When I drive a Polestar electric, I think of Volvo, for Polestar was founded and is owned by that Swedish car company, yet it is built in China, for Volvo is owned by Geely Manufacturing, a Chinese firm.

I’ve driven the 2024 Polestar 2 Dual-Motor Performance Plus model. It is reasonably quick, not to the burst-like-level of EQS or XM, but enough to please this internal-combustion-engine user. It has an excellent regenerative braking system.

Following haircuts in Eaton on a Friday afternoon of last week, Jan and I drove north on U.S. 85 into Wyoming, sped via I-25 through Cheyenne a few more miles and took a right off the highway and a left over the highway, winding up on Horse Creek Road. Some twists and turns highlighted the Polestar’s tight steering, while magnifying the bumpiness of the liftback’s stiff suspension.

With all that behind us, we rolled merrily into the driveway of the new home for Tim Coy and Cynthia Rutledge; they recently relocated from Louisville. I was delivering to Coy a hardbound copy of my book, “2,600 Cars and a Dog Sled, Bud Wells’ 67 Years of Newspapering and Automobiles,” for which he designed the colorful cover and back cover. It can be ordered ($28.50 for soft-cover, $38.50 for hard-cover) through budwellsbooks.com or by contacting me at [email protected].

The 78kWh battery in the Polestar Dual-Motor electric was easily charged to 270 miles of range for the all-wheel-drive hatchback. The Eaton/Cheyenne drive of 124 miles consumed 125 miles from the range capacity. Earlier in the week, a drive of 210 miles reduced the range by 245 miles; much of that distance was on 75-miles-per-hour interstate highway. The faster speeds tend to reduce range excessively.

While in Eaton, Jan and I enjoyed a visit with Sara Martin, mother of Walker Martin, the 20-year-old Eaton baseball star who signed last summer with the San Francisco Giants.

Regarding the Polestar, an extended range of 320 miles is available by foregoing AWD and opting for a rear-wheel-drive version with a single motor at the rear axle.

The dual motors offer 455 horsepower, 325 kW and 546 lb.-ft. of torque; its MPGe rating is 112 mpg in the city and 100 highway.

While yellow/orange seatbelts appear to be, perhaps, too bright inside the car, when seen from outside they match the brake calipers and are aesthetic.  Harman Kardon premium sound and a large infotainment system are highlights.

Comfortably ventilated nappa leather seats ($4,000) boosted sticker price to $69,650 for the dual-motor Polestar 2. A large panorama roof adds pleasantness to travels, front vision is excellent, though somewhat limited at the rear from a reduced-size liftgate window. The cargo area offers 14.4 cubic feet of room behind the rear seats; a front trunk or “frunk” adds a small stow space of about a cubic foot.

Among some competitors of the Polestar are Tesla Model 3, BMW i4, Mercedes EQE, Ford Mustang Mach-e and Hyundai Ioniq 6.