Polestar has announced it’s giving customers the chance to upgrade their Polestar 2 with an extra 68hp and 15lb. ft. of torque for a flat $1,195 fee and not a subscription in sight.
The move, only available to Polestar customers in the United States and Canada – at least initially – will cost people a one-time fee of less than $1,200. That just happens to be the amount of money that Mercedes-Benz recently told its EV drivers to hand over every year to get a speed boost of their own.
The upgrade is available on the long range dual motor version of the Polestar 2, with the company saying that “the upgrade adds 68 horsepower and 15 lb.-ft of torque to the existing 408 hp and 487 lb.-ft of torque produced by the dual-motor powertrain, for a total output of 476 hp and 502 lb.-ft”.
The company goes on to say that drivers can expect a sportier experience as a result of the upgrade, with the 0-60mph time reduced to just 4.2 seconds. It’s a mild improvement over the already jaw-busting 4.5 seconds, but it’s still welcome. The biggest difference comes at speeds when you’re likely to be overtaking someone, however, with anything from 44mph to 80mph benefiting most.
The one-time flat fee is clearly a dig at Mercedes-Benz which recently told customers to pay $1200 per year to benefit from similar power improvements. The sub applies to the Mercedes-EQ EQE 350 4MATIC, Mercedes-EQ EQE SUV 350 4MATIC, Mercedes-EQ EQS 450 4MATIC, and Mercedes-EQ EQS SUV 450 4MATIC vehicles.