Polestar Forum banner

Single Motor (Standard Range) Performance

72K views 533 replies 54 participants last post by  Icesingh 
#1 ·
So mine has arrived (yay 🙂) and as there don't seem to be many posts regarding the performance of the single motor variant I thought I'd share my initial thoughts.

So first of all it's clearly not as powerful as the dual motor - but it doesn't feel significantly slower and, this may be just me, but I think you can notice the reduced weight (on standard one pedal driving the braking also seemed to be harder than I remember from test driving a dual motor).

Acceleration is more than brisk enough and you still get that instant power at all speeds - but you can also tell it's front wheel drive, especially if you put your foot down as you're turning.

But my biggest fear was that I'd be disappointed I didn't get a dual motor and that's definitely not the case so far - maybe time will tell.
 
#2 ·
And some initial thoughts about the car.
  • Set up was fairly painless, paired with the app without any issues (not using PAK though)
  • Still love the colour
  • The main interior lights are way too bright, with no discernible way to dim them.
  • Didn't have the latest update installed which is a bit disappointing as it looked like new cars were being updated with that before delivery.
  • No squeaks or rattles detected (yet)
  • The LED pixel headlights are amazing to watch in action - must pay attention to the road when driving 😂
 
#4 ·
Mine is due for delivery next week, looking forward to it.

You are right, not many posts about the single motor standard range yet.

The car I purchased is single motor standard range with only the pilot pack.

Also reassuring to know power is sufficient, which I know will be down on the dual motor version. But sounds like it's still quick enough.

The cars I tested both had 20 inch wheels, how is the ride with the 19 inch wheels?
 
#7 ·
I test drove a car with 20s (PP) and 19s and tbh didn't really notice any difference - but as mentioned the thicker sidewalls should make a difference, on a fairly short drive last night it certainly didn't feel 'crashy' over rougher roads 🙂
 
  • Like
Reactions: Man8ck
#10 ·
Unless I missed something obvious - entirely possible - those settings only seemed to apply to the ambient and mood lighting.

It's only a mild annoyance and tbh I'll probably leave them switched off rather than burning my retinas every time I get in it 😂
 
#11 ·
First of congrats on receiving the car. Im glad your enjoying it.

It always brings a smile to my face when people say the single motor isn’t as slow as they thought it would be as it takes 2.5 seconds longer 0-60 lol. Most ICE cars are actually slower than the SM P2 lol those that are faster have significantly bigger engines e.g. 3000cc or have turbos etc they also may be lighter than the P2. For me 7 seconds is very respectable for a family sized car.

Out of curiosity as mine should be delivered next month, how long did the hand over take? Did you do a full inspection as advised in some of the posts?

May the P2 bring a smile to your face every day.
 
#13 ·
Thank you - and it is true that the majority of ICE cars aren't sub 8 seconds 0-60, although my previous car was a 335d x-drive so was probably closer to the dual motor in terms of performance :LOL:

But around town and even on a dual carriageway it is plenty fast enough.

The handover was pretty seamless and took about 45 minutes - it probably helped that I'd read up on here and watched numerous you tube videos so knew exactly what to do to set up the profiles etc - and did a full inspection of the car as well to make sure everything was ok.

As others have mentioned as we're fairly close to Oxford it was driven to me rather than delivered on a transporter - seems if you're within a 100 miles or so they'll do that.
 
#18 ·
I never thought a 7 second car would be considered slow. It's not. And it feels faster than you are likely used to because the 0-30 is surely even faster than any other ICE car you've driven. The instant torque provides a completely different feeling that makes any 0-60 time feel faster. Your foot seems directly connected to the speedometer, and the car exhibits no strain whatsoever.
 
#21 ·
Well tbf my previous car was a BMW 335d and that had a 0-60 of about 4.5 seconds so it is slower than that was - and that acceleration was a very different experience than you get with electric cars.

But, I very rarely accessed that performance, so I was comfortable knowing that the single motor was going to be more than adequate, especially with the way that performance is delivered as you say - and it is still faster than any other ICE car I owned before the BMW.

And it also has that push you back in the seat feeling if you accelerate hard - so I'm definitely not saying it's slow 🙂
 
#23 ·
I must say that the performance was one of the concerns I had when opting for the single motor car without managing to get a test drive. Its good to hear that people are satisfied with the performance but also that it is useful in the situations that you need it. Does it still pull well from 30-50mph and 50-70mph when overtaking etc. I think this is a more likely scenario than the 0-60 time in 99% of situations.
 
#25 ·
I haven't had much of a chance to test the 50-70 performance yet, but certainly at lower speeds that instant torque is there if you need it to overtake or get out of a situation.

It was also noticeable that range looks quite promising - a 30ish mile journey of mixed roads returned just over 31kWH/100mi - will be monitoring how close to 200miles range I can get on a full charge.
 
#26 ·
With that diagram it's the interior lights - number 1 - I want to dim as they're ridiculously bright.

Nothing seems to change those - the manual dial doesn't turn them down nor do any settings I've found.
 
#27 · (Edited)
I was almost decided to buy LRSM when I was in sale center. But just before signing the contract I asked if I can try LRDM just for test in 30 minutes. And that was that... Car with this engine is monster... From first pedal acceleration I knew that I want this over LRSM, which was very good anyway but didn't had this "something". After that I ordered LRDM instead of single. Now I have to wait until February 2022 for my car. Meh... Hope that time will go fast :) congratulations to everybody who ordered/received cars already :)
 
#29 ·
So a bit of an update after a few days driving the car and setting everything up (without any issues so far including PAK) for anybody else getting a single motor PS2.

Driving
  • Loving the 0-40 acceleration - that smooth electric surge makes me smile every time.
  • 40-60 and 50-70 (ish 🙂) is perfect and more than adequate for overtakes and safely pulling into gaps.
  • Ride on 19s feels fine, not too hard.
  • The LED matrix headlights are amazing.
  • The 360 camera view isn't that great - I switch to the rear view camera.
Battery
  • Took just over 6 hours to charge it from 25% to 90% (about 43kw) - so far range is looking at around 200+ miles for a full battery.
  • Seeing about 33-34kWh/100 miles for most trips - mostly town and a little bit of 'spirited' dual carriageway driving e.g. today's drive of 18 miles used 8% of the battery at 32.6kWh/100miles.
  • Seems to take about 10 miles for the battery to fully 'warm' up - regen is limited up to that point. Will try pre-warming the battery next time I go out.
And driving today I had at least 3 people giving it the 'what is that car' stare - never had that with any other car 😂.

Insurance is also proving to be a bit of a pain - they have a 64kw and a 64kw with plus pack on the insurance database, but I've currently had to get it insured as a 78kw with plus and pilot while they get it assessed properly.
 
#31 ·
Yeah I'm waiting for the insurance company (LV) to call me back to confirm the spec and to presumably go through their underwriters to be assessed with the right options.

Even if I put the registration number in to Compare the Market it recognises it, but it has the wrong model showing.
 
#32 ·
Also love the fact that you can just get in and drive without doing anything, but the remote locking is playing havoc with my OCD - lock car, pull handle to check it's locked, unlock car, lock car again - rinse and repeat 😂
 
  • Like
Reactions: SandyS
#41 ·
It will be interesting to see what range (and/or kwh/100mi) in winter you get, as a smaller battery pack should mean less heat is required to get them to preferred temperature.

If you have not been around since the start ... 42-48 kwh/100mi around 0degC is what most of us got on trips long enough to offset the initial heating losses. Small trips 50-60 could easily been achieved.
 
#42 ·
It would also be interesting to know what difference the heat pump is making too, although there's nothing to baseline it against for the SM - maybe 2022 DMs with the heat pump will have better range and efficiency than their 2021 equivalents.
 
#45 ·
Quick trip out today (mostly 30mph roads and two stops) - pre-warmed the car for 15 minutes (used 1% battery, regen was available from the start) and the journey itself used 4%.

Happy to get under 30kWH/100 miles for the first time 😂

Don't think I'll ever get close to the WLTP 250 mile range but anything around 200 and I'll be very happy.

Automotive design Wheel Automotive tire Vehicle Audio equipment
 
#51 ·
Had our test drive of a Single Motor on Sunday, had the option of multiple models but the closest spec we were looking for was SMLR Midnight, Charcoal WeaveTec, Plus, Pilot, 20’s.

I didn’t think we would be disappointed after the DM and it’s fair to say we weren’t - what it lost in punch for those moments you could spot the difference was a greater level of calm; less Banzai, more Elastic. Felt lighter and to both of us a little more nimble.

So, not that we weren’t sold before but we are absolutely sold now!

The only thing I might change is swap Magnesium and Slate for Moon and Charcoal; I genuinely can’t decide. I could have been tempted to go LR if we could order a towbar but you can’t on lease cars for the moment (no idea why) so SR fits for us
My SM-SR with pilot pack is due to be delivered tomorrow.
It's great to hear your opinion on the way the single motor model drive. I only got to drive the DM model, so your comments gives me confidence the SM version is going to be good.
 
#52 ·
There was quite the debate on the Facebook group over how the SM is slower than the DM 😂 - but for every day driving at legal road limits then the SM is just as good in my opinion.

Unless you like to drive like Sterling Moss everywhere then you really won't notice the difference and as Frank says it does feel lighter than the DM.

And as with any front wheel drive car there is an element of torque steer - but you really have to be pushing hard out of turns to get it scrabbling for grip.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top