I mentioned this hook previously in my Polestar 2 Tips and Tricks article, but for those that are unaware, this hook is hidden inside the glove box and can be flipped out for easy use.

Hang your bag from it instead of setting it on the floor or seat.

The reason for this is the Connected Vehicle rule, which bans manufacturers that have cars with software that is too closely related to China. Volvo also was affected by this rule, but was granted a waiver in May. I think most people thought that Polestar would also be granted a waiver, considering how similar its cars are to Volvo models. Many Polestar models share the same underpinnings and same software, such as the Polestar 2 and Volvo EX40 or Polestar 3 and Volvo EX90.

Unfortunately a waiver for Polestar didn’t happen. It’s likely that Polestar was not deemed to be significant enough to warrant a waiver and easy pickings for the rule — someone had to be affected by it or it wouldn’t be much of a rule. Polestar was a convenient sacrifice. After all, they have almost certainly sold fewer than 50,000 cars in the U.S. since 2021.

The online Polestar community has been abuzz since this was announced. I’ll share my thoughts shortly, but here is an official email I received from Polestar today:

Dear Paul,

You may have seen recent news regarding Polestar and the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Bureau of Industry and Security’s decision not to grant Polestar an authorization under the current Connected Vehicle Rule to sell vehicles in the U.S. from model year 2027 onward in the United States. Current model year Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 vehicles are still available for sale.

We want to reassure you as a current Polestar owner, your ownership experience and the support available to you remain unchanged. And if you’re considering a new Polestar today, you can do so with confidence.

You can continue to expect:

• Dedicated U.S.-based customer support

• Service and maintenance through our U.S. retail and service network

• Warranty and roadside assistance in accordance with your vehicle’s coverage

• Ongoing software updates and vehicle improvements

• Continued access to genuine parts and technical support

Thank you for being part of the Polestar community. We’re committed to supporting you throughout your ownership experience, and we’re here whenever you need us.

If you have any questions, please contact Polestar Support at +1-800-806-2504 or visit Polestar Support.

Polestar

Obviously Polestar is going to put as positive a spin as they can on this, but the reality is that this is just not good news for us in the U.S. For Polestar, it doesn’t really matter all that much as they already were not selling many vehicles here.

A user on the official Polestar Facebook page asked about this situation and got this reply:

…we understand many existing Polestar owners have questions following today’s announcement.

If you currently own or lease a Polestar in the U.S., nothing changes for you. Your vehicle warranty remains in place, you’ll continue to have access to service and maintenance through our network, and our customer support teams remain available to assist you.

Our focus is on continuing to support our customers and ensuring they receive the same level of care and service they expect from Polestar.

Thank you for being part of the Polestar community.

What Happens Now?

There have been other European manufacturers that dropped out of the U.S. market, for one reason or another, and it is certainly possible that Polestar does come back. After all, they remain somewhat popular and Europe and will continue to sell vehicles in Canada so there will remain a North American presence, at least. The company itself is not going away.

Regardless of the spin from Polestar, this is just not good news at all for those of us in the U.S.

If you were looking to get a new Polestar 3 or 4, you now have a tougher decision to make. Both of those are great cars and will probably have even more incentives put on them, but you’re only going to be able to pick from available inventory since no more vehicles will be sent or built here.

As with any new EV, you’re better off leasing and that leaves you with little overall risk. You might be able to get a new Polestar 3 or 4 at a great price and have no real worries during its lease period. When the lease is done, you give the car back and move on to something else.

If you are currently leasing a vehicle, your situation is basically the same.

Things start to change when it comes to used vehicles, especially the Polestar 2. Will the used prices dramatically drop? Hard to say, but used Polestar 2s were already rather inexpensive and I don’t think they’ll drop to Fisker levels since Polestar is not going bankrupt. Parts and services centers will still be available, at least for a few more years.

If you have a Polestar 2 right now, I don’t think anything really changes for you. The Polestar 2 is largely reliable and needs little service and that hasn’t changed with this announcement.

If you are worried about reliability and servicing, then a Polestar was never really for you, anyway. Even before this announcement, there were few service locations and part availability wasn’t always great.

If you are concerned about your depreciation, then you probably should avoid buying cars at all. All cars depreciate substantially and if you were relying on an EV to not depreciate a lot, then you were just being silly.

Why Did This Happen?

I’ve seen some posts saying this happened because Polestar vehicles are “made in China”. Although this is happening because of a China connection, it is not because they are “made in China”. After all, the Polestar 3 is actually made in the U.S.

This happened because of the Connected Vehicle rule, which prevents vehicles that rely on China-sourced software from being sold in the U.S. This rule is not new, but it is going into effect this year.

Considering Polestar uses the decidedly U.S.-based Google Android Automotive for its infotainment, it is irritating that they are getting affected by this, but I understand there are other software components that are involved.

Is this a good rule? Certainly not when applied this carelessly. I can understand some concern about compromised Chinese software running on vehicles sold in the U.S., but that is something that can be monitored and dealt with directly. Applying this rule in broad strokes like this is dumb and just seems to stifle competition in the U.S., reducing consumer choice.

I think the rule was really intended to prevent the direct import of Chinese vehicles from BYD or Zeekr into the U.S., and Polestar was perhaps collateral damage, an easy mark. It also didn’t help that the giant Chinese company that owns Polestar, Geely, also owns Zeekr. Of course, Geely also owns Volvo…

In general, this rule certainly feels like an attempt to give favor to U.S.-based businesses, particularly Tesla, but I haven’t seen direct evidence of that. It’s just a feeling. This also seems like yet another attempt to prop up the big-three U.S. automakers, who still appear to be ignoring the EV revolution to their own detriment.

It is nearly universal that whenever someone switches to an EV they will refuse to go back to an archaic ICE vehicle. The U.S. government can continue to try to stifle EV progress, but they cannot stop it. Eventually it will result in industry disruption and if legacy auto manufacturers are unable to adapt, they will fade away and be replaced by those that didn’t live in the past.

My Plan

I bought my 2021 Polestar 2 a little over a year ago and I’ve absolutely loved it. I have no regrets about it and I have no intention of getting rid of it anytime soon and I’ll continue writing about Polestar and EVs here at Current Notes. I choose not to let this unfortunate situation affect my Polestar ownership experience and I really don’t expect it to affect things in any meaningful way. I’ll continue to cover my Polestar 2 ownership journey here at Current Notes, so consider subscribing (it’s free) if you don’t want to miss anything.

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My Polestar 2 has been amazing. I look forward to driving it every chance I get and its styling still brings a smile to my face every time I see it. Right now there is no other vehicle I’d rather own.

In fact, if prices on used Polestar 2 models do drop significantly, perhaps I’ll get a second one as a backup!

However, a couple days later I noticed that the wiper arms were not adjusted correctly. Normally the wipers, when off, sit below the hood line of the Polestar 2. But mine were sitting up a bit higher. Although they seemed to work fine when used, they were more noticeable when driving. It mostly seemed like the passenger side was just a bit too high.

A quick search of YouTube pointed me to some general videos about adjust wiper arms on cars and armed with that knowledge, I decided to adjust mine.

This actually proved to be quick and easy. The only tools I needed were a small flathead screwdriver and a 15mm socket. I used the flathead screwdriver to pop off the plastic cover (it even has a slot to use) that is over the bolt that holds the wiper arms to the car.

Obvious in retrospect, but the wiper do have to be removed in order to replace the windshield.

With the plastic cover removed, a 15mm bolt is revealed on each arm. Removing this allows the wiper arms to be popped up and off. I did the left one first. There are some gears on the connector that determine the alignment, so I just popped off an arm, adjusted it so it was lower and pushed it back on. I did the the same for the right one.

I then bolted them back down, checked the alignment with the hood closed and tested the wipers to make sure they worked and looked correct from inside the car. After all looked good, I popped the plastic covers back on.

This took me perhaps five minutes.

Replacing Wiper Blades

Safelite recommended replacing the wiper blades after getting the window replaced. They wanted to do it, but I declined and decided I would do it myself. The Polestar 2 squirts out the wiper fluid from the arms, rather than nozzles on the hood, and most wiper blades are not compatible with that design.

After some research, I found that the Bosch Aerotwin A620S wiper blades are compatible so I order them from Amazon (about $31). They fit perfectly! These were also the easiest wiper blades I’ve ever installed!

But before you can swap the blades, you have to put the wipers into “Service Mode”. To do that, sit in the driver seat, go to the “Car” screen, select “More”, then “Wipers”. Turn Service Mode On which causes the wipers to move to the center of the the window.

With the wipers up in that position, you can press the center button on the mount point and slide the wiper up and off. The new wipers slide down and the button locks them in place.

This just took a couple minutes.

With the new windshield and new wipers, things are working great. These new wipers have so far been utterly silent, whereas the original wipers would chatter from time-to-time, especially with light rain and the rain sensing wiper mode active. I still need to do a drive in more wet/rainy conditions to see if things are actually improved, however.

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I dropped the car off at Safelite around 8:30am and after turning down their offer to replace the wipers (the P2, with the sprayers mounted on the wiper arms, needs special wiper blades and it felt like it wasn’t worth the added complication), I gave them the instructions to slide off the A pillar covers (as recommended by at least one reader) rather than try to pry them off. My son brought me back home.

I then waited. They didn’t touch my car until about 3pm when I happened to check the app and saw that it was unlocked with several doors open. Shortly after that I got an automated text telling me that the “replacement service” had started.

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About 4pm I got a phone call. The fellow on the phone told me that the windshield was successfully installed and the camera was currently being calibrated, but there was a problem.

The replacement window they received had a defect in it that they did not notice until after it was installed. There is a slight scuff/abrasion on the inside of the window below the mirror area. He said they would want to order a new one and replace it again (free of charge, of course).

He also said this window had to be installed for about a week in order to set enough so that it could be removed without making a mess. Apparently the sealant needs time to cure.

After picking up the car (just before they closed at 5pm), we tried to schedule an appointment, but their computer system would not let him schedule a warranty replacement the same day as the installation. He told me he would call me on Friday to schedule something.

This scuff on the window is certainly noticeable, but it is far less obtrusive than the chip/crack was. I can feel the scuff with my fingernail, although visually it looks more like a permanent smudge.

Due to reflections, I’ve not been able to get a photo that shows this scuff.

Unfortunately I did not get a call on Friday, so I had to call them back myself to schedule something for next week.

Otherwise the replacement went smoothly enough, I guess. I would have rather they hadn’t waited until the end of the day to start the work, but it all came together in the end. They also thanked me for the A pillar trim removal advice, which they claim worked well. When I checked the A pillar trims myself, they seemed to be on securely and I didn’t notice any rattle on the subsequent (short) highway ride home.

Of course, I’ll have to go through this all again in another week before everything is all properly finished. Still, I was happy to see that they were able to get a Polestar 2 windshield without any trouble, even if it did have that defect. Hopefully the new one arrives in better condition!

The total invoice cost for this replacement window (with tax) was $982.93. I only had to pay my insurance deductible, though.

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I’ll admit, when I heard and saw the chip, there was some swearing!

The chip is on the lower driver’s side. When I got home and looked at it more closely, it certainly appeared that it would be repairable and not require a full windshield replacement.

I quickly filed a claim with my insurance company (Progressive), but since it was after 5p at this point, there was not much else I could do.

The next morning, I went to check the car and the chip had spread into a crack that now runs alls the way to the edge of the windshield. So a full windshield replacement is now required.

Later that morning I got a call from the insurance company and we set up an appointment with Safelite to replace the window. Surprisingly, the woman on the phone seemed knowledgeable about the Polestar 2 and did not express a concern about having its window replaced. She was even aware of the camera calibration that is needed.

I was able to get an appointment for this week (Thursday, actually), but on Sunday I realized that the appointment might be too soon. After all, what are the odds that they can get a replacement Polestar 2 windshield in stock so quickly?

At this point, I am expecting to receive a call from the local Safelite shop telling me that they’ll have to move the appointment, but I guess time will tell.

This sort of thing is a valid concern with a less common car such as the Polestar 2. Local shops probably won’t have the parts on hand and ordering might take longer. I suppose any newer car might also need the camera calibration as well, so that’s not really a Polestar issue, I guess. And if I tried to get this fixed at the Polestar service center in Boston, the wait would likely be a month or more with much more inconvenience due to the distance. One other concern is that I do have the FitCamX dash cam that is connected to the “camera box” that is on the windshield, but that really should not affect anything.

Fortunately, the chip and crack are not in my line of vision, even if they are on the driver side, and the crack has not spread any further in the last couple days.

I was planning on displaying my Polestar 2 at the Bayley’s Father’s Day weekend car show again (June 20 this year), so I really hope the windshield is replaced by then. Otherwise, I guess I’ll have to make sure I place my “vehicle info” placard over the chip!

I will most certainly do a follow-up post with the details of how the repair went and its total cost. Subscribe (for free) if you don’t want to miss it.

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• Piano black center console. I rectified this with a wrap.

  

• No native Apple Music app. To be fair this is more of an Apple and Google problem than a Polestar problem. I also use Apple CarPlay most of the time so this has an easy workaround. From what I’ve been told, the Apple Music SDK for Android requires an ARM-based processor and so won’t be compatible with the Polestar 2 and its Atom processor.

• Left-side mirror seems to re-adjust itself randomly. This does not happen often (perhaps once a month?), but it does mean I have to make sure I check it on each drive.

• Limited cupholders. I usually keep an insulated water bottle in my cars, but that was not practical with the P2. The cupholder in the center console is too close and too high so I always bump anything there with my elbow. I removed the one in the armrest because I use it for storage. Instead I solved this by purchasing a small 3D-printed cupholder for the driver door pocket that lets me store a small insulated travel mug and this has been working well for me.

  

• Sun visors are just too small and don’t extend, limiting their usefulness.

• Somewhat poor efficiency. To be fair, this is mostly an issue with the 2021 model year. Later models get a heat pump that helps with efficiency in cooler weather and 2024 and newer models have more efficient motors and even turn off the front motor (on dual motors models) when cruising to further help with efficiency.

• I’d like a few more settings for the driver console. I’d love to be able to show the currently playing song there. I’d also love to see current efficiency number there. Right now it can show the cumulative efficiency number for Trip Auto, but I want to see the instance efficiency number that shows in Range Assistant.

• Related, I really would like to be able to show all efficiency numbers as mi/kWh instead of the irritating kWh/100 miles.

• I know this is a performance car, but I still would like a softer ride. Even in my non-performance model the ride is stiff and can be jarring on rougher roads, especially for rear-seat passengers. Turns out the ride was greatly improved with new tires.

• Lack of Vehicle-to-Load. It’s a shame to have an EV with a large battery and be unable to use it to help power household appliances and equipment during a power outage.

• No Utility or Pet mode. It’s more difficult than it should be to keep the car on when you are not sitting in the driver seat. I realize that holding down the Play/Pause button on the console is not that hard, but it is an awkward reach. It also only keeps the car on for 30 minutes at a time, which is not always useful.

• No wireless CarPlay. I remedied this with an Ottocast USB gadget. It works surprisingly well.

• Lack of built-in dash cam or camera access when parked. I installed FitCamX in order to have a dash cam, but it would sure be nice to be able to use the app to view the cameras while the car is parked.

• Infrequent software updates. I’ve now had my Polestar 2 for a little over a year and it’s gotten two software updates. I suppose that is better than none, but a benefit of having over-the-air (OTA) update capability is that you could actually update things more frequently. I feel like many of the things I complain about here could be addressed with software updates.

• Wireless charge pad overheats my phone. This could be due to the case I use. I have instead mounted an actual MagSafe puck there instead.

• TPMS does not actually track tire pressures. This might not be that bad as it does make it easier to get tires replaced. I check tire pressure regularly anyway.

• Lack of service centers. It’s not that I’ve needed to visit one just yet, but the closest one is 100 miles away so it will be a hassle when that time comes.

• Related, I hate that the new models of the Polestar 2 are not currently sold in the US. Because the Polestar 2 is made in China and due to the annoying US tariff situation of the past year, it was pulled from sale here just about a year ago.

2027 Polestar 2

Polestar has announced that a new Polestar 2 will be released in 2027. At this point, nothing is known about it except for a fuzzy picture showing its new headlight design.

We do not know if this new Polestar 2 will also be made in China. We do not know anything.

I still like the Polestar 2 and don’t really need to see much changed with it. Certainly the center console area could be better designed and its efficiency could be improved. But the styling still looks modern and eye-catching, even 4+ years after its debut, so they don’t need to go wild with changing that.

I’m sure they will tweak things to make it feel more like a Polestar and less like a Volvo, but I sure hope they keep its relatively small size, which is appealing to me.

And I really, really hope that they are able to bring it back to the US. After all, I’ll want some used models around when I’m ready to upgrade!

Even still, earlier this year Polestar announced an update that was a big version jump to 5.0.10 (from 3.6.4 that was released in June 2025). The major change for this version is that it upgrades the underlying Android Automotive OS from Android 12 to Android 13.

The release notes for this update first appeared on the Polestar web site in mid-March and it started rolling out in some parts of the world shortly after that. The US was not included in that initial rollout, but on April 20 reports started appearing on Reddit and Facebook that owners in the US were seeing the software update notification in their cars and in the Polestar app.

Upgrade Process

I received the software update notification late evening on April 21. I had actually gone out to the car to check if there was an update notification. When I got to the car there was no notification, so I was playing around in the infotainment and noticed that the YouTube app was not working. I restarted the infotainment, YouTube worked and then a few moments later, I got the cloud icon in the top bar and the update notification.

I told it to do the update now, got out and locked the doors. The update took about 40 minutes. I liked that the app kept me informed of its progress.

When I checked on things the next morning, everything seemed fine. The app was working properly, all my apps and icons were in the same positions and my other settings remained the same. To be honest, if it weren’t for the update complete screen, I might not have noticed an update had been applied.

I did go to settings to verify that Android itself had been updated.

Changes

The release notes are a little weird to read because they differ a bit depending on the year of your Polestar 2.

I have a 2021 model, so the changes that applied to it were:

• The operating system, Android Automotive OS, is upgraded to Android 13. This includes overall infotainment improvements and performance

• Bug fixes for the rear-view camera

• Bug fix for Range Assistant, including historical data now showing correct consumption figures in 20 km and 40 km views

  • When French is selected as system language, the Range Assistant also includes a bug fix for when the app closes automatically

  • Note: All historical consumption data will be cleared once this software has been installed

The rear-view camera is the 3rd (and hopefully final) fix for the NHTSA rear-camera recall. I had gotten a notice about another recall for this in November 2025 and this 5.0.10 is apparently the latest attempt at a software fix for it. The issue is related to the rear camera view not always appearing when the car is put in reverse, usually when first getting in the car after it has been sitting for a while. Since the infotainment can take a moment to boot if you haven’t been in the car recently, the camera would time out and display an error. Switching out and back usually cleared things up.

I personally had this camera issues once in the year or so I’ve had the car. The thinking is that Android 13 will improve this due to more granular priority settings (and general speed improvements) that will allow the camera to always be displayed. We will have to wait for reports from others to see if it addresses the issue. Initial reports seem cautiously optimistic.

The Range Assistant app displays some driving stats and its charts and data have always seemed a bit wonky to me. Here’s hoping the output in this new version is more accurate. I did confirm that my historical consumption data had been cleared.

Not noted in the release notes, but probably added in a separate iOS app update is that the location panel on the app’s front screen now shows a button to flash the lights.

Otherwise, I have not really noticed any significant changes. Considering the big version change, I would have like to seen some new features, but more about that later.

I never felt the infotainment was all that slow, and I’ve not really noticed a big change in its performance in this new version.

Since I previously had 3.6.4, there was one other update (that was not OTA) also listed on the Polestar release notes page: 4.2.13. It showed two fixes, but I had not had these issues so they may not have applied to my car:

• Bug fix for when DC-charging sometimes delivered limited max effect

• Bug fix for when the trunk courtesy light intermittently did not turn on

Problems

As with any update, problems get reported. Most of the problems that I’ve seen reported seemed to be rare and not reproducible, however there are a couple that are worth mentioning.

• The SiriusXM app no longer shows the currently playing song or the previous, play and next buttons in its home screen panel2.

• I’ve not observed this, but people have reported having reduced acceleration. According to others, this occurs when you are not wearing your seat belt. I’m not sure why you’d try to floor it when not buckled in, but a surprising number of owners have reported this on both Reddit and Facebook. Wear your seatbelt, people!

If you are having other glitches, the usual recommendations to reboot things are a good place to start.

Some of the random problems I’ve seen reported include:

• 12-volt battery being reported as low or even dead after the update.

• Infotainment stuck in a boot loop. After waiting a while this seems to have resolve itself for some.

• Changes to 1-pedal drive behavior. For some people, switching the setting to something else and then back to what it was seems to solve this.

I hope none of these strange things happen to you!

Thoughts

I’m glad to have finally received the update and that I had no significant issues with it.

I know it is too much to expect, but I’d really like to see Polestar take advantage of the update to Android 13 to perhaps start actually enhancing the infotainment with some new features. For the most part, recent updates have only been to fix bugs. I’m all for bug fixes, but they could also try throwing us a bone once in a while.

Now I’m not saying Polestar 2 needs to have a Tesla-level of weird features and settings, but a few things would be nice. Here’s my short wish list:

• Provide a way to display efficiency as mi/kWh.

• Optionally display the currently playing song in the driver console area. Even my lowly Ioniq could do that!

• Pet mode or utility mode. I really want an easier way to keep the car on for longer once I leave the driver seat. Having to press the Play button to get an extra 30 minutes is weird, awkward and finicky. I’d rather just go to something in the menu to turn on a utility mode that keeps everything running for a selectable period of time.

• Use the outside speakers to play audio when parked.

• I don’t know if Android Auto supports this, or if it is just a Polestar design decision, but it would be really nice to have a split-screen view to show two apps at once on the infotainment. For example, 1/2 screen CarPlay and 1/2 screen Range Assistant would be cool.

• I’d like to see some better driving stats in the car. Perhaps Range Assistant could gather more detailed information, with the ability to export it. Right now you can export some data from Journey Log, but that app does not display it well either. Perhaps even show these improved stats in the phone app.

All of these things are clearly possible and probably not too difficult. I would be great if Polestar was able to take a little time to improve things like this.

How did the 5.0.10 update go for you? What features would you like to see?

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In fact, most data suggest battery degradation is about 1-2% per year for the first few years and then starts to level off after that.

So how can you actually tell the battery state of health (SoH) for your car? You certainly cannot tell by looking at the estimated range. After all, it is just an estimate and depending on the setting you have, either just shows a range based on the battery percentage (Standard) or based on driving habits and outside temperatures (Dynamic). In the Polestar 2 you can change between these two settings using the Range Assistant app. I prefer Dynamic.

To get the actual SoH, you need to ask the car. Unfortunately, the Polestar 2 does not provide this information anywhere in its infotainment. You’ll need to take it to a Polestar dealer to have them generate a report for you with the Battery State of Health. The report does have these disclaimers:

Definition of State of Health:

The battery state of health is the available cyclable capacity at 25°C compared to the nominal capacity at beginning of life. The calculated battery state of health is based on the measured value of the battery’s cyclable capacity and the expected degradation trend. The usage pattern of the battery affects the cyclable capacity.

Disclaimer:

The provided value of the battery’s state of health (SOH is based on data-driven estimates in the vehicle and the expected degredation trend. Estimations in the vehicle depend on the past usage pattern of the battery and other factors. The accuracy of the given value is expected to be within +/-3% SOH for batteries with above 90% SOH and +7-5% SOH deviation for batteries with less than 90% SOH. The estimated battery state of health is not a prediction or guarantee of future battery health and the battery health will degrade over time.

Battery health and the rate of degradation can be affected by many factors, including but not limited to outside temperatures and charging habits. For information on managing battery health and performance, please see the owner’s manual.

I have no idea what “cyclable capacity” is supposed to mean, but there is a way for you to get a SoH number directly from the car’s internal computer.

Before we get too far along, I want to point out that although you can read the value from the car itself, this value may not be 100% accurate.

The Polestar 2 uses a NMC (Nickel Manganese Cobalt) lithium-ion battery. Ideally you want to “calibrate” the battery before reading its SoH value and that is time-consuming task. Best practice is to charge it to 100%, run the battery low (5-10%), let it rest for 1-5 hours and then charge it to 100% without interruption.

I recently took a trip to Salem, MA and back (for an EV Show) that took my battery from 100% down to 9%. I then let it sit for about 4 hours and charged it up overnight to 100% and read the SoH value. The only deviation in this process from the what Polestar recommends is that I did not have temps anywhere near 25C (77F). It was more like 7C (46F).

For my 2021 Polestar 2, that has been in use for about 4.5 years and has about 36000 miles, the battery SoH showed 93%.

Doing a little math on that:

4.5 years * 2% degradation per year = 0.09 (9%) degradation

4.5 * 1% = 0.045 (4.5%) degradation

Based on the 1-2% degredation per year estimates, my Polestar 2 would be expected to fall between 95.5% and 91%. At 93%, it is comfortably in that range.

Before doing this calibration, my battery SoH was reported as 92.47%. That’s not a big difference compared to the calibrated result, but as they say “results vary”. I’ll probably try doing this again in the summer when the temps are warmer to see if anything changes.

How to Read Your Battery State of Health

With that preamble out of the way, here’s how you can read the battery SoH yourself.

It is done using the OBD-II port that is on the left side of the driver footwell. You’ll need to purchase an OBD-II reader and there are a lot to choose from. I’m using the Vgate iCar Pro adapter, which is a tiny OBD-II reader that plugs into the port and transmits data to a phone app using Bluetooth LE. I bought mine for about $30 on Amazon.

Exact model: Vgate iCar Pro Bluetooth 4.0 (BLE) OBD2 Fault Code Reader OBDII Code Scanner Car Check Engine Light for iOS/Android

For the phone app, I am using Car scanner ELM OBD2 on my iPhone. The free version also works, although it has ads and won’t show as much data when used with CarPlay. The paid version is only $8, so totally worth it.

The device can connect to the app using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth MFi and Bluetooth LE, but I’ve only been able to get it to work using Bluetooth LE.

After you connect you’ll want to go to settings and choose the Connection profile. Polestar is in the list, and once selected is shows as “Polestar XC40 EV/C40 EV E400V2/E400V5/E400V6 2020- / Polestar 2”.

For things to properly connect, you will also need to be sitting in the driver seat and have the car in Drive. It won’t be able to read data with the car in Park. This also means that you can’t have your Polestar plugged in.

Once connected you can use the app to view all kinds of settings. The app does not have the nicest UI, but it is functional.

However, one really nice thing about the app is that is works with Apple CarPlay. The UI in CarPlay is larger and easier to read. Plus you can drive around with it connected to the OBD-II reader to see stats as you drive.

There’s even a screen that can show you some launch times to common speeds, which is fun.

(Only do this in safe conditions, of course.)

What is your Polestar 2 battery SoH?

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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 Rich 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 Rich 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.