Polestar 2 owners can download more speed today. Sixty-eight additional horsepower will run you $1,195.
Automakers throw shade subtly. An email sent to journalists this morning did it with an underline. “This permanent upgrade has a one-time cost,” it read.
That’s a slight dig at Mercedes, which unveiled a similar horsepower boost for owners of its electric vehicles last month for a similar fee. Once a year. It’s a subscription, annually renewed.
Polestar’s download is a permanent purchase, the company says.
“The upgrade adds 68 horsepower and 15 lb.-ft of torque to the existing 408 hp and 487 lb.-ft of torque produced by the dual-motor powertrain, for a total output of 476 hp and 502 lb.-ft,” Polestar explains. Because it’s software, there’s no need to drive to a shop to have anything installed. Owners can simply visit www.polestar-shop.com to purchase it, and their car will download the added juice automatically.
“Behind the wheel, the performance boost offers increased responsiveness and a sportier experience overall, and the 0-60 mph sprint time has been reduced to 4.2 seconds,” the company says. But engineers tuned the added grunt to appear in a band between 44 and 80 mph. So they meant it more for passing power than acceleration tests.
It’s the second time Polestar has offered a horsepower boost via download in December. Let’s hope it becomes an annual tradition, and someday aging Polestar 2 models are going from 40,000 to 40,071 horsepower as the holidays approach.
The Polestar 2, in case you haven’t seen one, is a rugged-looking, high-riding sedan with up to 270 miles of range. It has a cabin designed with lovely Scandinavian simplicity (though Polestar builds it in China).
