Back at the Goodwood Festival of Speed, Polestar showcased a hotter version of the Polestar 2 electric sedan. The company hinted at a possible production model. And now some of it has gone into production and owners don’t have to buy a whole new car. They can just download some extra horsepower.
Apparently the electric motors on that Goodwood prototype were the same as those in the regular twin-engine Polestar 2, just with a unique powertrain calibration. That calibration is now available for purchase in several European countries and will later be sold in other markets, including North America. It adds 67 horsepower and 15 pound-feet of torque to the twin-engine car for a total of 469 horsepower and 502 pound-feet of torque. Owners simply need to purchase it from the Polestar Extras online store and then download it to the car with a wireless update. This really isn’t all that different from the ECU calibrations Volvo and Polestar sell for current Volvo models, apart from the fact that the Polestar 2 is fully electric and owners don’t have to go to the dealer for installation.
This power upgrade will not completely turn an existing Polestar 2 into the hot rod that was at Goodwood. That car also got a different and more adjustable Öhlins suspension with stiffer springs, six-piston front brake calipers from the Polestar 1, carbon fiber chassis brackets and some visual additions. Obviously, those physical parts can’t actually be downloaded. But we’re curious to see if Polestar will introduce a new equipment line with some of these features, or maybe sell the parts separately.
The powertrain calibration will be available this spring in the US and Canada. The final price for the US has not yet been determined, but for reference, the price in Europe hovers around 1,000 Euros, or just over $1,100. The calibration is also only available for the dual-engine Polestar 2, so single-engine owners will have to make do with what originally came with the car.
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