Fresh from a 2026 model year revamp, the Polestar 2 electric hatchback joins our long-term test fleet. Nat Barnes grabs the keys and gives his first impressions.

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Polestar 2 Long Range Single Motor

List price (BiK): £49,160 (3%)  Range: 379 miles   Test range: 335 miles   Claimed efficiency: 3.63mpkWh  Test efficiency: 3.5mpkWh

If a week is said to be a long time in politics, then five years is a veritable lifetime in the new car world.

That’s how long it’s been since the Polestar 2 first arrived on UK roads. Five years is still no short amount of time, especially so when some of the newcomer Chinese brands are facelifting their cars after less than two years on occasion.

Thankfully, the Polestar 2 received a nip and tuck of its own with a host of changes earlier this year, largely under the skin, as well as a new standard range 70kWh version to join this 82kWh Long Range model. Included in those changes were an upgraded processor chip for the infotainment and touchscreen and also a new Bowers & Wilkins audio system (an £1800 option also fitted to my car that I’ll be going into more detail in due course).

Those updates have helped to keep the 2 looking fresh though to my eyes, especially when it’s sitting alongside the latest 3 and 4 in those uber-trendy Polestar Spaces retailers. The 2’s slightly squared-off shape might at first feel slightly old school, but I think it’s barely aged at all and still stands out from the crowd in a busy car park (even though you’re now more likely to see other 2s as well). The only items showing their age on the outside are the proud, sticking-out door handles, when many modern EVs have gone for flush electronic versions instead.

That said, there’s no doubting that the 2 is a firm fleet favourite. In those past five years of being on sale, an incredible 80% of all 2s sold have been to fleets and businesses. And the latest spotlight on the brand generally with the new 3 and 4 is probably only likely to keep that strong too.

It’s admittedly been some time since I sat inside a 2, but while the portrait-style central infotainment screen looks basic at first glance compared to some of the latest all-singing-and-dancing offerings, the reality is that it’s refreshingly intuitive. I also love the fact that you can set individual settings not just for the regenerative braking, but also the steering weight and smaller factors like the seat heaters temperatures and whether you want the car to creep like a traditional automatic or tilt the mirrors when reversing. The reality is that most owners are likely to set these to their liking and then leave it, but for me it’s a neat addition – it shows someone has thought about the driver’s needs.

That’s not to say the 2 isn’t without some idiosyncrasies, mind you. The interior lighting wasn’t operating when opening the doors when the car got delivered, but rather oddly it’s not altered via the lighting menu on the screen, but by a roof-mounted button that you have to press and hold. Likewise, the ability to set the pre-conditioning isn’t in the charging menu, but on the heating and ventilation screen, which seems the wrong location to me.

What was also odd was how I solved these problems – via the on-screen digital handbook. Usually I’d rather run across a Lego-strewn floor in bare feet than use a digital handbook, but this one works well and, crucially, has a search function. That small addition has made me a convert. Rather than swearing and cursing as I went through the indexed menus, the search immediately bought up the required page and I could solve the problem. Pay attention other car makers – whoever designed that search button deserves a medal.

We’ll see if any other medals will be handed out over the next six months.