Op-ed: The OG Polestar 2 is no more – here’s why I’ll be pouring one out for Sweden’s landmark EV

Features · News

After six years, the 'P2' will be replaced by an all-new model in 2027. Its successor has big shoes to fill on a commercial and a personal level...

GE

George East

2 November 2026, 14:17 GMT · Updated 2 November 2026, 16:44 GMT · 5 min read

When Polestar confirmed last week that the last Mk1 Polestar 2 had rolled off the production line, I was overcome with a sense of proper sadness. And my moment of melancholy wasn’t a straight up case of “that’s a car I like, that’s a shame”. It was a genuine pang of “well, that’s the end of an era” followed by a big sigh.

If you’ve been reading my scribblings on EV Powered over the last two years or so, you’ll have picked up on the fact that I’m quite fond of Swedish cars.

Truth be told, I appreciate Nordic things in general: I like how the region designs quality, fit-for-purpose items without making a fuss. I appreciate the locals’ straightforwardness. Since childhood, I’ve harboured a soft-spot for Moomins. Copenhagen is one of those rare cities where everyone is a 10 and, as such, you don’t mind extending your overdraft for a coffee.

And my Nordic love affair is precisely why I’m feeling wistful about the bell eventually tolling for the Polestar 2.

Y’see, the ‘P2’ was the first EV I ever drove. It was in December 2020, and Polestar’s first mainstream EV made it clear to me that electrification is, or at least would be, The Way. That would be once more fast chargers were installed up here in the Peak District. Thankfully, my wishes have since been granted.

Up until my first dance with the Polestar 2, I’d taken an interest in EVs, but nothing major. More than anything, I found them fascinating and slightly mysterious with their near-silent powertrains. I was also aware that Teslas were the preserve of cryptobros – cars largely owned by people you’d actively avoid in social settings.

And herein lies what I consider to be the genius of the Polestar 2: Throughout its life, it never tried too hard like a Tesla. Even now in its twilight, it remains thankfully a gimmick-free EV. For a newcomer to the world of electrification, it felt instantly familiar. The P2, then, was the car that made EVs cool and accessible.

Its Thomas Ingenlath-penned body looked – and still looks – like a futuristic Volvo S60. Inside, the cabin felt -and still feels – like a Volvo S60, albeit one with a better infotainment system and more sustainable materials. I’d like to caveat this by adding that I come from a Volvo family, so naturally, the design and ergonomics amounted to good news as I tentatively made my initial steps into the EV world.

Come the end of that week with the Polestar 2, it didn’t take me long to conclude that it carried that inherent Nordic DNA of fitting into your life without a song and dance, all while being a handsome, well-made object. To date, it’s neither nerdy nor obtuse like a Tesla: I mean, it has Apple CarPlay, and you can adjust the air-flow through the cabin via the a button on the vents instead of having to go three menus deep into a screen.

Yet despite the over-the-air updates Polestar continually introduced to the P2 over the last six-and-a-bit years, Father Time eventually caught up with the car that shouldered Polestar for three years – don’t forget that until the 4 arrived for the 2023 model year, the 2 was the only car Polestar sold.

Like the Tesla Model 3 and the BMW i4, the Polestar 2’s 400V electrical architecture has since been outclassed by the ultra-rapid charging 800V systems used to underpin the likes of the BMW i3 ‘Neue Klasse’, and the new Mercedes C-Class EV. With a maximum range of 409 miles, even the longest-legged P2 lags behind the ‘First Edition’ Beemer in terms of range by almost 160 miles.

Yet none of this matters. Even now, the P2 is the purest essence of what Polestar stands for. It will forever be the car that took Polestar from electrified Volvo spin-off, to a fully-fledged, desirable EV brand.

The Polestar 2 remains an effortlessly cool car. A landmark one, truth be told. It may not be the most up-to-date EV in 2026, but I still yearn for one. Badly, actually. Had it not given my first taste of what an EV should be, I wouldn’t be writing this op-ed today.

Make no mistake, when the second-gen Polestar 2 arrives next year, I’m certain it’ll look and feel fantastic. It’s a Polestar, of course it will. It does, however, have some seriously big shoes to fill.