Living with a Polestar: to Corsica and back
When reading about EVs, you often hear about a lack of range, hidden environmental effects, and high costs. But driving electric isn't as difficult as you might think. To show you why, we thought it would best to let one of our customers tell their story.
On a chilly Thursday afternoon, just outside central Gothenburg, we met up with Polestar owner, Frans, and his two sons. On our quest to learn more about what it is like to live with a Polestar, we asked him about everything from charging to the experience of driving electric.Born and raised in Gothenburg, Frans is a father of three and runs his own carpentry business. In his younger years, Frans drove a '96 Passat Kombi with Aston Martin painted on the side. Many years have passed since then, and now he drives a Polestar 2. When asked why he has chosen to drive electric, Frans could name a couple of reasons. "The main reason is environmental, of course," he begins, "but it is also just fantastic to drive electric." When he first got his Polestar 2, Frans was met with mixed reactions. People around him highlighted the fact that EVs are not as climate-friendly as one might think and that charging them would be a hassle. "My argument is that if you have to buy a new car, it is of course much better to buy an electric than a diesel car" Frans notes. He also did not understand the economic argument as Frans showed that he had saved money by switching to electric. "Had I been driving diesel I would have paid up to 40,000 SEK (approximately $5,024 CAD) last year, which is double the cost I have now" he says. Our research has shown that driving electric is better environmentally and financially. And Frans is just one example of this.
Although some were skeptical, Frans told us that he has never owned a car that so many of his friends wanted to borrow for a test drive. "Even if you are only allowed to drive at 90 km/h, it's still very fast," Frans says and smiles.
Last year, Frans drove his Polestar from Gothenburg to Corsica, and back. With the whole family in the car, he drove through Europe and made several stops along the way. If nothing else, this shows that driving electric does not limit where you can go with your car.
On the way back, he had to stop ten times to charge between Corsica and Gothenburg. With kids in the car, Frans thought it worked well. "You drive two and a half hours and then you charge for half an hour," he begins. "For a family with children, it's quite nice as the kids get to run around for a bit and you get them away from their screens."
While waiting for the ferry to Corsica in 38-degree heat, no one was allowed to run their car's engine.Consequently, people were stuck in their cars with no air conditioning. However, this was not the case for Frans and his family, since their car didn't have an engine to turn off. "It definitely turned a few heads when people saw us relaxing inside our perfectly air-conditioned car," Frans says and laughs.
Although Frans describes the trip as a great success, he still sees room for improvement. More specifically, he noticed that the infrastructure for charging is still lagging behind. Many times, he had to stop to charge even though he had plenty of range left, simply because the next opportunity to charge was too far away. "If there were twice as many charging spots I could have driven until I was practically out of battery and then recharged," he notes.
Nonetheless, Frans stresses the fact that these are not problems he faces in his day-to-day life. He charges his car at home, and therefore never has any problems with his car running out of battery. Whether driving to work, driving the kids to football practice, or driving to a park for an afternoon walk, he never thinks twice about the charge of the battery. "It is great to always have a fully charged car," Frans enthuses. We had prepared questions regarding range anxiety, but Frans simply doesn't have any. "I think you might have it in the beginning, but you quickly realize that if you plug the car in overnight, you will always be able to drive where you want to," he says.
The average driving distance in the EU is 32.9 km per day. Therefore, your day-to-day travels typically will not require 400 km of driving or a full charge for an EV. And when they do, a little bit of planning and determination can take you to Corsica and back.
