Much of what we know about car design will have to change in the age of electric vehicles (EVs).
Changing a gas-powered vehicle from front-wheel drive (FWD) to rear-wheel drive (RWD), for instance, would require a massive redesign of most of its drivetrain. But engineers can flip around the drivetrain on an EV with ease.
Take the Polestar 2, for instance.
A high-riding, rugged-looking all-electric sedan from a former division of Volvo gone independent, the 2 has been sold in FWD and all-wheel drive (AWD) configurations since 2020. For 2024, it’s getting a refresh with a few tweaks. Among them, the least expensive models have gone from FWD to RWD.
Electric motors are small and typically attached directly to the axles of cars. Many EVs are sold in AWD configurations with motors on each axle and in FWD or RWD configurations with a motor on just one. Polestar engineers found they liked the driving feel of RWD better than FWD. So, for 2024, the cheapest Polestars will get one motor on the rear axle instead of one on the front.
Polestar has not announced U.S. pricing for the 2024 model. The 2023 Polestar 2 starts at $48,400, plus a $1,400 destination fee.
More Power, Longer Range
Those motors have grown more powerful as part of the refresh. The single-motor option now gets 299 horsepower, up 68 from the 2023 model. Dual-motor AWD versions now get 421 horsepower – 13 more than the prior year. A Performance Pack can push that to 455.
Range has improved at every trim level, Polestar says, with the maximum going from 270 to 300 miles.
The Grille Is Disappearing
Visual changes are confined mostly to the front – the car’s love-it-or-hate-it chunky fastback profile remains. Designers have all but eliminated the false grille up front. The space where it sat now holds a body-color panel, but the outline of the grille is still present. It houses camera and radar components now.
Polestar hasn’t revealed photos of the interior, which likely means little change there. A wireless phone charger is now standard equipment. The Pilot Pack, which bundles safety aids like blind-spot monitoring and a 360-degree camera, is also standard.
