Long, secretive nights – neon and blur develop a special magic. A film set in which you become the leading actor. The Eagles’ are playing “Hotel California” on the radio. The silence in the interior of the Polestar 2 is almost eerie and yet very pleasant, because you decouple yourself to the maximum from the loud and intrusive monotony of everyday life. A beautiful film with soft focus passes you by.
We are in Essen. In the middle of the Ruhrpott. The rough charm of the old Ruhr metropolis is especially impressive at night. Isabelle sits at the wheel and steers the intelligent Polestar 2 through the flood of lights. Will 540 km of long range on one battery charge be enough for our night journey ?
We first stop at Peter’s Garage 13, a wonderful and mysterious place with petrol in its blood. Chilling out, washing the car and talking about fuel passion- really good. A great story needs a clean Polestar – Isabelle takes care of that herself.
The pure, progressive and minimalist design turns you on. Origami inspired headlights and frameless mirrors are simply cool. There’s an almost childlike pleasure in exploring the car alone. The first car with integrated Google apps immediately feels familiar, as if you were playing with your mobile phone or iPad. You are minimally distracted and enjoy the film set at night. Relaxed, we cruise through the city, without a destination and without haste – a really happy scenario that is otherwise rare.
Now we drive to the Grillo Theatre – it’s in the middle of the city. Still Corona silence everywhere, but well made for a night ride.
The Harman Kardon sound system now blasts “In The Air Tonight” by Phil Collins into our senses. It doesn’t get much better than this. A perfect match. “And I’ve been waiting for this moment, for all my life. Can you feel it coming in the air tonight ,oh lord…”
You can see dreams too. A night ride, sharpens the senses, demands more and awakens primal instincts to explore things, to cruise around without a plan, stopping only where you can best enjoy the moment.
Now we pass a police car in which two policemen are grinning broadly and obviously also like the car. At this time of day, a car like this with its diamond-cut 20-inch alloy wheels really stands out. With the 360-degree camera, Isabelle always has fun logging into the real-time bird’s-eye view.
From old movies we know the burn-out at the traffic lights – next to us is a black german luxury limousine from the Stuttgart area, which looks pretty fast even when stationary. The monster rims in gold, as can often be found in the north of Essen, leave no doubt as to who is in charge here. Spoilsports are not welcome at this hour …
I remember the start of the Le Mans film with Steve McQueen and see the second hand slowly moving upwards. Isabelle’s hands grip the beautifully designed steering wheel and with a challenging glance to the right and a typical Charles Bronson look I see the traffic light turn green. The naturally aspirated car next to us must have significantly underestimated our torque – the Polestar 2 takes electric performance to a new level with under 5 seconds from zero to one hundred and instantly accessible power. Even though we are, of course, complying with the regulations, our neighbour lost the ¼ mile sprint hands down. It’s really fun and you literally hope for red lights.
Now we are still in Rüttenscheid , the trendy district of Essen. And the rain is getting heavier. But it’s really fun how this car glides through the traffic.
Hopefully this night will never end. This is how electric cars are supposed to be.
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