The Polestar 2 got a five-star safety rating from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, Polestar announced on Thursday. It also got five-star safety ratings in individual test categories, including frontal crash, side crash, and rollover. Polestar, for one, seems very pleased with the results.
The five-star ratings from NHTSA match a similar rating the Polestar 2 got in European testing. You can watch those tests below:
There is just one hiccup that I can spot in that video, which is automatic emergency braking at night with a pedestrian, who gets a little mangled in the test. Other than that, the Polestar 2’s AEB game seems on point. The crash-test performance is also good, with the car wrapping its occupants in airbags after collisions. The tests here in the States showed similar performance:
In its release, a Polestar guy said that they are mighty chuffed.
“Building on last year’s 5-Star EuroNCAP rating, we are happy to announce that Polestar 2 has also received the benchmark 5-star rating from the NHTSA in the United States,” said Gregor Hembrough, Head of Polestar North America. “Our customers can take pride and comfort knowing that their Polestar 2 features the latest technology, great design and sustainable materials complemented by a top safety rating.”
Polestar is on track to sell around 50,000 Polestars in 2022, the vast majority of which will be Polestar 2s. That is just a fraction of the number of Teslas produced in a single quarter, but Polestar also doesn’t seem interested in trying to be a Tesla killer just yet, instead focussed on trying to make a good product and letting that speak for itself.
So far so good on that, I’d say. I saw a Polestar 2 parked in my neighbourhood in Queens the other day and was surprised how jealous I was. It looked good, and now we can say it’s pretty safe, too.