The Electric Polestar 2 Wins Germany's Luxury Car of the Year Award

author: Eric Walz   

The fully-electric Polestar 2

Germany is home to some of the world's finest automakers, including Mercedes Benz, BMW, Porsche and Audi. So any automaker planning to sell its vehicles in the country face strong competition. Newcomer Polestar however, is holding its own with its first mass market electric vehicle the Polestar 2.

The company's Polestar 2 has reached the final round of this year's competition and won the Luxury category in the annual German Car of the Year (GCOTY) awards. 

Polestar is the new electric performance car brand jointly owned by Volvo Car Group and Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding (Geely). The company is operated by Sweden-based Volvo Cars as a standalone performance EV brand. The Polestar brand is a strong new competitor to segment leader Tesla. 

The judging panel was made up of 18 leading German automotive journalists. The group critiqued a total of 72 vehicles released since the end of 2019. The experts chose one winner in each of five categories, Compactor, Premium, Luxury, New Energy and Performance.

In the luxury category, models  with a sticker price of over 50,000 euros were evaluated. The Polestar 2 was up against Tesla Model Y, BMW X6 and Land Rover Defender, but managed to convince the jury "by a large margin." 

Among the judging criteria are design, driving pleasure, drivetrain, handling, quality, comfort, practicality, safety, environment, infotainment and price/performance ratio.

The Polestar 2 will now go on to the final round of voting for the title of "German Car of the Year." Last year's winner was the electric Porsche Taycan, the first electric vehicle from the German sports car manufacturer.

"It has always been our aim to bring more than just an electric alternative to the market, to develop a car that inspires customers with its design, innovation and performance," says Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar. "We are proud that the jury has recognized Polestar 2 in this way."

In the U.S., Polestar is poised to compete with Tesla with the Polestar 2. It will be more affordable than the Model S with a MSRP of $59,900, yet priced competitively with the Tesla Model 3 Performance. The EV will be available for sale in all 50 U.S. states.

The Polestar 2 is rated at more than 400 horsepower, and can go from zero to 60 mph in about five seconds. The vehicle features an all-wheel drive powertrain and 78 kWh battery pack. It is being built in China.

It's also the world's first vehicle running Google's Android Auto OS, which allows drivers to use Google's popular app such Maps without having to sync a smartphone. To display all of the available Android Automotive OS apps, the Polestar 2 comes with a 11 inch touchscreen display.

"The award proves that electric mobility is on the rise in Germany," says Alexander Lutz, Managing Director of Polestar Germany, who accepted the category award on Monday evening in the run-up to the final test drives. "The fact that we were able to prevail in this important category, especially against all the established brands, confirms what a fantastic car Polestar 2 is."

Polestar launched its first vehicle named the Polestar 1 in 2017. The Polestar 1 is a limited edition, 600 horsepower hybrid EV supercar costing $155,000. The vehicle served as a platform for the automaker to show off its innovative technology. 

The jury will announce the winner of the 2021 German Car of the Year award in November.

Eric Walz

Originally hailing from New Jersey, Eric is a automotive & technology reporter covering the high-tech industry here in Silicon Valley. He has over 15 years of automotive experience and a bachelors degree in computer science. These skills, combined with technical writing and news reporting, allows him to fully understand and identify new and innovative technologies in the auto industry and beyond. He has worked at Uber on self-driving cars and as a technical writer, helping people to understand and work with technology.