EV Comparison: Polestar 2 or Mustang Mach-E?

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Recently, I spent about 3,800 combined kilometres road-testing the Ford Mustang Mach -E and Polestar 2 in identical conditions, and on identical drive routes, while creating various assignments for web and television.

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Each car was driven twice along a 430-kilometre highway route, as well as over rural and backroads surfaces characteristic of real-world conditions in Northern Ontario. 

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EV Comparison: Polestar 2 or Mustang Mach-E? Back to video

For a more comprehensive look at either the Polestar 2 or Mustang Mach-E, be sure to follow the related content links in this story. Below, I’ll summarize my key takeaways from the experience. 

If you’re a shopper considering either the Mustang Mach 1 or Polestar 2, I hope this information encourages you to test-drive both. If you’re a shopper directly comparing these two machines for consideration, I hope this information helps you to confirm (or question) your purchase decision.

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Polestar 2: The pocket rocket

The Polestar 2 offers a small, agile and very spirited drive that’s calibrated to resonate strongly with enthusiast drivers. The small stature and low, sporty driving position combine with 408 horsepower and some optional performance upgrades on my tester (tires, brakes, etc), for a high-performance drive that’s sharp, eager, and fun.

Though the blocky looks don’t give it away, the feel is very ‘sports coupe’ from behind the wheel. 

The Polestar 2 is tuned for a highly responsive drive, with high torque output and miles of cornering grip delivered via just small inputs to the throttle and steering wheel. Think electric go-kart, and you’re in the right ballpark. Driving the Polestar 2 spiritedly will recall the feel you love about your favourite combustion-powered AWD sports car, minus the noise. 

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The sport-tuned ride remains easygoing on many rougher road surfaces, though four large grown-ups will quickly max out the interior space of this little sporting machine.

Equipped with the performance package, my tester rang in around $76,000 with All-Wheel Drive (AWD) and a 375-kilometre battery.

Mustang Mach-E: One of my favourite touring cars

The highway drive of the Mustang Mach-E hit me the hardest because of a solid, robust density that’s dialled into the entire character of the vehicle. The Mach-E cruises like a big luxury sports sedan and the highway road feel is excellent. It’s comfortable but not floaty, responsive but not twitchy, and as a mass on springs, the body just moves beautifully over its wheels. 

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The suspension and steering are dialled in nicely to support the mood, making my Mustang Mach-E First Edition tester a very pleasant surprise — and one of the most nicely-polished highway cruisers I’ve recently visited.

My tester cost $72,000 and provided 346 horsepower, AWD, and a 435-kilometre battery. 

Easy to live with

Both machines are easy to live with, and help make the switch to EV life easy. 

The Mach-E’s longer-range battery makes more sense for my lifestyle and locale — with an extra 60 kilometres of range advantage over the Polestar 2, this can help make for more confident longer-distance travels in locales with limited public charging infrastructure, such as Northern Ontario.

At home with a Level 1 Charger, either battery recharges at a rate of about 4 kilometres per hour at room temperature. That’s about 100 kilometres of charging in a 24-hour day on the plug.

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If you’re using a Level 2 charger at home, you’ll add about 40 kilometres to either machine’s battery per hour, or recharge from empty overnight.

I was able to consistently add 10 kilometres per minute to each machine’s battery using Level 3 Public Fast Charging, too. That’s 100 kilometres of recharging during a washroom and coffee break, and 250 kilometres or more while you get lunch or groceries.

Key Strengths: Infotainment and ride

If there are two things the Mustang Mach-E and Polestar 2 both do very well, it’s their on-the-road feel, and their in-car infotainment. 

The Mach-E is an excellent highway cruiser, and of the pair, its ride comfort is less bothered by rougher road surfaces. This means it offers more consistently comfortable ride quality, more of the time. 

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The Polestar 2’s ride quality stands up nicely to many uneven surfaces, though badly-beaten back-roads can be a source of noise and harshness. Mostly though, the suspension in the Polestar 2 is set up make sure you’re grinning ear to ear the first time you fire it out on an on-ramp, which becomes habit-forming very quickly.

On infotainment, these are two very strong performers, too. I prefer the Mach-E’s system, since I just plug in my phone and everything works. It’s easy to navigate too, and there’s just nothing to ever worry about. The Polestar 2’s system works more like a smart device with its own data connection, and it has some very powerful features targeted towards more advanced users.

After a week using each system, I found the Polestar’s to be the more powerful, but preferred the easy-reading display and more straightforward operation from the Ford Sync system in the Mach-E.

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Key Weakness: Throttle and brakes

Though the Mustang Mach-E and Polestar 2 both feel great on the road, both might leave new drivers feeling the need to retrain their right foot at first. 

In an EV, the throttle and brake pedals are connected to a completely different set of hardware than you might be used to, so the feel is different — and funny — at first. Before long, your right foot will learn the new rhythm required for smooth operation, but if there’s just one gripe common to both of these machines, I’d say it’s the brake pedal feel.

The EV tends to get a pass here because the brakes work differently, but the point is, the brakes in both of these cars feel a bit weird until you get used to them, and neither will likely impress you in terms of a high-precision feel if you’re coming from a recent Lexus IS or BMW 3-Series. 

The gist?

If you’re looking to drop $70,000 or $80,000 on an electric-powered toy and you’re leaning in this direction, neither of these machines is the right or the wrong answer. 

The highest return on investment in the Polestar 2 will come to owners regularly planning to make use of its high-performance skills and who enjoy the more thrilling side of motoring. 

The highest return on investment in the Mach-E will probably come to owners regularly planning to tackle longer-distance trips where ride comfort, room and range matter a bit more.