[KeyMajor]

Car and Driver recently reviewed V60 T8 Polestar Engineered and they had a lot of good things to say about the sporty wagon.

Here's a snippet of the full review.

While the intention here was to make a fun-to-drive, performance-oriented car, the V60 T8 Polestar is refined enough to drive to the office every day or for puttering around on errands. In the Comfort driving mode, the uneven power delivery is subdued and the throttle response isn't as immediate. The ride is definitely firm, so firm it'll likely wake sleeping children, but if they're awake they can watch you fiddle with the dampers to improve the ride, something you can't do in the softer non-Polestar V60.

Volvo and Polestar have created a performance car with the practicality of a wagon and the potential efficiency of an EV, if only for 22 miles. We are thrilled it exists. Volvo could have easily just limited the T8 Polestar treatment to the XC60, but they didn't. They also gave it to this gorgeous wagon.

 

[poleposition]

This is what has me looking forward to future Polestar products that are 100% Polestar.

 

[KeyMajor]

This is what has me looking forward to future Polestar products that are 100% Polestar.

Is there a particular vehicle that you're most excited for?

 

[Ken]

I hope the ride is not overly firm.

 

[KeyMajor]

I hope the ride is not overly firm.

I haven't sat in one myself but based on the reviews I've seen it does seem to be on the firmer side.

 

[Ken]

Hard to tell given the Polestar is a different car, but it might be a bit firm. I'm still a bit concerned about having to sign a contract before even seeing or test driving the car.

 

[KeyMajor]

Hard to tell given the Polestar is a different car, but it might be a bit firm. I'm still a bit concerned about having to sign a contract before even seeing or test driving the car.

Which Polestar are you planning on getting?

 

[Ken]

KeyMajor, I did have a deposit down on a white with the dark gray interior, but decided against it. In NY and other areas, many Jaguar dealers are offering a $20,000 discount on brand new I-Paces. I test drove one and my wife & I fell in love with it. Very luxurious interior and essentially the same price I was paying for the Polestar. As with Polestar, I also get the $7,500 tax credit.

There were too many 'ifs' with the Polestar for my liking. It turns out they'll only have 1 sales location in the entire state of NY and that's in Manhattan. Not a great place for a test drive and with doubt still surrounding who will service the car, I was getting very nervous. Let's face it, they'll be selling very few Polestars and they won't feel a need for many service centers. So who knows where they'll be. Polestar in Sweden told me they will be serviced exclusively by Polestar service centers that they'll be constructing. Then I read some articles that certain Volvo dealerships will service them. I called Sweden again and they told me no, they will not be serviced by Volvo. So again, more doubt.

For me this was absolutely the right move. I took delivery of the I-Pace on Thursday and absolutely love it. I'm sure the Polestar will be a great car, but I didn't want to deal with all the questions and after driving the I-Pace it was a done deal. The dealer even gave me more for my trade than I asked. That was a first.

Finally, to be honest, I also felt guilty about buying a car built in China with all that's going on around the world. I didn't even tell my wife where it was made until I decided against it. She said she wouldn't be happy knowing it was made in China.

 

[babbey]

KeyMajor, I did have a deposit down on a white with the dark gray interior, but decided against it. In NY and other areas, many Jaguar dealers are offering a $20,000 discount on brand new I-Paces. I test drove one and my wife & I fell in love with it. Very luxurious interior and essentially the same price I was paying for the Polestar. As with Polestar, I also get the $7,500 tax credit.

There were too many 'ifs' with the Polestar for my liking. It turns out they'll only have 1 sales location in the entire state of NY and that's in Manhattan. Not a great place for a test drive and with doubt still surrounding who will service the car, I was getting very nervous. Let's face it, they'll be selling very few Polestars and they won't feel a need for many service centers. So who knows where they'll be. Polestar in Sweden told me they will be serviced exclusively by Polestar service centers that they'll be constructing. Then I read some articles that certain Volvo dealerships will service them. I called Sweden again and they told me no, they will not be serviced by Volvo. So again, more doubt.

For me this was absolutely the right move. I took delivery of the I-Pace on Thursday and absolutely love it. I'm sure the Polestar will be a great car, but I didn't want to deal with all the questions and after driving the I-Pace it was a done deal. The dealer even gave me more for my trade than I asked. That was a first.

Finally, to be honest, I also felt guilty about buying a car built in China with all that's going on around the world. I didn't even tell my wife where it was made until I decided against it. She said she wouldn't be happy knowing it was made in China.

Sadly though in terms of your wife's feeling in all of this, the build quality of cars built in China is a lot higher than for instance the Tesla Model 3s that are put together in California. Chinese workmanship is pretty much the highest on the planet in so many ways.
And nowadays about 40% of all new car sales in China itself are EVs ... they have about 10 -15 different made and designed in China offerings. Polestar was designed in Sweden yes, but Volvo is owned by Geely a Chinese conglomerate who also own Lotus and get this ... Jaguar as well. But they have kept on with some mfg in UK and Europe. Only Elon Musk is striving for to (finally) catch up to t he build quality of Chinese automotive factories. Ford and GM and Chrysler are going to have a tough time going forward. A lot of people who want a Tesla are waiting until they can get the Model Y built in Shanghai rather than one built in Fremont.

 

[Ken]

You are wrong. Jaguar is owned by Tata Motors, an Indian company, not a Chinese company.

Again, with all the havoc that China has wrought upon the world with this horrific virus, the move to Jaguar was the correct move for me. Spending that much money on a Chinese product would have left a bad taste in my mouth. That’s me. So that together with the questionable servicing issues (my call to Sweden at that time showed they had no clue as to where the car would be serviced), I was not willing to pull the trigger.

For nearly the same money, I was able to get what I feel is a more luxurious vehicle that I find more aesthetically pleasing.

Again, I hope everyone here has a great experience with their P2, but for me the move was absolutely the correct one. I’m loving the I-Pace.

 

[ProfessorCook]

I'm glad you found the right car for you, Ken. The I-Pace gets a lot of respect.

 

[Ken]

Thanks, Professor. I hope you have an equally satisfying experience with your P2.

 

[2RatsElop]

with all the havoc that China has wrought upon the world with this horrific virus

You hit the nail on the head, @Ken. That's why I don't buy anything made in USA since the Spanish Flu.

 

[Ken]

I guess you also don’t buy from France, Britain & China, which are all suspected as the points of origin in addition to the US. IOW, we really don’t know where the Spanish flu actually started. It was also not nearly as deadly as Covid-19.

But of course the biggest difference between the Spanish flu and Covid 19 is that China DELIBERATELY hid the virus and its magnitude from the world. They knew how easily it spread, but said nothing. They even stopped health experts from coming into China to determine what was going on. That contributed hugely to its spread and the world’s slow recognition as to what we were dealing with.

Facts are your friend.

 

[polerad]

It was also not nearly as deadly as Covid-19.

I hope you’re not right here given that the Spanish flu likely killed tens of millions

Spanish flu - Wikipedia

en.m.wikipedia.org

But of course the biggest difference between the Spanish flu and Covid 19 is that China DELIBERATELY hid the virus and its magnitude from the world. They knew how easily it spread, but said nothing. They even stopped health experts from coming into China to determine what was going on. That contributed hugely to its spread and the world’s slow recognition as to what we were dealing with.

we also choose to ignore the available evidence and did not implement reasonable policies to limit the spread of the virus when it was clear it was spreading. Other countries have done much better at this than the US and had the same level of information available to them as we did. China could have been more up front sure. We absolutely could have and should have done better - and not doing so has been a failure in leadership.

 

[dave]

You just never know where a thread is going go to take you these days.

 

[Ken]

I don’t agree other countries did better. Every country has had its ups & downs regardless of what they did. Some did less than us and faired better.. If we didn’t stop flights from China early, it would have been far worse.

But you’re right about the Spanish flu, I was thinking the swine flu in terms of fatalities. Now the swine flu was certainly a case of horrible mismanagement as an Obama health official acknowledged.

 

[dave]

I don’t agree other countries did better. Every country has had its ups & downs regardless of what they did. Some did less than us and faired better.. If we didn’t stop flights from China early, it would have been far worse.

But you’re right about the Spanish flu, I was thinking the swine flu in terms of fatalities. Now the swine flu was certainly a case of horrible mismanagement as an Obama health official acknowledged.

Sorry @Ken , I thought you had finished. Carry on mate

 

[Ken]

Sorry @Ken , I thought you had finished. Carry on mate

 

[rgledhill]

I think maybe Trump managed to sneak on here and start posting...

You do realise that the US has the highest number of COVID virus deaths in the entire world, right? Similar to India and Brazil (2nd and 3rd places) combined!? Coronavirus Update (Live): 79,376,373 Cases and 1,743,738 Deaths from COVID-19 Virus Pandemic - Worldometer

From the outside, it's shocking how badly the US has dealt with the virus. We've made quite a mess of it in the UK but - once again - the US does everything on a grand scale. Frightening, quite honestly.

Facts are not your friend in this case, I'd say...