• Very similar to Volvo S90…
• But with added Polestar touches
• All available equipment is fitted as standard

The Polestar 1’s interior will be instantly recognisable to anyone who’s driven a Volvo recently. Along with the infotainment system, driver display and steering wheel, the vast majority of switchgear has also been borrowed from Volvo. In fact, you may be hard pressed to see the difference.

Perhaps most obvious are the swathes of carbon fibre trim lavished throughout the cabin, while there’s a number of discreet Polestar badges and the Polestar logo reflected onto the panoramic glass roof. There’s no denying it’s a lovely place to sit, yet considering the price of the car it doesn’t feel as special as it should ­– especially when you realise that you get 90% of said cabin in the Volvo S90 (which is a third of the price).

Still, that does mean everything feels exceptionally well built and screwed together, plus the 9.0-inch infotainment touchscreen and the software behind it is relatively easy to use. Apple CarPlay and Android Auto are also fitted as standard, as is a deeply impressive Bowers & Wilkins 15-speaker premium audio system.

Storage space is also considerable, with decent-sized door pockets, cupholders, glovebox and cubbies in and around the Orrefors crystal gear lever. Note that the doors feel incredibly heavy when you go to open them, however, and give some indication as to why the 1 tips the scales at 2.4 tonnes.

Is the Polestar 1 comfortable?

• Firm ride comfort with standard suspension settings
• Not as cossetting as Bentley Continental GT or Mercedes S-Class Coupe
• Nappa leather seats and all-round refinement are superb, however

Running on manually adjustable Öhlins Dual Flow Valve (DFV) dampers as standard, the Polestar 1’s ride stiffness can be changed depending on the driver’s preference. Note however, that this requires opening the bonnet for the front dampers and hoisting the car up on a trolley jack for the rears.

We’ve only driven the 1 on its standard setting (there’s 22 variations front and rear, with every car coming out of the factory set to 9 and 10 respectively) and feel confident judging the ride comfort on this basis, largely because a) it’s the default set by Polestar itself and b) how many customers will bother changing the damper settings at all is inconclusive.

With this in mind, the Polestar’s ride quality is undeniably firm, especially at low speeds. We’ve no issues with the quality of the damping (and considering the car runs on 21-inch alloy wheels, it’s by no means a bad effort), yet you’re never far from a series of sharp bumps or expansion joints in the road that spoil the impression of the 1 being a proper GT car.

Of course, Polestar’s achieved such exceptional handling from a 2.4-tonne car by making a compromise with the damping set up, yet it’s one that rivals such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class Coupe and Bentley Continental GT do better, chiefly because they have suspension that can be switched from sporty to soft at the flick of button.

Firm ride aside, the Polestar 1 scores very highly in the comfort department. The electrically adjustable Nappa leather sports seats with are a joy to sit in, while refinement levels are superb and helped of course by the ability to drive in pure electric mode.