Our 2024 Polestar 2 Can Drive Farther Than Google Thinks
We probably could have made our drive between California and Arizona quicker.
There's nothing like the open road, and I've been feeling more inspired than ever to take road trips inMotorTrend's yearlong review 2024 Polestar 2 Single Motor fastback sedan. As a true long-range EV, the Polestar impressed on its first-ever road trip from Los Angeles to San Jose and back again. With such a stellar performance, I felt confident enough to extend my adventures with the Polestar out of state.
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This time, I set my sights on Arizona to visit some friends. With more than 500 miles to cover from Los Angeles to eastern Tucson, the route would extend into territory that doesn't enjoy as much charging infrastructure as California's I-5. To focus this test on the Polestar 2's capabilities, I decided to let the car's built-in Google Maps navigation plan the route. The drive time exceeded eight hours, so arriving at my destination in a punctual manner hinged on minimizing downtime while charging. With those choices made, I plugged my destination into the car's software and hit the road.
Getting There
When it comes to longer EV road trips, I usually leave early in the morning to ensure that chargers along the route will be less congested. The Polestar 2's trip-planning is provided by Google Maps through the car's built-in Android-based operating system; it told me I'd need three charges to cover the distance. I'd planned to take the entire day for the journey, so I went along with the route for the sake of testing out how well the tech works.
Setting off with 90 percent charge, the first recommended stop was an Electrify America station at a Walmart in Indio, California, just outside of Palm Springs. According to Google's estimates, I'd take a little over two hours to get there and would arrive at 31 percent battery, which seemed like a reasonable suggestion. As I covered the first 140 miles, the Polestar 2 once again proved itself a confident road trip vehicle. Smooth power delivery, a settled ride, and good ergonomics make it a joy to drive over long distances.
When I pulled into the Walmart parking lot, it struck me that I may have been able to go a lot farther before stopping to charge. Upon arrival, the Polestar 2 indicated 41 percent charge and a maximum of 130 miles of range, meaning that the car's estimate was conservative. At that point, I was already at the charger and figured I may as well top off the battery and have breakfast, since it was just about 8:15 am. Although Electrify America's app said four chargers were available, one of the 350-kW Level 3 units was only yielding 30 kW, which meant I'd be charging a lot longer than anticipated.
Fortunately, an empty 150-kW tower was only about 100 feet away, hidden among the parked cars closer to the Walmart store's entrance. With the car successfully plugged in, I ducked inside for a McDonald's breakfast and waited 36 minutes for the Polestar 2 to reach 90 percent (the trip planner doesn't suggest a charge needed to continue the journey, so I guessed at it here). At this point, I decided that I'd spend less time charging going forward since that final 10 percent from 80 to 90 percent charge is much slower than 10 to 80 percent. Still, I kept with the recommended route and set off on the next leg of the journey.
That next stint was much shorter than I would have expected. Google Maps suggested I drive another 120 miles and stop off at a Love's Travel Stop in Quartzite, Arizona, to charge at another Electrify America station with 150- and 350-kW chargers. Getting on the road for under two hours felt silly, but I felt stuck with the recommendation because I wanted to have enough range for around-town driving when I arrived in Tucson. Arriving at 37 percent and charging up to 80 percent on a 150-kW unit took just 24 minutes, so I had time to grab stretch a bit before resuming my trek.
Google Maps recommended that I stop one more time—at another Electrify America station in Tempe, Arizona—before finishing the drive to Tucson. This was another short leg of about 140 miles, and with the Polestar's high-comfort, quiet cabin and ergonomic seats, I didn't feel a lot of wear or exhaustion as I approached the 400-mile mark. That, and the fact I was stopping every two hours or so, giving me plenty of rest. There was a lot of hilly driving that impacted the Polestar 2's range between Quartzite and Tempe, so I only had 24 percent charge upon arrival. Topping off to 80 percent took 31 minutes—a longer stop than I would've liked.
The final leg, a little more than 100 more miles through a busier stretch of I-10, led me to my destination just east of Tucson. After a 10-hour travel day, including driving and charging, I arrived with 35 percent charge and 110 miles of range remaining. While perfect for around-town driving and dealing with a charger later, I wasn't planning on leaving my friend's ranch for at least a day, so I plugged into a household outlet with the Level 1 charger that came with the Polestar 2. I wasn't expecting much but ended up pulling a surprising amount of juice over 13 hours and 15 minutes, adding about 26.9 kWh of electricity and filling the battery to 63 percent. This gave me about 200 miles of range, plenty to hit the town and show off our long-term car's acceleration and handling.
Going Home
I trickle-charged one more time to recover some range (back up to 63 percent) before heading out after the weekend in Tucson. That gave me enough juice to get back to Tempe, just south of Phoenix, with 18 percent remaining on the battery. I planned to drive the reverse of my initial route all the way back to L.A. because I felt comfortable with the stops and confident I'd be able to find a charger.
That ended up being the case when I got back to Quartzite, but unfortunately all of the chargers at the Walmart in Indio were full. Instead of waiting, I simply used the remaining range to extend my stint by 40 miles all the way to Cabazon, California, arriving with a comfortable 13 percent charge and 40 miles of range. I plugged into a 350-kW Electrify America station at the Desert Hills Premium Outlets to replenish the battery back to 80 percent. This final refill was quick, adding 61.42 kWh in 32 minutes. For most of the road trip, I was doubting Google's route planning because it seemed to stop me short of using more of the battery's capacity. However, its strategy allowed me to pivot when one charging station was backed up with traffic, ultimately saving me time that would have otherwise been spent sitting still.
Finishing the Trip and Final Thoughts
By the time I made it back to theMotorTrendoffice in El Segundo, I'd added more than 1,000 miles to our long-term Polestar 2's odometer. The Polestar 2 was flawless from a mechanical standpoint, and the driving experience left me with little to complain about. I was worried the glass roof would cook me as I drove through the desert, but I didn't notice any additional heat or UV penetration from the sun overhead. Simply put, the Polestar 2 is a road trip champ. The one issue that stood out during this drive was that the suspension gets jittery over rough surfaces, a downside to the static twin-tube frequency-dependent dampers that otherwise provide a well-controlled ride on better roads. At its worst, however, our long-term RWD model is a lot less punishing than the 2024 Polestar 2 Dual Motor Performance Plus that we tested during our Car of the Year competition.
I learned that I definitely charged too much during my adventure across state lines. Stopping as frequently as I did added 1.5 hours to my drive time on the way to Tucson, and an hour and 45 minutes on the way back. In the future, I estimate I could skip one charge and save about 30 minutes overall on the same trip.
That said, I'll likely keep using Google Maps to reliably locate charging spots along my driving routes, and at least the conservative range estimates leave wiggle room for changing plans on the fly, even out in the middle of nowhere. That said, if I take another road trip from Los Angeles to Tucson, I'd alter my route to only charge twice instead of three times.
The Polestar 2 has proven that it can easily drive between 200 and 250 miles on a 90 percent charge, as it did during its first-ever adventure. That's a feat made more impressive given that I've been driving with climate control active and haven't felt the need to conserve range. My confidence in the Polestar 2 has only grown now thatMotorTrend's independent road-trip range testing determined that the Polestar 2 can travel 329 miles before its battery is depleted, handily beating the EPA's 320-mile range estimate. With all of these initial exploits in the rearview mirror, I'm now looking forward to taking the Polestar 2 on even more long-haul adventures throughout 2024.
For More on Our Long-Term Polestar 2 Single Motor:
- 2024 Polestar 2 Single Motor Yearlong Review Arrival: Meet Our Far-Driving Fastback
- 2024 Polestar 2 Single Motor Yearlong Review: Long-Range Road Trip Champ?
Billy Rehbock's passion for cars started with his dad's Volkswagen Jetta GLX, his mom's Cabriolet, and his own Hot Wheels collection. A USC graduate with a Master of Science in journalism, he's an associate editor for the MotorTrend Buyer's Guide and covers everything from sports cars to SUVs.
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