care of EVs

For 2024, the most important modifications come to the bottom mannequin – what Polestar calls the “Lengthy Vary Single Motor” trim degree. That’s a little bit of marketer-speak. There is no such thing as a short-range mannequin. It beneficial properties 68 horsepower and 50 miles of vary, now good for 299 horsepower and 320 miles between charging periods.

There’s additionally a serious mechanical change that could be a signpost of the electrical automobile design period. It’s gone from front-wheel drive (FWD) to rear-wheel drive (RWD). With none seen change to the automobile.

Electrical automobiles don’t require massive engines beneath the hood. They’ve comparatively compact electrical motors connected on to their axles. Producers usually construct a 2-wheel-drive model of an electrical automobile (EV) with a motor on one axle and an all-wheel-drive (AWD) model with a motor on every.

Final yr, Polestar put the motor on the entrance axle for base fashions. This yr, it’s on the rear axle. Polestar says the motor itself is new, extra compact, and extra highly effective. On the rear axle, it “additional enhances the automobile’s already excellent dealing with traits and efficiency,” the corporate says.

AWD editions get a bit extra energy, too – 421 horsepower this yr as an alternative of final yr’s 402. Vary is as much as 276 miles – 16 greater than the 2023 mannequin.

2024 Polestar 2 Pricing:

Polestar additionally expenses a $1,400 vacation spot price on the two.

Trim Degree	MSRP
Lengthy Vary Single Motor – RWD	$49,900
Lengthy Vary Twin-Motor AWD	$55,300