2022 Polestar 2 ‘Arctic Circle’ test car

Forbidden, frozen EV fruit from the Arctic Circle, thanks to Polestar and its engineers

Imagine testing cars for a living and you're watching everyone else upgrade their office environments over the last few years. How can you upgrade your office chair if it's bolted to a car sliding sideways near the actual Arctic Circle at -35° C? (-31° F). Enter the rally-inspired Polestar 2 ‘Arctic Circle’ development prototype.

Conceived of, spec'd, and tuned by Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s chief chassis engineer, it's essentially a club racing version of a standard Polestar 2 Long range Dual motor with Performance Pack, plus:

• raised ride height (+30 mm),

• more horsepower and torque: 470 hp and 501 lb-ft of torque (350 kW and 680 Nm)

• 19-­inch OZ Racing rally wheels

• custom ­made 19­-inch studded winter tyres (245/35 R19)

• 30%­ softer springs

• three-­way performance Öhlins dampers with auxiliary adjustment chambers

• standard 4-­piston Brembo front brakes

• front and rear strut braces

• prototype launch control system

“I wanted to have more fun than usual with this car – really being able to push it in ter…