Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Ice driving in the Arctic Circle with Polestar

The Courier's motoring writer Jack McKeown ready for some snow driving in the Arctic Circle. Image: Dave Smith.
The Courier's motoring writer Jack McKeown ready for some snow driving in the Arctic Circle. Image: Dave Smith.

The Polestar 2 is an impressive electric car that’s good looking, safe, refined, practical and powerful.

But is it a car you can go racing in? Until very recently I would have said no, it probably is not. Then Polestar invited me to do some snow driving in the Arctic Circle.

I flew to Rovaniemi, in Lapland, where Polestar had lined up an adventure for a small band of UK journalists.

Over the course of three days we experience temperatures as low as -11. Perfect for testing how an electric car handles the cold!

The Arctic Circle is the perfect place to test a Polestar. Image: Dave Smith.

A few miles outside Rovaniemi, deep in the snowy woods, is a private racetrack and testing facility.

Polestar lined up a range of their dual motor cars for us to try out here. These are equipped with electric motors at the front and rear, making them four-wheel drive – essential for driving on snow and ice.

With a 0-62mph time of 4.5 seconds they also have thunderous acceleration.

Snow driving

We used three different tracks at the test facility. The first, a snow track, gave us an experience of drifting the car. An ice track was longer and a little more slippery. Finally, there was a long straight with a wooden moose at one end that we would try to avoid at the last moment.

With an instructor beside me I was taught how to drift, braking before the corner then using the power so the car slides round the bend.

High speed in the snow. Image: Dave Smith.

On the straight I charge towards the moose before swerving at the last possible moment. We’re doing 70kph on snow and I’m sure the car will spin but it doesn’t, although I do knock over a cone on my final run at 80kph.

Polestar’s chief test engineer Joakim Rydholm is the man responsible for the car’s driving dynamics.

 

The affable Swede spent years working on the Polestar 2 prior to production, driving it in the Arctic Circle, the UK, Europe and America to ensure it performs on all surfaces and in all conditions.

The car fanatic tried dozens of different suspension set ups, tyre combinations and chassis tweaks before declaring himself happy with the end result. He’s even known to lie down in the passenger footwell so he can hear how much noise various components are making.

Pro driving

Oh, and in his spare time he’s also a rally driver.  “Welcome to my office,” he beams as he slides into the driver’s seat. Joakim’s Polestar 2 has studded tyres to give extra traction on the snow but otherwise the car is set up exactly as it would be for any customer.

Over the next 10 minutes he shows me just what the Polestar 2 is capable of. We drift round corners in a full power slide then roar along the straights, hitting more than 100kph before braking for the next bend.

Drifting round a bend at a snow track in the Arctic Circle. Image: Dave Smith.

It’s a thrilling experience and showcases just how well balanced the car is. Anyone who says electric cars are boring needs to check out Joakim’s videos on Instagram.

The following morning we take the Polestar 2 north of Rovaniemi for an excursion into the Lapland wilderness. While range is slightly lower in freezing conditions the car is still good for upwards of 250 miles even with the heating turned up high and our heated seats on.

Polestar chief test engineer Joakim Rydholm (right) takes part in the Arctic Rally. Image: Dave Smith.

Before leaving it’s time to see how the professionals cope with snow and ice at the Arctic Rally. The first car up on the grid is…Joakim in his Polestar 2. The crafty devil has managed to persuade the race organiser to let him tackle a couple of stages.

While his car has the speed to be competitive it only has standard road suspension and lacks a roll cage or harness, so he’s forced to ease off on jumps. It’s still an impressive performance though.

And it’s an impressive car. I can’t wait to see what the Polestar 3, 4 and 5 are like.

 

Facts

Price: £55,700

0-62mph: 4.5 seconds

Top speed: 127mph

Range: 301 miles

Conversation