Welcome back to Part Two. I’ll try and avoid doing this too often, but there was a lot of words to deal with. Think it was worth it and I’d appreciate any feedback you have. I have even bolted on a quick Kerb Crawl to round things off.
We left you wondering whether it would ever be possible to access that tin of what could only be Cavendish Travel Sweets.
Polestar did go on about the sound system a lot, which seems to be something of a distraction, or an admission that drivers don’t get very much aural feedback in an EV and would rather listen to early, complicated Genesis or the later populist incarnation. With the 3 it is a Bowers & Wilkins audio system, with, count them, 25 speakers and 1,610 watts of power. That includes headrest speakers and Dolby Atmos technology for an immersive experience. Sorry, Pete and Phil, but I didn’t bother immersing myself at all.
Getting back to the Polestar 4 interior, they claim it is Coupé outside, but SUV space and practicality inside, with a fashion-inspired interior with specially developed 3D knit textile option. There is a creative ambient lighting app based on the solar system, no less, plus electrically reclining rear seats which creates a first-class lounge like experience. It is certainly spacious and light, because of the panoramic roof, even if they make a big thing of having no rear window.
We might as well mention that now. Much like a panel van there is no window for design and structural reasons as they squash an SUV into a coupe shape. Which begs the question of just how you can see what’s behind you. Well it is one of those clever camera arrangements. To be precise a Gentex second generation 2.5 MP HD rear view camera and digital rear-view mirror with crop to enable digital tilt and pan. So the rear view mirror is a screen. At night it is super clear and when there is rain there are no drops visible. Unfortunately I have very peculiar eyes. I won’t bore you with the ophthalmic details, but the mirror/screen was blurred. The Polestar 4 is not designed for me, or for others much further down the ownership pyramid. That means when it is well out of warranty and at the back of the lot, a replacement system may cost a gazillion Chancellor Reeves credits. There is also the small matter that for the purposes of the MOT a vehicle will fail if its rear view mirror is broken, cracked, missing, or not secure. Presumably software failure will also be more than an advisory.
Polestar are keen to point out that the 3 is an interesting drive with a performance-focused chassis with up to 380 kW from dual motor setup TVDC system for improved turn-in, optimized balance and light, agile handling, it says here. There is also adaptive air suspension with active dampers and dual-chamber design. Plus large Brembo brakes, staggered wheels, bespoke tyres and 50:50 weight distribution
As for the Polestar 4’s performance credentials the steering, balance and control are the key ingredients with low centre of gravity, low-slung sporty driving position and Brembo brakes, Pirelli tyres, active dampers (dual motor), which is their fastest vehicle. Not only that all wheel drive and a 400 kW motor are available.
The thing is dear reader, I am not your tail out, on the edge, road tester. I am just an old man in charge of a large electric car. The progress was both measured and steady. Certainly it will move with prompting from the right foot, but as I said before, this is the equivalent of a large, quiet petrol SUV. I really don’t want to hustle it around very much, even if my new friend Joakim is very proud of his engineering input.
I will be perfectly frank, after a lot of hours driving I was starting to feel tired and the Polestar knew it. The driving monitoring software did start to bleep at me for not giving the road my full attention. Sometimes I was simply looking around but I was feeling tired, so tired that I reckoned when the drive finished I would curl up in the old mini and have a couple of hours kip in the hotel car park. I was stifling yawns every few seconds.
This all brings me to the inane and stupid comparison that you may have been waiting for. Indeed, the only conclusion I can come to is that my 60 year old mini is better than one of those brand new fangled Polestars. It isn’t simply because you don’t have to press a button to open the glove compartment. There isn’t one. Instead, Alec Issigonis provided a shelf, an absolutely huge one that all manner of items can be artfully arranged along. A small grandfather lock, a vase, possibly a candlestick and a solid silver frame containing sepia prints of loved ones. Not only that, unlike the Polestar 4, there is a rear window. Indeed, the view out of a mini is quite spectacular, not least because objects are as close as they actually appear. No crumple zone, or clever camera work, that 40 foot articulated lorry really is that close and if there’s a blow out, well it’s been all jolly good fun.
It is worth pointing out that by a considerable contrast, all the safety sustems on the Polestar 3 and 4 are inherited directly from Volvo cars SPA2 platform. There is Luminar, Zenseact and Smart Eye collaborations for latest active safety technology OTA updates.
There are five radar modules, five external cameras and twelve ultrasonic sensors as standard. Basically the chances of crashes are slim and when you do, it’ll be fine.
Polestar 1. BMC Nil by mouth.
Back to the cacophony of the mini, it meant I was no longer tired. There is no radio, sound system or hint of outside entertainment, just the rather excellent thrum of the A Series engine doing it’s job. The mini does have an aerial but it is attached to nothing, because it really is pointless. On every journey I might has well be accompanied by a passenger with a metal tea tray who constantly wacks it over my head. The experience is visceral. From being rather Polestar comatose, for the next five hours I have never been more alive. It is wonderful. When off the main A road track, the small As and minor Bs are providing rather excellent entertainment. A thought occurs to me as the tinnitus becomes almost overwhelming, this is hardly the British Motor Corporation verses Polestar. Polestar really are BMC.
Polestar may have the budget to pay for Ruppert to stay overnight in a pleasant West Country Lodge, but financially the situation is not very rosey at all.
In the current marketplace trying to make an all electric brand pay its way is close to impossible. The marketing bollocks required to make buyers believe in what you are selling is not working, the early adopters having done their job. Hence the Polestar share price collapse (by 90 per cent) and Chinese owned Volvo reducing it’s interest from 48.3 per cent down to 18. Not only that, they stopped providing money so that Polestar had to get a $950m bank loan, then a further $300.
That’s a worry as is the resignation at the end of August of the rather likeable CEO Thomas Ingenlath. He seemed to understand that going electric wasn’t exactly the environmental answer that everyone was looking for and caution is required. It all seems a bit bleak as sales are not what has been expected. First half sales in 2024 are down 18 per cent compared with the same period in 2023. The six figure predictions have just never happened. Looking at August Polestar sales were 374 which represents a fall on the previous August of 54.4%. That’s even before we go anywhere near the moribund used EV market
I would heartily recommend that you follow car dealer @BarrieCrampton on that Twitter X platform. He analyses what’s going on for those not involved in the daily cut and thrust of car dealers unearthing anomalies in the sales figures. Polestar have been part of this and registering vehicles so that they count as new sales, with loads subsequently fetching up on the used forecourts with minimal, identical mileages. It’s the oldest trick in the book, but works just as well with these battery powered items. It is also worth pointing out that residual values of all EVs is terminally soft. Great for certain buyers, terrible when it comes to building a sustainable business model for retailers. Even worse when it comes to building a profitable brand.
Polestar is then a car maker in something of a mess, just like BMC was for its entire existence. Both made vehicles that not enough people wanted to buy. BMC certainly made far more worse quality models, but the only answer for them was to eventually be corralled into the stupidly huge government owned British Leyland. Polestar have a way out of this via ultimate sugar daddy owner Geely. The Chinese parent could just keep on losing buckets of money, or roll it back into Volvo as some performance sub brand, or like so many of the BMC brands, simply cut the losses and kill it off.
As those sorts of big decisions are being made in Chinese board rooms, me and the old mini are fighting through the dark shadows thrown on the 1065 by Thetford Forest. The two candles that pass for headlamps and I decide to stop for a recharge. Rather it’s a refill for the larder at home to buy a pint of milk and a loaf of bread. In the supermarket car park a lady shopper and her other half are loading up their Golf with the weekly shop, sighs ‘aahhh’.
She smiles, laughs and says how much she adores the mini and how they’ve owned a good few and now love their Golfs. This won’t ever happen with a Polestar 3 or 4 will it? Not that one is ever going to see it’s 60th birthday. Not with the same battery pack anyway.
Final score. BMC 1. Polestar 0.
See you next time...
Hold on, let’s see what we can go and buy in the real used car world if you really did believe what I’ve written here.
Firstly let’s go to Car and Classic where for £21,995 there is a privately owned 1966 mini Cooper which is a lot like mine, except that it is freshly finished in Fiesta Yellow, with 34K irrelevant miles on the clock. That’s a great and rare colour. The descriptions on C&C are irritating as there is the dead hand of an AI programme writing the description. Nevertheless it’s had a ton of money spent on it over the last four years. The asking price is a reflection of the fact that classic cars are not the sure fire investments they once seemed to be. The indications are that what we have here is a decently restored mini. This is also a classic with an ‘as seen on TV’ backstory which if you wondered is "Stonehouse" starring Matthew Macfadyen and Keeley Hawes. Where the drama follows the life of John Stonehouse a member of Harold Wilson's government. Well, there is a bit more to it than that and some of us are old enough to remember the MP faking his own death in Australia. Anyway it was aired on ITV Monday 2nd of January 2023.
Even though there is only one five star Cooper here and it belongs to me, actually this yellow peril is a magnificent candidate if you are in the market for a classic. Five stars all the way. Also make an offer, who knows what you will get it for.
Now let’s hop aboard the Polestar electric train. There are a lot to choose from although it won’t be one of those new fangled 3s or 4s that we have been tooling around in. We will have to make do with a number 2. According to Polestar’s own website it’s the driver’s EV. To me it’s a lumpy EV which looks stylish enough Brand new, prices start at £44,950. We want a used one obviously and find ourselves at the Motorpoint website. This 2021 example has covered 24,000 miles with a projected range of 258 miles. Cash price is £22,399 although the more relevant PCP price is £357 a month. The choice is yours.
Although I believe that Electricity Cars are the gateway drug to having no personal transportation whatsoever, this is good value, clean, as new and about the same price as a classic mini Cooper. Don’t tell anyone but I’ll award it three solid state battery Slogs.
Now it really is, See you next time.
Please note that all images are copyright of the seller and the website and are intended for illustration only, please find the vehicles listed and make your own enquiries.
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Great David, glad you have the book and like it. Yes I want all the cars too. Even the rubbish ones.
Hugh, that is very kind of you to say. Especially when I wonder whether this is actually worth my while anymore.