Salem, Massachusetts is about a 100 mile drive and with the show scheduled to start at 1pm, I left around 10:15am, arriving there right around noon.

I checked in and got my “packet”, which had a name tag that unfortunately said “Chevy Equinox” on it instead of “Polestar 2”. I scratched it out with the pencil I keep in the pen clip in the glove box.

There were designated spots assigned to people and their cars, but from what I could tell plenty of people were not in their spots, probably due to “best laid plans” and all that.

The weather started off sunny and reasonably comfortable for mid-April in New England. But as the afternoon progressed, the wind picked up and the clouds came in, noticeably dropping the temps. I’m a Mainer so was prepared for wild April weather fluctuations and had a variety of coats, hats and gloves to handle whatever Mother Nature had up her sleeve.

At the beginning of the show I talked with Corbin, The Ioniq Guy, for a little while. I met him at last year’s show and it was good to chat with him again. He had his 2025 Ioniq 5 there and it was being used to help power some equipment for one of the food vendors.

While we were talking, Jesse from Green Wave EV came over to chat as well. Both the Ioniq Guy and Green Wave EV were show sponsors, so many thanks to them!

It was also great to hear from Jesse that used EV sales have been heating up the last couple months. After all, used EVs are one of the best ways to get into the EV world!

I spent a fair amount of time with my Polestar 2 answering questions about it and EVs in general. The Polestar 2 is certainly a “looker” and people loved to check it out, especially since it is not a commonly seen EV.

EV Showcase

Here’s a brief recap of some of the other EVs that I visited and talked to their owners about. Unfortunately, I didn’t get everyone’s name and certainly didn’t get to look at everything there.

Lucid Air

My neighbor at the show was Rob with his lovely Lucid Air.

The Air is a gorgeous car and that trunk opening is wild. There’s a ton of room in there and the front trunk is also huge (I’m pretty sure I could have curled up and taken a nap in it). The car itself is luxurious, comfortable and spacious. I really liked it and the only negative I had about it was that it was rather long, about 15 inches longer than my Polestar 2. Even Rob said that it can be a bit tricky to park on the street in downtown Salem.

BMW i3

I love the original BMW i3 and when I saw one was at the show, I had to get a closer look at it. This is a small car with quirky, unique styling. It’s carbon fiber! This version has the range extender (REx) engine in the back that works as a small generator to charge the battery and increase the effective range.

I didn’t catch the owner’s name, but we did talk a bit about the innovative things in the i3 and how it really didn’t appeal to BMW owners. It’s an unBMW!

I did consider an i3 for a short while when I first started looking at EVs. Its design appeals to me, but it being rear-wheel drive only, didn’t make it a great option for Maine. The range was also less than I wanted.

This would make a wonderful city car, and I still kind of want one!

Ioniq 5

I do love the funky design of the Ioniq 5. It’s angles and shapes are unique and cool, at least to me. Unfortunately, it’s bigger than I want, but I like everything else about it. There is a ton of room, controls are nicely done and it has colors that I like.

The owner of this 2025 Ioniq 5 Limited had driven it on a road trip from Rhode Island to Ohio and had some printouts of the route they took with charging stops. It was really interesting to hear his story.

He mentioned that even though the 2025 Ioniq has the NACS plug, he almost never uses Tesla Superchargers because the Ioniq charges slower at them due to the mismatch between the Ioniq’s 800 volt design and the Tesla Superchargers lower voltage specs.

Rivian R1S and Chevy Equinox

The Rivian R1S was huge! The owner said he had reserved the smaller R2 and will likely switch to it when it is available.

Next to the Rivian was a Chevy Equinox. This was an all-black model and looked kind of mean! It actually didn’t seem too big to me and the design was pleasant. I’m not surprised this has been such a popular vehicle for Chevy.

Other Notes

I didn’t count, but there were somewhere between 20 and 30 EVs at the show. Strangely, the assigned parking chart made it look like there would be a lot more EVs there, but I guess some people that had signed up didn’t bother to show up.

In addition to EVs, there were also people showing electric bikes, unicycles, lawn mowers and stuff.

There were certainly more visitors than last year’s show (which had terrible weather), but I’d love there to have been more. I think things dwindled down a bit once the weather cooled off.

Salem has done this EV show for several years now and I hope it continues. Maybe someday we’ll get a warm April day, though!

Polestar 2 Drive Stats

This drive to Salem was the longest single trip I’ve made without charging. It came out to 193.4 miles.

I left with 100% charge and I arrived back at home with 9% charge and 23 miles remaining. Both of those are the lowest I’ve gotten my Polestar 2 down to.

At 9% everything still drove normally. There was no “turtle mode” yet.

The drive was nearly all highway and I set the ACC to the speed limit, keeping speeds between 60 and 70mph. On the drive back I mostly kept things at 65mph. The Polestar 2 gets noticeably better efficiency at slower speeds.

The end result was 33.2kWh/100mi, which comes out to 3.01mi/kWh. That is amazingly good, especially for a cool April day with temps between 45-50F and some wind.

With those numbers, that gives a maximum range of about 225 miles, which is darn close to the 233 mile EPA rating. In the summer, I will be able to easily beat that!

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But after a year and about 10,500 miles, the tires had reached about 3/32” tread depth and were ready for replacement at nearly 36,000 miles. I know people like to complain about EVs wearing out tires quickly, but I think that 36K miles on the original tires is pretty good. My 2016 Corolla wore through its original tires in fewer miles.

I knew tires were in the cards for early this year, so I had been researching replacements. You might think that I should get EV tires for an EV, but that is just not necessary. Sure, EV tires will likely be more efficient and improve range, but you will almost certainly get worse performance and traction.

I live in Maine and we do get our fair amount of terrible winter driving conditions with cold, snow, ice and slush. After reading and watching reviews at Tire Rack and TyreReviews, I decided that I didn’t want to get another set of Pilot Sport tires and instead wanted an all-weather tire.

My Polestar 2 was originally from the New Jersey area, which made more sense for the Michelin Pilot Sport All-Season 4 tires, but those tires really did not behave well in any sort of snow. It turns out for Maine, an all-weather (3PMSF, 3-peak mountain snowflake) tire is more appropriate than an all-season tire.

Although you might think the names mean the same thing, an all-weather tire is better rated for snow conditions, whereas an all-season tire is probably best for areas that can get cold, but don’t really see much, if any, snow.

To be fair, I work from home so I don’t usually need to head out in the snow, but you never know and I really wanted something that would give me confidence if I did have to do so.

We had previously put Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires on my wife’s RAV4 (and that Corolla), and although they are great tires and very popular I didn’t really want them on my Polestar 2.

I had a few reasons and one was just vanity: I didn’t like the way they looked with their odd tread pattern. The tires are also rather pricey and I was concerned about noise.

After watching and reading more reviews I decided to get the Pirelli Cinturato WeatherActive tires. These all-weather tires had really good general-purpose performance, but also worked well in the snow. By all accounts, they are not as good as the CrossClimate 2 in the snow, but I felt that their performance in wet/dry and general quietness were worth that tradeoff.

At the end of March I ordered a set of these Pirelli’s from a local tire shop (Sullivan Tire). The tires were $290 each with a $100 discount when buying four, getting them down to $265. That’s a better price than Tire Rack so I can’t complain! (The CrossClimate2 were $318 each, over $200 more for all four.)

One thing that is unusual about Polestar 2 is that the wheels in the back are wider than the ones in the front. I had to give the shop specific instructions to make sure they put the wheels back in the same positions. I even marked them with some white duct tape so I could verify afterwards!

Sullivan Tire did a great job, installing the tires in about two hours. They also checked the alignment and did do a slight alignment to the front passenger wheel, which they did for free!

I did check and adjust the tire pressures at home (after giving them a chance to cool). I did need a few pounds of pressure in three of the tires to get them up to spec.

The next day I did get a tire pressure warning in the driver console, but I went to the Car Status screen in the infotainment to Store Pressures and that quickly went away.

I think the tires look pretty great:

And here’s a closeup:

After putting about 100 or so miles on these tires, there are several things I really like about them.

First, is that they have dramatically improved the ride. I always felt my Polestar 2 had a rather stiff ride, even though I don’t have the Performance Pack. I just figured that was the way this drove, being a sports sedan. Well, with these tires things have softened dramatically. The ride is so much more comfortable. The Michelin tires would crash and bang over bumps and potholes, but these Pirelli tires are smooth and quiet.

And speaking of quiet, they are also seem quieter in general with less road noise.

And lastly, they seem to have tighter handling. Steering feels more responsive with them.

Certainly a lot of these things could be just because they are newer and have more tread on them than the Michelin’s had from 25K-36K, so I guess we will see as I put more miles on them. But so far, I am incredibly pleased.

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As I am writing this my Polestar 2 is at 36098 miles. When I bought it, it had about 25500 miles. So in one year I’ve put over 10,000 miles on it. That’s a lot for me! In fact, it is the most miles I’ve driven any car in a year. I work from home, so don’t have a commute that puts on miles. Instead, I’ve accumulated these miles because I just like driving it everywhere!

I don’t take it on long road trips, I just drive it regularly. My longest trips with it, that I have done several times, have been to Boston and Bangor, both in the 200 to 240 mile round-trip range.

Styling

I still get a smile on my face every time I walk up to the car. Its styling is a perfect blend of muscular aggressiveness combined with a compact sedan. The Polestar 2 really is a mean-looking sports sedan.

Technically the Polestar 2 is a liftback, which I (and my dog) do greatly appreciate. But from the outside, it just looks like a sedan.

I also love that it sits just a little higher than a regular sedan. That’s made it slightly easier for people to get in/out of it and it does improve visibility when driving. Having sat in a Tesla Model 3 several times, it always surprises me how low you are in it.

The Thunder color always looks stunning.

Favorite Things

The acceleration and handling are definitely favorites. This car drives like it is on rails and can go from zero to illegal very quickly.

I absolutely love the Harman/Kardon audio system. It has the perfect amount of bass for me, but also sounds crystal-clear. I often sit in the car in the garage to listen to tunes when I need some metal therapy.

The seats are incredibly comfortable. They are nice and firm with great lumbar support.

The headlights do a wonderful job of lighting the road and I appreciate the extra “turn lights” that illuminate when taking corners.

These Things Could Be Better

The efficiency of the Polestar 2, at least my 2021 Launch Edition, is not great. Newer models are more efficient so I can’t complain too much, but the relatively poor efficiency means that its range also suffers. I keep a spreadsheet of a variety of trips and the worst efficiency I’ve seen is 45 kWh/ 100 mi (2.22 mi/kWh) and the best I’ve seen is 25.1 kWh / 100 mi (3.98 mi/kWh).

On this recent 98 mile trip, you can see I got 37.5 kWh/100mi, which is 2.67mi/kWh. The temp was on the cold side, however.

There is too much black plastic on the steering wheel controls. I wrapped the area around the shifter to cover its excessive black plastic.

Front-seat storage is minimal. This mostly works for me as I don’t tend to keep junk in my car, but things can get tight quickly when it’s more than just me in there. I bought some 3D printed cupholders for the door pockets and a small shelf for the center console below the infotainment, which helps somewhat.

I do have to reboot the infotainment system somewhat regularly, although not super-often. I’d guess I reboot it about three or four times a month. I’ve had the audio go out once in the year I’ve had it, which is a complaint I have seen online, but a reboot fixed that.

I really think Polestar should be updating the car’s software more often. My friends with Teslas get monthly updates. My Polestar 2 has only gotten one update in the year I’ve had it, although the v5 update is expected soon-ish. It has been starting to appear in Europe and Australia, but so far not in the U.S.

I’d like more settings for some things. In particular, I’d like to be able to show the currently playing song in the driver console. I’d also like to see efficiency as mi/kWh instead of kWh/100 miles. It would also be great to see more driving stats in the infotainment. Right now I have to export data from the Journey Log app and import it into another tool to get stats.

Battery Degradation

Checking the car’s settings with an OBD-II reader, my Polestar 2 reports its battery state of health (SoH) as 92.46%. Take this with a grain of salt as I don’t know how accurate that value is. I’ve heard that it is best to “calibrate” things to get the most accurate number, but that requires getting the car down to 0% and then charging it up to 100%, which I really don’t want to bother with.

If this number is accurate, I think that is a reasonable amount of degradation. I’ll probably be checking it periodically to make sure it doesn’t start changing drastically.

Issues

• A low coolant message appeared shortly after I got the car when taking a corner aggressively. When I checked the coolant level, it was exactly at the minimum level. I bought some coolant and topped it off to be between minimum and maximum and the message has not reappeared.

• An SRS (air bag) light turned on in the dash in June. This turned out to had been caused by a connector under the passenger seat that got jiggled loose when my wife stuffed her purse under there. The light has not come on since I fixed it.

• I changed the cabin air filter in December. It was filthy. I suspect it was never changed by the dealer I bought it from.

• The large key FOBs started behaving unreliably. I replaced the CR2032 batteries in them in early January and have not had a problem since.

• I originally had trouble getting the phone app and phone as key (PAK) working. It wasn’t until after the 3.6.4 update in June, when I did another full factory reset of the car that everything started working. I’ve not had any problems with either since then.

• At times there is a slight clicking/ticking noise that can be heard from the climate vents in the front dash. This is typically only after first getting in the car when it is starting things up. It’s always done this and I presumed it was just a normal Polestar 2 sound, but I’ve since learned that it is possible it could be an indicator that the internal actuators that control the climate vents could perhaps be starting to fail or that perhaps a gear tooth on an actuator could be broken. This has not been a frequent enough problem to worry about, but fixing it will require a visit to the service center.

• My wife has said, while sitting in the back seat, that she has heard some faint clicking when the car is slowing down when I’m using regenerative braking. This is likely the telltale “wheel of fortune” axle clicking that many Polestar 2 owners complain about and that is addressed by replacing the axles. Apparently this is just an annoying sound and not dangerous, so I’m not likely to worry about it. I’ve never heard it myself while driving, even with the windows down.

Concerns

My Polestar 2 is now out of its bumper-to-bumper warranty. The battery warranty remains in effect. Without the B2B warranty, fixing things could quickly get expensive.

The closest and only practical service center I can go to is in Boston, about 100 miles from me. EVs generally don’t need much regular maintenance, but when something goes wrong it is stressful to not have a nearby service center. Polestar really needs to step up their service situation here in the US. I’d love it if Volvo dealers could become Polestar-certified, at least for the Polestar 2 since it shares so many components with the EX40 Recharge.

Summary

Would I buy another Polestar 2? Yes, in a heartbeat! I really hope that Polestar is going to be able to bring the Polestar 2 back to the US market next year with the 2027 update. But if they don’t, I suspect I’ll end up looking for a used 2024 or 2025 model when I decide my time with this Polestar 2 is up.

If you’re looking to get your own Polestar 2, you might find my Used Polestar 2 Buying Guide helpful.

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I’ve been driving an EV for over two years now. My decision to get an EV was sudden and perhaps a little bit accidental, but the only thing I regret is that I didn’t do it sooner.

Here are are three things you should know to make it easy to jump into the EV world.

How will you charge?

Charging is not complicated, but it is different than filling a gas tank. In fact, many people often think it will be the same as getting gas, just slower.

But the reality is that if you can charge at home, it will be much different than you are used to and also significantly easier.

If you can charge at home (or work), even using just a regular 110-volt outlet, then your EV experience will be a breeze. And if you have access to a 240-volt charger, you’ll mostly never worry about charging at all.

If you cannot charge at home or work, you’ll have to rely on public DC fast chargers. This is actually more like filling a gas tank: you’ll have to drive somewhere to charge and wait. This type of charging is also more expensive, although it is still less than gasoline costs these days.

Any of these options can work, but it is worth thinking about before you purchase your first EV.

If you own your own home, getting a 240-volt charger installed in the the garage is often worth the initial investment, which ranges about $500 to $2000.

How many miles do you typically drive?

The number of miles you drive each day is also highly relevant. The average driver only drives about 30 to 40 miles a day, which is actually not much.

If you also only drive a low number of miles each day, then any charging method will work just fine for you. However, if you drive many more miles per day then you may want to ensure you have easy access to 240-volt charging.

These days, EVs have ranges of about 150 to 350 miles, depending on weather and other factors. Unless you have a regular round-trips that are more than your EVs range, you generally won’t have much to worry about.

Used or new?

Many people often think that EVs are just too expensive. I used to think so as well. However that is far less true today than it has been.

In particular, new EVs are becoming much closer in price to their gas counterparts. And if you factor in the reduced maintenance costs, they can even cost less.

EVs still have significant depreciation and that is something to consider. If you want a new EV you will often find that leasing is a better choice, unless you intend to keep your vehicle for five years or more.

But don’t sleep on another overlooked option: a used EV. Because many people lease EVs and turn them in for newer models, you can get lightly used EVs at great prices.

And because EVs need little maintenance there is also far less risk than buying a gas car which may not have had its required service done properly. I often hear from people worrying about the battery in an EV failing, but recent studies have shown that EV batteries are expected to outlast the vehicle itself. Plus, EV batteries are warrantied for at least 8 years and 100,000 miles (in the US) so much of the warranty is still applicable even to used EVs.

It can sometimes be tricky to find good used EVs, but that is getting easier with EV-only used dealers such as Green Wave, Eco Auto and EV Auto. Of these, Green Wave has the best selection of non-Tesla EVs.

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If you’re in northern New England, I’ll be displaying my Polestar 2 at a couple upcoming EV shows:

• March 28: Drive Electric Earth Month EV Expo

• April 12: Salem Kicks Gas: A North Shore Electric Vehicle Expo

Once summer gets closer, schedules for other car shows should start appearing. I look forward to getting my car all shined up for these shows!

I want more of this:

And less of this:

Related

Tire Inflator

It’s important to have properly inflated tires on any car for safety, but with an EV it also helps get you your best efficiency. I keep a small, battery-powered tire inflator in the frunk. It doubles as a phone battery back, although I haven’t had to use it for that.

You should always check your tire pressure when the seasons change at a minimum, but even when there has been large temperatures swings. In particular, tire pressure can drop when air temps drop and lower pressure reduces efficiency and if it is dangerously low, it runs the risk of overheating the tire and causing a blowout.

Tire Repair Kit

Most EVs do not come with a spare tire. This is to save weight and space. If you don’t have some sort of road-side assistance, such as AAA, then you might want to think about getting it. But you can also keep a tire repair kit in the car as well. New EVs will come with this, but a used EV might not. A tire repair kit can vary, but typically has a bunch of “plugs” that you can use to patch up a leak. These kits do not provide a way to permanently repair a tire, but are designs to stop a leak enough so you can get to a tire shop to have the tire properly inspected and then repaired or replaced.

Charging Adapters

For the most part, EVs use the CCS fast charging standard, but more and more EVs are also able to charge at Tesla Superchargers. However, to do so, you’ll need an adapter to go from CCS to the Tesla NACS plug.

I use the A2Z Typhoon Pro adapter, which is kept handy in the frunk.

Portable Charger

A portable charger is a cable that you can use to plug into an AC outlet. I have a ChargePoint level 2 charger installed in my garage, so that is what I use to charge at home.

But most EVs also come with their own “portable charger” that can be used with a standard household outlet. My Ioniq had a simple one that could charge (slowly) at a standard 110-volt outlet. My Polestar 2 came with a fancier one that could also work with a 240-volt outlet.

I’ve never used my portable charger, but I keep it in the frunk. If I were visiting someone for more than a day, this charger could perhaps be used with an outlet in a garage to provide a little extra juice. It’s also handy to have for emergencies when you need a little extra power and can sometimes be used in parking garages or with outlets on light poles.

If your car didn’t come with one or no longer had one, you can pick up one anywhere. You don’t need one specific for your EV. It just has to match the plug (J-1772 or NACS).

Portable Vacuum

I’ve always been a bit of a neat freak when it comes to my cars. I like to keep the clean and one of my favorite things I purchased in the past year is a small, portable, battery-powered vacuum (a Fantik). I keep this in the back hatch area in the side pocket and can grab it to vacuum up dirt and dog hair in a snap. This my favorite!

Power Converter

An EV has a giant battery and sometimes you might want to take advantage of it for other things. My Polestar does not have Vehicle-to-Load (like Ioniqs), so it doesn’t have much in the way of power output. It has some lower power USB ports in the cabin and a single 12-volt (150 watt) outlet in the hatch area.

I have a small 150 watt power inverter that connects to the 12-volt plug in the back and gives me a standard outlet for small electronics plus a couple more USB ports.

Portable Jump Battery

My most recently added gadget is a jump battery. This are designed to charge the 12-volt car battery and can also provide a jump start to a gas car.

In the case of an EV, they are useful because the 12-volt battery is incredibly important and if it loses it charge, the car won’t work at all, even if its main battery is 100% charged.

With this little guy, I can let it charge the 12-volt back up so that the EV can start and then do its thing to charge the 12-volt back up. Because a gas car relies on the 12-volt battery to crank the engine, you start to notice when it gets weak: it’ll take extra cranks to start. But with an EV, you don’t often get much warning that the 12-volt battery is about to die, so having this in the car could save you from getting stranded.

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There are no affiliate links in this post, but I do have to throw out that you can purchase some Polestar-themed merch to help support Current Notes. We’ve got some hats and t-shirts you might like. Check them out in the Shop.

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More Generally Useful Things

Those are the primary EV-specific things I keep in my car. Of course, there are plenty of other things I have on hand that everyone should keep in their vehicle, regardless of whether or not it is an EV.

Here’s a quick list:

• Blanket

• Shopping bags

• Doggie bags (even if you don’t have a dog, these can be handy)

• Doggie treats (always give dogs treats)

• Water bottle

• Tissues

• Glass cleaning cloth (those big infotainment displays get lots of fingerprints)

• Hat

• Gloves

• Flashlight

• Tire gauge

• Snow brush / ice scraper

• Cleaning wipes (keep that backup camera lens clean in the winter)

• Small shovel

• Towel

• Small toolkit

• Window breaker

• AAA card

A little over a week ago, Polestar held a Strategy Update where they talked about their plans for the coming years. In that meeting they announced four new cars in the next three years: Polestar 5 halo car, a Polestar 4 wagon, the Polestar 7 small SUV and an updated Polestar 2 that is expected in 2027.

The new Polestar 2 is what interested me the most and 2027 is only a year away. Exciting! In the Strategy Update, Polestar only showed a sneak peak that indicates this new Polestar 2 will have the new signature Polestar split “blade” headlights instead of the previous “Thor’s hammer” headlight (which are really more of a Volvo thing at this point).

There have been lots of articles being posted since then that speculated what this all meant.

Today, Auto Express, a UK automotive site related to Carwow, posted an article called “New Polestar 2 to lose SUV looks and embrace its sporty saloon side“.

For us Yanks, a saloon is a sedan.

The most interesting thing about the article is an “exclusive image” of this new Polestar 2. This is a small thumbnail, go visit Auto Express to see the full image.

To be clear, this is not a spy photo or anything real. It is simply an AI photo of what Auto Express thinks the new Polestar 2 might look like.

To me it looks like the front end of a Polestar 4 glommed onto an existing Polestar 2, with some fancy wheels. I think it looks nice enough, but it’s just an AI guess so don’t get too attached to it.

Many outstanding questions about the new Polestar 2 remain and likely won’t be answered until next year.

• Will it still be a hatchback/liftback?

• Will it remain the same size or get longer?

• Will it have a vertical or horizontal infotainment screen?

• Will it be available in the US and Canada?

There is one rumor that the car could be up to 30cm longer (that’s about a foot), which would not thrill me. I like the relatively compact size of the current Polestar 2 and don’t want a car that is as long as an Ioniq 6 or BMW i4.

Otherwise, no one really knows anything about the new Polestar 2 and won’t for some time. I’m just happy to know a new one is on the way and am keeping my fingers crossed that it can make it over to the US.

In the meantime, it would be great if Polestar could improve their service situation in the US. During the Strategy Update, CEO Michael Lohscheller hyped up Polestar’s great service, with 1200 service points, but that is definitely a European thing. The service situation in the US is rather dire where there are only about 30 service points.

If you’re curious, you can watch the full Strategy Update below. It’s about 30 minutes.

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You can now purchase some Polestar-themed merch to help support Current Notes. We’ve got some hats and t-shirts you might like. Check them out in the Shop.

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Obviously EVs are very polarizing right now, especially in the US. But the reality is that EVs are a great option for many people, even if they’ve perhaps been misled to think otherwise. Don’t discount an EV just because you’ve been driving a gas vehicle your entire life!

Myth: EVs Don’t Have Enough Range

Enough for what? EVs made in the last 6 years or so typically have ranges from about 220 to 400 miles. A gas car may have a range of about 350 to 500 miles.

So yes, a gas vehicle will almost always have more range on a full tank of gas than an EV will have on a full charge. But unless you actually plan to use that entire range in a single trip, it just won’t matter most of the time.

You might fill up the tank of a gas vehicle once or twice a week, waiting outside (maybe in the cold or rain), but with an EV you instead can just plug it in at home each night and the next day it’ll be “full”. Every time you leave your house, you effectively have a full tank. This change is behavior is really nice once you get used to it.

For long road trips that exceed the range of the EV, then you will have to stop at charging stations along the way. Depending on where you live, this can be super-easy because they are readily available or impractical because they are too few. Use something like A Better Route Planner to see if there are enough chargers to support the trip you want to do.

For what it’s worth, I personally know many people that have driven EVs from New York to Florida and the trip was little different than with a gas car.

Myth: EVs Are Worthless in the Winter

EVs does lose range in the winter. That is a fact that is often greatly exaggerated with claims of 50% range loss, vehicles not charging and other silliness.

Yes, EVs do lose range as temperatures drop, just as a gas vehicle does. You’re usually looking at 20-30% drops when the temps get below freezing. That is certainly noticeable, but it is not often all that important, especially if you are able to charge at home or work.

Although the range drop is real, you can’t bring that up without also mentioning the significant advantages that EVs have in the winter, which includes:

• Pre-heat in the garage or anywhere

• Warms up much more quickly (less than a minute)

• Generally better traction in snow due to low center-of-gravity

Myth: Charging Is Too Difficult and Takes Too Long

If you are able to charge at home or work, then you won’t think about charging. You’ll just plug in when you get out and the car will be “full” again when you leave. It may take the car a while to charge, but you won’t notice or care because you’re doing something else. You will definitely appreciate not having to ever go to a gas station again, however.

If you are on a road trip, you will have to stop at DC fast chargers. These charge an EV relatively quickly, but certainly slower than a gas fill-up. However, most EV stops are going to be in the 15 to 30 minute range, which often is pretty close to the time it takes to hit the restroom, grab a snack and stretch your legs.

Unless you’re trying to power through a several hundred mile road trip in as little time as possible, you won’t care much about these extra breaks.

And if this really matters to you, then consider an EV with longer range and rapid DC fast charge times. An EV with a 800-volt design (such as the Ioniq line, but there are others) can charge up in about 18 minutes!

Myth: EVs are Too Expensive

This is still true to some extent, especially in the early days when batteries were expensive, but EVs are now closer to gas car prices than they have ever been. And some manufacturers are releasing less expensive models such as the Chevy Bolt, Nissan Leaf, Ford Maverick, Slate truck and more.

EVs have far fewer mechanical parts and once they reach critical adoption will become much less expensive to manufacture than any gas vehicle.

And used EVs are typically much, much cheaper than an equivalent gas car. In general, used EVs are a tremendous bargain and a great way to dip your tow into the EV world.

Myth: EVs Wear Out Tires Quickly

This is usually brought up alongside something about EVs being incredibly heavy and thus wear out tires quickly. This just isn’t true. EVs are often slightly heavier than an equivalent gas car, but it’s not like they are twice as heavy or anything like that. Many giant pick-up trucks and SUVs weigh more than a typical EV.

But still, OEM EV tires are often low-rolling resistance tires that will wear out more quickly, but that doesn’t really have anything to do with weight. It’s just the type of tire the manufacture puts on the EV to maximize range.

Just like the summer tires that can be put on some cars to improve performance, OEM tires usually don’t last long regardless of whether they are on a gas vehicle or an EV.

But here’s the thing: you can put any tire you want on an EV. A set of Michelin CrossClimate 2 tires on an EV will last about the same as the do on any vehicle.

Myth: EVs Are Boring to Drive

Sure, if you are one of the less than 1% of drivers that still drives a vehicle with a manual transmission then you will likely find an EV boring, just as you would find any gas vehicle with an automatic transmission boring.

But EVs have a trick up their sleeve: all their horsepower and torque is available immediately. You don’t have to wait for the engine to reach an appropriate RPM before all the power is available.

For the average driver that is used to driving a bog-standard truck or SUV, an EV will, without a doubt, be much more fun to drive because it is faster and quieter than a gas vehicle.

EVs Are Less Repairable

You can make this statement about any new vehicle. Manufacturers are constantly making things less repairable, which is why many states are enacting “right to repair” laws.

But if you take a step back, in a gas vehicle the thing that most often needs a repair of some kind is the engine. However, an EV does not have an engine. It has sealed electric motors. They are not repairable because they don’t need repairing. An electric motor typically has about 20 to 25 moving parts while a gas engine can have over 2000 moving parts!

Other things you may need to repair (or service), such as brakes, tires or fluids are the same in an EV as they are in any other vehicle. Well, except for the fact that EVs, because of regenerative braking, don’t use the brake pads nearly as much. Many EV drivers report that they can get to 100,000 miles before the brake pads need replacement.

Myth: Hybrids Are Better

People that have an irrational fear of range often like to say that hybrids are better. And certainly that is true if you need 600 miles or more of range. A hybrid typically has a low-power engine combined with a small electric motor and a tiny battery.

But hybrids bring with them the maintenance of a gas engine alongside a small battery and an overall more complex drive system that has to know when to switch between gas and electric.

Because of its improved efficiency, a hybrid is certainly better than a standard gas vehicle. But it is not always be a better choice over a pure EV.

Myth: EVs are Worse for the Environment

This is perhaps the biggest myth of them all. The only thing in an EV that uses any significant resources are some of the raw materials for the battery. But unlike a gas vehicle that literally burns and uses up gasoline, which cannot be replaced, the battery can be recharged for many, many years.

Plus, the battery materials do not get used up. They may wear out over (a long) time, but they can be nearly 100% recycled, much like the regular 12-volt lead acid batteries that are used by all vehicles.

The batteries are also charged using electricity which is created from power plants that are always far more efficient than any gas engine. And to top it off, EVs can even be charged by renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydro, something that you cannot do at all with a gas vehicle.

And don’t forget the immediately improvement to air and noise pollution in cities. EVs do not spit out noxious fumes and noise while idling in traffic.

Myth: EVs Have Crippling Depreciation

Yes, currently new EVs do depreciate much more than an equivalent gas vehicle. This is mostly because of many of the myths I’m trying to debunk in this article.

For now that means you should probably only lease new EVs rather than buy them.

But that high depreciation does have a benefit: used EVs are much cheaper to buy. I often recommend a used EV as a great, easy way to join the EV world. I have actually purchased two used EVs in the last couple years. The value for the dollar is tremendous.

Myth: The Battery Will Wear Out and Need to Be Replaced After A Few Years At Enormous Expense

This myth had some truth to it when talking about some of the very early EVs, such as the first generation Nissan Leaf. But today, it is completely false.

Nearly any study you can find today says that EV batteries will outlast the vehicle itself. In fact, all manufacturers provide, at least, an 8-year warranty on the battery. There is no manufacturer that warrants a gas engine for that long.

If for some reason you have an EV that is out of warranty and has a battery failure, then it’s not like you have to go out and buy a brand-new battery for it. Many EVs can have their battery repaired by replacing or updating any faulty cells.

An EV battery is not a single battery. It consists of hundreds of smaller battery cells that are all linked together. Swapping out a few bad battery cells is much cheaper.

Plus, like there is with engines, there are sources of used batteries that can be swapped in, usually much easier than doing any sort of engine replacement. As EVs become more prevalent, so will availability of used batteries.

And as EVs age, there will be a market for battery refurbishing, providing yet another way to keep an EV running for a long time.

Myth: EVs Can’t Tow Trailers

As mentioned earlier, EVs provide all their horsepower and torque immediately. That means they are actually great for towing with the ability to pull lots of weight with smooth power delivery.

Of course, the range will be dramatically reduced when towing, perhaps as much as 50%. But that matches what I’ve seen with gas vehicles as well. I have owned a Toyota Tacoma in the past and it went from about 19mpg to 9mpg when towing our camper.

The more annoying thing about towing with an EV is that most EV charging stations are not designed to pull through, so you may find you have to unhook the trailer in order to connect to the charger. That would definitely be annoying.

But like with anything regarding range, unless you are exceeding the available range in a single trip then this won’t matter.

Still, I probably would not recommend an EV for towing a trailer or camper across the country.

Myth: Government Can Disable Your Car

This is just crazy conspiracy nonsense. And even if it were true, it has nothing to do with EVs. Gas cars have just as much electronics and online communication as any EV so they would be just as susceptible to this insanity.

Wrap

Even though I think I’ve rebuked or explained the myths I commonly hear, that does not mean that EVs are for everyone.

There are plenty of situations where a gas vehicle makes more sense than an EV, the most obvious one being that if you do not have access to AC charging at home or at work, then it will be more of a hassle to own an EV.

But consider the early days of gas vehicles. Until gas stations became prevalent, the same concerns about refueling existed. Eventually EV charging stations will be commonplace and people will no longer worry about how to charge an EV.

And battery technology will continue to improve! Today’s EVs are much more efficient than gas vehicles, but they are using the equivalent of a 3 gallon gas tank. An EV battery that could contain the energy from just 10 gallons of gas would be able to go 1000 miles on a charge! Don’t discount this possibility. After all, cars in the 1960s typically got around 12.5mpg. Even with a large 25 gallon tank, that means they only had ranges of about 300 miles. Technology improved significantly over time for gas vehicles, and has largely plateaued, but EVs still have lots of room for big improvements.

It’s absolutely true that an EV might not be right for you right now. But make that decision based on facts and not on misconceptions and lies that have been spread by others.

What EV myths did I miss? What ones did I not address to your satisfaction? Leave a comment!

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The Polestar phone app also only shows the Trip Auto and Trip Manual stats, which are also very basic and seemingly inaccurate. For example, it is showing my Average Consumption as “10.8 kWh / 100mi”. That would be an utterly amazing 9.25 mi/kWh, which is obviously completely ridiculous.

Such an amazing efficiency would result in a range of nearly 700 miles!

Journey Log

There is another app you can install on the Polestar itself called the Journey Log (it may already be installed). It tracks all your drives and does display some information about them, but it doesn’t offer any way to provide a summarization of that data. You can only look at one drive at a time.

If you’ve never used Journey Log before, you do need to open it at least once and give it permissions to allow it to track drive data.

Journey Log shows a list of all your drives/trips. You can filter it in certain ways and tap on a drive to see more details about it, including a map, consumption and even add your own notes and a category.

It’s an interesting app, but it is slow and not all that useful by itself1. I’m not likely to add notes about my trips from within the car. And it does not show any nice graphs or summary of the trip data.

Fortunately, you can ask Journey Log to send you an email with all the data. Just click the Export button at the top. After you do this, you’ll get an email with a CSV (comma separated file) and an XLSX (Excel file). These files have a row for each drive and many columns with lots of data.

I’ve been meaning to create a quick app to read and parse that exported data to show some summary stats and graphs, but I never got around to it.

Journey Log Explorer

It turns out that now I don’t need to!2 I recently came across an open-source project that does just this3: Polestar Journey Log Explorer. It’s a web app where you can supply your exported data file and it outputs a graph of data.

The open-source project is on GitHub.

And here is an online version of Polestar Journey Log Explorer you can directly use: https://polestar-oss.github.io/polestar-journey-log-explorer/

Unfortunately when I first tried it with an exported CSV file, it was just reporting an error. It turns out that, as written, the tool attempts to verify the file and in doing so looks for a column called “Distance in KM”. However, I am in the US, so the equivalent column for me is output as “Distance in Mile”.

To work around this problem, I opened the CSV file in a text editor and changed the column name from “Distance in KM” to “Distance in Mile” and saved it.

The CSV was then loaded properly by the app and I got some stats back. Of course it is still showing “km” for distances when everything is really miles, but otherwise it seems fine.

Update Feb 20, 2026: The author has updated to project so that it now works correctly with miles or kilometers.

Here is the output:

Unfortunately for me, I have a big gap in the data. I had enabled Journey Log when I first got my Polestar 2 last year, but in June I did a Factory Reset to fix the app/PAK problems I had been having and did not start Journey Log again (to give it permission to track drives) until December. So I’m missing about 6 months worth of driving data.

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• Better for the environment

• Less expensive to operate

• Quiet

• Fast

I think those are all pretty great reasons. If you disagree, try driving one and you’ll change your opinion about EVs real quick. There is a reason that once people switch to an EV they never want to go back to a gas car.

Anyway, if you’re in the market for a vehicle, you would be crazy not to consider an EV. There is one caveat, though. New EVs are still rather expensive. That’s where used EVs come into play.

Buy Used, Save Money

Buying a used gas car is always a bit of a gamble. You don’t know how the engine was treated. Were the oil changes done on time? What about other fluids? If the mileage is high, you may need expensive timing belt/chain, water pump and turbo replacements. It’s all a bit scary.

However, with a used EV there are far fewer things to worry about. There is little to no maintenance that will have been needed. The primary battery has at least an 8 year warranty and will surely outlast the car itself. Since there is no engine to worry about, a visual inspection can often tell you all you need to know about the vehicle.

The used EV market has had its ups and downs in the past year, but overall there were 378,140 used EVs sold in 2025. That is up 35% from 2024 and now represents about 2% of the used-vehicle market.

For much of last year, the tax credit helped many people afford a used EV, but now that it has expired some people might be thinking that owning an EV is out of reach. That’s just not true. Used EVs remain a tremendous bargain. You can often get a lightly used EV for 50% off the original price!

The hardest part about buying a used EV is finding one that meets your needs. Most small used car dealers only have gas vehicles. Larger franchise dealers might have a few used EVs, but that means you’re forced to visit many different dealers to try out various cars. And if you do find one you like, negotiating with a traditional used car dealer is often a hassle.

Green Wave EV, Used EVs Made Simple

A simpler way to find a used EV is to go to a dealer that specializes in used EVs. If you live in northern New England, one such dealer is Green Wave EV in North Hampton, New Hampshire.

And a second location just opened in Salem, MA!

I’ve known about Green Wave for a while and recently got to spend some time chatting with owner Jesse Lore. Unlike other used car dealers, Green Wave is a breath of fresh air.

Let me point out just a few high points:

• Salespeople do not work on commission.

• Vehicles are all reasonably priced.

• Knowledgable staff that wants to find the right EV for you.

• Recurrent EV report with information about range, charging speed and battery.

• Large selection of vehicles that refreshes regularly.

Speaking of the selection, I’d like to highlight a couple vehicles that Green Wave has for sale.

Polestar 2

If you’ve been reading this blog/newsletter for a while, you know I currently drive a Polestar 2. It’s my favorite car ever. A Polestar 2 is a 408hp sports sedan that is actually a liftback, making it fast, fun and practical.

Green Wave actually has three Polestar 2 models in stock as I write this, from about $19,900 to $24,000. So for the price of a used Honda Civic you can instead step up to a Polestar 2 which is a better car in every way. A Polestar 2 is much more luxurious, significantly faster and some models even have all-wheel drive (aka dual-motor in the EV world), which is obviously great for New England winters.

Of the three models that are available at Green Wave, I think this 2021 Launch Edition is a great value at $22,360. This is essentially the same as the one I have and being a Launch Edition means that it has the Plus pack (killer Harman/Kardon stereo, glass roof, WeatherTech seats and more) and the Pilot pack (safety features including fog lights, adaptive cruise control, 360 degree camera and more) so it is pretty loaded.

If you’re in the market for an EV that is fun to drive, has stunning looks while also being practical, then you need to check out a Polestar 2 at Green Wave.

Hyundai Ioniq 5

When I talked with Jesse, he told me that the Ioniq 5 is their most popular EV. That’s not really surprising as the Ioniq 5 is the type of EV that people really want these days. It’s an SUV that is quick, roomy and practical. Plus, most models are all-wheel drive.

I really like the Ioniq 5 and if I were looking for an SUV, it would be high on my list. I love its “pixel” styling, which is fun and unique. It really stands out. The interior is spacious and comfortable making it perfect for a small family.

The Ioniq 5 is also very efficient for an SUV and it charges incredibly fast at public fast charge stations, making it an ideal EV for road trips.

As of this writing, Green Wave has seven Ioniq 5 models available ranging from $21,000 to $31,000. Of these, I particularly like this 2023 Ioniq 5 SEL for $24,500. It still has plenty of Hyundai’s 5-year warranty available and the SEL strikes a good balance with its features, including all-wheel drive and a heated steering wheel.

Lots More to Choose From

As I write this, Green Wave has another 90+ EVs to choose from, so you’re sure to find something interesting.

This Mitsubishi i-MiEV, which I’ve never seen before, is wild!

When it comes to shopping for an EV, I can’t stress these two things enough:

• Shop for a used one. You’ll save a lot of money.

• Visit a used EV store like Green Wave. You’ll save a ton of time.

Friday was the coldest day with the temperature around 9F (sunny and windy) when I left for a trip to New Hampshire. I was driving about 60 miles away and it was mostly going to be highway so this was definitely a great way to see worst-case scenario for efficiency of my Polestar 2 (2021 LRDM).

Other cars won’t have these exact same numbers of course, but they will likely have a somewhat similar drop in range.

Here is what the trip computer showed when I arrived at my destination:

When I left my house, the temperature was 9F and it was 11F when I arrived in New Hampshire. The total drive was 60.6 miles with about 50 miles of that on the highway.

42.7kWh/100 miles was actually better than I expected in these conditions. Using a more useful rate, that comes out to 2.34mi/kWh1. I arrived with 62% battery (and I left at 100%, pre-conditioned), so that first part of the trip used 38% battery.

The Polestar 2 has about 75kWh usable battery, so that efficiency comes out to a maximum range of about 175 miles, not that I’d want to push things down to zero in such cold weather.

For the trip back, the car had been parked outside and was not pre-conditioned. Here is the total data when I arrived back home:

I did not take the exact same route back, which is why the drive home was more miles. I was routed to the highway sooner, but it was a slightly longer drive.

I arrived home at 124.7 miles with an efficiency of 42.0kWh/100 miles (2.38mi/kWh). By this point the temperature had warmed a bit more, reaching a whopping 16F!

I arrived with 24% battery, so the trip back also used 38% battery. Nice to see the consistency! I’d also note that when I left, Google Maps predicted I would arrive home with 24% battery. In my many drives with Google Maps, it is has always been very accurate with its battery estimations.

Since the overall trip ended up with higher overall efficiency than the drive there, apparently the drive back was also more efficient for some reason. Perhaps the wind was at my back!

Using this final efficiency number, that puts total possible range at about 178 miles.

As far as driving speeds, on each leg of the trip I set the automatic cruise control on the highway to the speed limit. In Maine this was typically 70mph and between 60 and 65mph in New Hampshire. I had the climate set to 68F and had the heated seat and steering wheel both set to level 2.

Unfortunately I don’t have a lot of data from a trip to that area in the summer. The most similar warm-weather drive I have stats for is a 106 mile trip in 70F weather from late May last year. On that trip, which was partially highway, I got about 3.27mi/kWh and a maximum of range of 245 miles.

That’s a difference of 0.89mi/kWh, which doesn’t seem that big, but it does work out to about a 27% drop in efficiency from summer. Alternatively you could say range in summer improves by 37% over the winter.

My Ioniq EV had a similar drop of about 25% in the winter, although I didn’t have as direct a comparison or specific data so it was likely a bit worse than that.

Newer Polestar 2 models are more efficient than my 2021. Starting in 2022 a heat pump was added (to models with the Plus pack), which can improve efficiency in cooler (above freezing) weather, although it would not had helped at all in these cold temperatures. 2024 and later models had more efficient motors and the ability to shut down the front motor on highways drives, further helping with efficiency.

I’ll be sure to do this specific drive again in the summer to have a direct apples-to-apples comparison.

What are you seeing for cold weather efficiency and range drops?

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Obviously that is false, but like with any vehicle, you do have to know how to deal with extreme cold.

Range

Yes, the range (or more precisely, efficiency) drops in cold weather. To help mitigate this, keep your vehicle plugged in to an AC charger if you can. I recommend setting the maximum charge level to 100% if you know you will be driving soon (in the next day or so), otherwise up to 90% is fine.

As an example of reduced efficiency, here are some stats from a recent drive I my Polestar 2 where the outside temperature was about 15F.

45kWh/100mi (2.2mi/kWh) is pretty bad efficiency. That is about as low as I’ve seen and translates to a maximum range of 165 miles. In the summer I have seen it as high as 3.9mi/kWh.

Battery Pre-Conditioning

If your EV offers it, take advantage of battery pre-conditioning while the car is plugged in to warm the battery. Batteries are not as efficient in the cold, but warming them up helps greatly. By using AC to pre-warm the battery it is more efficient on the drive, which will give you a bit more range.

With my Polestar 2, pre-conditioning is available when you set a departure time in the climate settings of the app or infotainment.

If you are on a road trip and need to stop at a DC fast charger, you will definitely want to make sure your battery is warmed up, otherwise charging speeds will be slower than you’ll like. Many cars will automatically pre-condition the battery if you use the built-in navigation to route to a DC charger so that it is warm to DC fast charge at acceptable speeds. Some EVs also have a manual way to pre-condition the battery, usually with an option in the infotainment system1.

Pre-Heat the Cabin

You might want to pre-heat the cabin so that the car is roasty-toasty when you’re ready to leave. If you do this when the car is plugged in, it uses AC power for this rather than battery, saving you a little juice at the start of your journey.

Nothing beats starting out with a nice, warm car. And because this is an EV you can do this pre-heating while the car is in the garage with the door closed!

Starting with a pre-heated car means that the car will spend a little less energy while driving.

Staying Warm While Driving

Be sure to take advantage of seat and steering wheel warmers! Heating the seats and steering wheel is much more efficient than heating the entire cabin. Also, consider lowering the cabin temperature slightly, which is probably a good idea anyway since you’ll likely be wearing a coat. I use 68F in the winter and 72F in the summer.

Tire Pressure

Be sure to check your tire pressure regularly, especially when temperatures drop dramatically. When the temperature drops, so does tire pressure. Low tire pressure lowers efficiency and range. And if things get too low, you are at risk of damaging the tires.

Fortunately most EVs have a tire pressure monitoring system of some kind, but they still might not warn you of a pressure drop soon enough.

Windshield Washer Fluid

Eventually the temperature will warm up and any snow will melt. Melting snow and water gets splashed up onto your windshield from other cars so you may find you use the washer often. Keep an eye on the fluid level and when you refill it, be sure to purchase a fluid that is good for low temperatures. Don’t just use water!

Tires

Do not drive on summer tires when temperatures drop below freezing! The rubber on those tires is too hard and won’t provide much traction in the cold, even on dry roads. Plus, they’ll be atrocious if there is any snow or slush. Summer tires + winter = crash. If you only have summer tires, stay home in cold or bad weather.

Depending on where you live, all-season tires might be a good year-round option, but those are also not really great in most snow conditions. All-weather tires, or even snow tires, might be a better option depending on how much snow you regularly have to deal with.

I bought my Polestar 2 used and it came with Michelin Pilot Sport 4 All Season tires. The car was from New Jersey and these tires made sense there, but not so much in Maine. They are near their end-of-life, so I’ll be replacing them soon with all-weather tires.

12-Volt Battery

As with any car, an EV uses a 12-volt battery and if it dies, then the car won’t run regardless of how much charge is in the main battery.

You might want to keep a small jump pack in the car to help boost the 12-volt should it die. This would be especially helpful if you keep your car outside instead of a garage, or if its 12-volt battery is getting old.

I keep the NOCO Boost GB40 in my frunk just in case.

Don’t Let Cold Get You Down — Enjoy Your EV

One thing that is great about having an EV in cold climates is that they provide instant heat. An even bigger benefit is that they continue to provide heat without you having to “idle” the engine.

You can stay warm in an EV for a day or more if you’re parked.

Some EVs, such as the Ioniq models, have a vehicle-to-load feature that lets you use the EV’s main battery to power appliances should you lose power. This could allow you to power a space heater or a refrigerator in an emergency2.

Share your EV cold-weather tips in the comments!

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I switched key fobs when I got home and didn’t think much about it. Until the December and January cold hit and I was again having trouble unlocking the car.

The phone app would still work to unlock, but the key fobs were hit or miss. This is somewhat ironic considering all the phone app and digital key troubles I had early on.

Obviously the key fob battery is the first culprit to consider, but I had changed the battery in one of the key fobs when I got the car and now it seemed like both of them were failing. Should this happen, the manual says there will be a low battery icon for the key fobs that shows in the instrument panel, but I’ve not seen anything.

Note: These were the large full-size key fobs. Although I did use the smaller activity key fob in the summer, for the winter I’d been sticking with the larger fobs since I am now wearing coats with large pockets.

So I decided I would just change the batteries in both key fobs. They use a standard CR2032 lithium cell battery which I happened to have on hand.

Changing the battery is pretty straightforward and there are detailed steps in the Polestar 2 online manual.

The tiny buttons can be a little fiddly, but the covers came off fine. I did need to use a small screwdriver to remove the battery cap off and also to pop the battery out.

I popped in new batteries and re-assembled everything. In a quick test, both fobs seem to be back to normal and are locking and unlocking the car reliably.

It’s not surprising that one of the key fobs battery died since it was likely the original and about four years old now. But it is strange that the battery I had replaced last April also seemed to have died so soon. I have no explanation for that.

I mentioned the activity key fob above and unfortunately there is no easy way to change the battery in that. The Polestar 2 manual just says:

The battery in the buttonless key (Key Tag) cannot be replaced – contact a service center.

Apparently that battery in the activity key fob can be replaced, but you have to crack open the activity key, breaking its waterproof seal and possibly destroying the shell. I also think the battery might even be soldered in place, so even though getting it out and putting a new one in will be a pain, it is certainly possible.

It might be worth it to go through that hassle yourself rather than paying hundreds of dollars at a dealer for a new key. I have also seen activity key fobs for sale on eBay for much less, but if you did buy another one you’d still have to get it paired to you car which will still require a dealer visit (or OrBit software) and it still might have an old battery that could die soon.

One interesting option I saw on eBay (from Drakkar Designs) is a replacement activity key shell that you stuff the guts of the activity key into. You’ll lose the waterproofness, but it makes it easier to open and swap the battery later. I’ll probably look into this once my activity key battery dies.

Normally my car is in a garage so I didn’t notice it often. I just clipped a Febreze air freshener on the car vent and pretty much forgot about it.

However for some reason I recently realized I probably should check the cabin air filter. I guess I didn’t think to do this before because I just assumed it would have been replaced before I bought it.

I actually replaced the cabin air filter in my Ioniq shortly before I bought my Polestar 2, so you would think I would have thought of checking this one sooner!

Like with the Ioniq, the Polestar 2 cabin air filter is located behind the glove box and is very easy to access so you don’t need to visit a dealer to do this.

1. Open the glove box.

2. There is a tab on the left and a tab on the right. Press them both at the same time and the glove box will drop down lower to allow access to a cover behind it.

   

3. This cover has two tabs on the bottom. Push them at the same time to lift away the cover.

4. With the cover removed, there is now a panel that also has two tabs. Press both of the and lift the panel upwards.

   

5. Behind the panel you will see the cabin air filter, which you can just slide out. Be sure to note the “air flow” direction indicator on the side and be sure to install a new one in the same direction.

After following these steps, I slid out my cabin air filter and to my surprise it was very dirty and filled with leaves and other gunk. Yuck! The Honda dealer definitely should have swapped in a new one. This one is so gross that it might just be the original!

I immediately went to Amazon and ordered a replacement for about $20. It arrived in a few days.

Installing it was a breeze. I went back and removed the dirty one, noting the air flow direction, popped in the new one and closed everything up.

I have now removed the Febreze air fresheners as this changed seemed to noticeably improve things.

But for shorter trips around town, it can be inconvenient to have to plug in my iPhone in order to listen to music. And more than once, I’ve left my phone in the car because I was in a hurry.

I had heard about people purchasing gadgets that can convert a wired CarPlay system to be wireless, but they all had an annoying restriction: CarPlay maps would not show in the driver console. Since that is one of my favorite Polestar 2 features, this was a non-starter for me.

But then I found out about a new gadget that could display the CarPlay maps in the driver display: the Ottocast Mini Cube 3.0, which was on sale for Black Friday at just $40.

If you order one, be sure to select USB-C for the connector!

Unlike some larger ones I’ve seen, this one is small and uses USB-C, so no bulky adapters would be needed. It could just plug into the CarPlay port and be mostly invisible.

I decided to take a gamble and ordered it on November 24th. I went with silver, but there is also an orange color that might looks cool in a Polestar 2 with the orange seatbelts! It arrived (from China) on December 6th.

Of course this little gadget is not specific to the Polestar 2 in any way and could be useful for anyone that has CarPlay and would like a wireless version. Just be sure to order it with the proper connector style for you vehicle.

First, this thing is tiny, which was nice to see. When plugged in it really is unobtrusive.

To install it, I first needed to remove the rubber covers to the USB-C ports, which are a single rubber piece. This is easily done by just pulling on it slowly which allows it to slide out easily. I’m not sure how easy it will be to get it back in, though.

I then plugged the Ottocast into the leftmost USB-C plug and its LED powered on. On my iPhone, I had to go to Bluetooth settings and connect to the Ottocast device, which in my case was called CAR2-5898.

This then display a “connect to CarPlay” dialog on the phone, which I accepted.

A “connect to CarPlay” message also appeared on the Polestar 2 infotainment screen and I accepted that as well.

Then nothing happened. The infotainment screen still said “connect your phone”. I had to reboot the infotainment two times before it started working. After each reboot it asked to connect to CarPlay and I accepted. After the 2nd reboot, it showed up as connected. I’m not sure why that was necessary, but I’m glad it worked!

With it connected, everything basically works the same as when the phone is connected to CarPlay with a wire. There are two differences that I’ve noticed so far.

First, it that the initial connection after I sit in the car briefly displays a connection screen on the infotainment that seems to be telling me to click something on the phone. But this message goes away after about a second and everything is connected. I’ve not need to touch anything on my phone.

Second is that there is a slight but noticeable delay when tapping on CarPlay controls. For example, after tapping to pause music it takes maybe a 1/2 second before the music pauses. When wired, it happens instantly.

Update (Dec 10, 2025): There is also a third difference. From what I can tell, the ETA indicator does not appear within the map in the console. I do see turn-by-turn directions, however.

Other than that, everything seems to be the same. The sound quality is the same as when wired as far as I can tell. And the maps are definitely showing on the driver console like I want.

I did have to set up my CarPlay widgets again since the car considers this to be a new CarPlay device.

Of course I still need to keep my iPhone charged on longer trips. Ideally the built-in wireless charging pad in the Polestar 2 could be used for this, but it doesn’t work with the case I have on my iPhone 15 Pro. My phone won’t charge when on the pad, but it does heat up a lot so I’ve disabled the wireless charging in settings.

I could have just stuck with the USB-C cable I had been using, but I decided to change things up by getting a MagSafe puck and plugging that into the rightmost USB-C port.

It’s much easier to attach the puck than plug in the small USB-C cable and eventually I’ll attach the puck to the wireless pad area so I can just slide my phone in there and have it charge while being safely tucked away.

I’ve only taken a couple drives with this new wireless CarPlay setup, but so far it’s been working well. When I sit in the driver’s seat, the car powers on and everything connects smoothly.

For $40 this looks to be a great improvement!