Yahoo Autos 2024 Polestar 2 switches to rear-wheel-drive as part of major update
Polestar is making significant changes to the 2 for the 2024 model year. The entry-level version of the electric sedan makes the switch from front- to rear-wheel-drive, and all variants regardless of drivetrain configuration get a new-look design, more range, and additional features.
Going from front- to rear-wheel-drive is a major change that would be considerably more difficult to achieve with a gasoline-powered car but that's reasonably straight-forward in an electric vehicle. Polestar took advantage of the new layout to update the motors: both the rear- and the all-wheel-drive versions of the 2 receive next-generation motors and inverters, and they're much quicker than the models they replace.
The rear-wheel-drive 2's motor is rated at 299 horsepower and 361 pound-feet of torque, up from 231 and 243, respectively, in the outgoing front-wheel-drive model. The extra power lowers the zero-to-60-mph time to 5.9 seconds (1.1 quicker than before). The dual-motor all-wheel-drive system's output checks in at 421 horsepower and 546 pound-feet of torque, and engineers dialed in a rear bias for sharper handling.
