A changing lifestyle had the result of making me drive more miles that I’ve ever done before. With a couple of routes result in my car consuming one to two gallons of fuel, I found myself pealing out the twenties like there was no tomorrow. The costs were mounting. I decided it was time to make the jump from a gasser to an EV.
A 10 mile trip to pick up a friend who no longer drives and take him back home is a gallon of fuel. A round trip to the National Cemetery is two gallons. My weekly trip to Hart Park for the Nature Center Working Group meetings, 1 gallon. Raids to the ATM were getting all too frequent. Gas prices around $6.00, give or take.
Long wanting to see and hear the San Luis Obispo Symphony in their beautiful new performing arts center on the Cal Poly campus and with a performance scheduled for an odd Sunday date here was my opportunity. Typically the SLO Symphony plays the same night as Bakersfield but what happened this time was they were forced to change their scheduled Saturday performance to accommodate a sports event at Cal Poly.
Go Mustangs!
When I went to San Luis Obispo to attend their symphony in their beautiful acoustically tuned auditorium I made plans to visit Smith Volvo the next day. I really hadn’t planned on actually buying a car that day but while looking at Volvo EVs they showed me a 2025 Polestar 3. This was not the high performance one but, from my perspective, the better option even without the bright orange seatbelts.
Driving home after the purchase. Photo taken on Hwy 46 near the county line.
Values of these cars has dropped dramatically after some ill considered foreign policy decisions by the administration not only causing economic chaos with international trade but caused Polestar to cease selling new cars in the US, despite my car having been assembled in this country. The issue is Chinese made content. But for me it worked out. I got the car for $40,000 not counting the $5,000 of add-on charges that come with buying a car. I got $20,000 trade-in on my 2018 Volvo V90 Cross Country which was at the low end of Kelley’s Bluebook.
My existing car, the 2018 Volvo V90 Cross Country was a fabulous car to drive with many valuable features. In short, owing to computer managed suspension and braking the car had superb handling characters, particularly for long distance trips and important safety features for crash avoidance. Great seating, great sound system, great HVAC but the cost of fuel was pushing me over the edge. It only got 19.4 miles per gallon. Premium! And Volvo prefers Chevron, the most expensive fuel out there.
At home plugged into a dedicated outlet, 240v, 50 Amp to support Stage 2 charging. Rather than having a mounted charge unit on the wall, the unit is integral with the 20 ft cord I can carry with me. A good place to keep it is in the frunk The wall socket, while a dedicated design even with a cute EV logo on it is common for other high amperage 240 volt appliances.
My new Polestar has about a 340 mile range but from a practical standpoint I figure to charge after about 250 or so miles but that all depends on my final stop. It’s clear that so-called range anxiety is a thing of the past. Touch an icon that looks like a lightning bolt and a map displays the nearest charge points. I’ve made several long trips starting the day I bought it. Monday October 5, I drove it home without charging and the next day went to GED Electric to get the proper outlet to install in a waiting 240 volt, 50 amp junction box in my garage. The plug that cost about $50 even has a cute little green EV icon on it. After installing that plug I plugged in the car for the first time. Overnight it was fully charged.[1] I’ve since adjusted the maximum charge to 80 percent, however when traveling I adjust it to charge to 100 percent.
Charging at a Tesla fast charger, Denny’s restaurant, Hwy 46 & Interstate 5. I have a Tesla charger adapter for my socket and here’s where I went online and signed up with Tesla. Those charge stands are controlled entirely by your phone.
My next long trip was to San Francisco to attend the California State Supreme Court hearing on the case brought by Bring Back the Kern. This, only the second time the high court has heard a case regarding the Kern River, the previous was heard in 1883, I definitely wanted to attend. My plan was to pick up Jonnie Yates from a friend’s house in Lost Hills and head to the City. Having had no experience with real life range and such I decided to top the battery at the Tesla Charge station in the parking lot of the Denny’s at the intersection of Highway 46 and Interstate 5. I downloaded the required app as there are no user controls at a Tesla supercharger station. I connected using my Tesla adapter and went to get a cup of coffee. I didn’t even finish my first cup when the thing was done. To avoid extra charges you need to unhook promptly when done from Tesla chargers.
The other end of the cord plugged into the car. That rubber oval shaped cap covers the port that accepts the Tesla adapter. That light is stupidly designed to shine right in the user’s eyes rather than at the socket itself. It, of course, is information on charge status but it could have done double duty rather than make it hard to see what I’m doing trying to get that plug into the socket.
Then Jonnie and I drove to the City with Jonnie navigating as I had yet to learn to use my onboard navigation system. We got there in time for supper but it involved crossing the Bay Bridge. A couple of weeks later I got a bill in the mail for $8.50 toll with the threat that if I didn’t pay it there would be liens assessed and such.[2] Attempting to pay it online ended in failure so I mailed them a paper check. I also submitted a detailed complaint about the behavior of their uncooperative website that likely was confused by my car having been purchased the day before and then sporting paper plates despite the scanner capturing my plate correctly.
While in San Francisco, our attorney, Adam Keats, let me charge in his garage. I stopped it at 85 percent. Departing for Bakersfield with a swing by Lost Hills I made it home with 10 percent remaining.
My next trip was that following Friday I drove back to San Luis Obispo to deliver the pink slip on my trade in and some other stuff that belonged to the car. Then I drove on to Morro Bay for lunch at Dorn’s The Breakers, a favorite of Joyce and I, before heading home. Getting low on power I stopped at Highway 46 and Interstate 5 to charge. I barely had time to finish my pie and coffee before I had to get out there and unplug.
My next long trip was Saturday October 18 for a home tour sponsored by Dwell magazine. It was four exceptional houses beginning with the Barnsdall estate, the Frank Lloyd Wright designed Hollyhock House, in downtown Los Angeles followed by three more new exceptional houses. Then a stop for lunch at Pann’s, a Googie Modern restaurant before departing for Palm Springs for the final day of Palm Springs Modernism celebration. Thanks to exceptionally heavy traffic it took me forever to get out of town so I dragged in to the Palm Desert Hilton. By then I was too tired to do much but get a bite to eat and crash. The Hilton offers Level 2 EV charging at no cost to guests so I charged overnight.
Late that day I headed for Bakersfield. Hoping to dodge traffic I took the desert route, Interstate 15 to US 395. Boy was I ever wrong about traffic. In all my time I’ve never seen traffic like I had to put up with in the desert. By the time I made Tehachapi I really needed a bathroom break and something to eat. The Polestar’s charge was getting low so I stopped at the Tehachapi Pilot truck stop and got a bite to eat and charged at an EVgo charger. Again, fast. By the time I had finished a simple chicken wrap I had charged more than I intended so I unhooked and headed down the mountain for home. Once there I realized I could have made it on the charge I had.
Polestar, is a young brand with a short history starting out in the 1990s as a racing team competing with Volvo and using Volvo technology. The name Polestar didn’t come along until the early 2000s. Volvo eventually took over Polestar in 2015 and by 2017 the marque was spun off as a stand-alone high end luxury brand.
My car reflects their thinking outside the box that has been a hallmark of Polestar since they were a performance and racing entity. The driving experience is nothing like anything I’ve ever driven. It has sports car nimbleness and, with the computer managed suspension and steering is a whole new world.
Well, almost new. The one pedal driving feature of the Polestar recalls Disneyland’s long gone Autopia that, in 1955, opened in Tomorrowland. Kids could drive cars on a closed course. Those vehicles, which, of course, were gas powered, had one pedal that was both the accelerator and brake.
Because EVs have regenerative breaking that when using the motor rather than brake calipers to slow or stop we have the option of one pedal driving. With a little planning motorist can manage themselves in traffic without touching the service brake.
Like my aging Volvo the computer managed suspension makes the car handle like it’s much lighter than it actually is. The car is downright nimble with true sports car handling. Some have criticized the suspension but, to my preference, they got it exactly right.
If you look closely you can see the heads up display in the windshield. It shows a 0 and to the left a little 25 mph sign image. They’re visible below that work lamp right above the bench grinder. Visible in the center of the dash is one of the 25 or so speakers that make up the Bowers & Wilkins sound system. I never heard of Bowers & Wilkins until I got this. All I can say is Wow! Oddly enough, the car doesn’t have a built in garage door opener. And I can’t find the clip that goes with the remote seen sitting on the console. My Volvo had three programmable openers with buttons under the rear view mirror.
Controls consist of a touch screen and a small information screen in front of the steering wheel. Heads-up display in the windshield displays the posted speed limit, my speed and, when cruise Control/driver assist is engaged, that is shown also. Heads up display is a technology that has been used in fighter planes for years so, no; it’s not a distraction from what we need to see on the road. It means I’m not looking away from the road to keep track of speed and control status. I’d like to even see more of the dash board information in the heads up display.
Getting used to such features as the adaptive cruise control means breaking old habits. With cruise control set the two buttons on the left arm of the steering wheel set and adjust the speed in my former car a quick press of the up button jumped the speed to the next five mile an hour increment. Holding it advanced the speed one mile an hour at a time. Here the exact opposite happens. And there’s no “resume speed” feature, at least one I have found. The motorist hits the brake petal the cruise control has to be reset from scratch.
When on the road I noticed right away how quiet the cabin is. There is virtually no road noise. The car has glass designed to muffle sound. I don’t know how that works but when I tap the glass it makes an odd quiet “thunk” sound.
Among the eccentricities present, there’s no coat hook on the overhead by the driver side back door like every other car sold in the world. But there’s an odd hook on the B post that I’m not sure what that’s for. I can’t find any use for it. That includes trying and failing to hang a clothes hanger on it.
Another feature I’m still working at getting used to is the turn signal lever and how the turn signals respond in conjunction with steering assist. First, when using the turn signal, say for a normal turn, the lever always returns to center. In most cases the signal cancels but, depending on driving conditions it may not so to cancel it, the driver has to bump the arm in the same direction as they were turning. Usually. Other times the driver bumps it in the opposite direction. I’m still getting that figured out.
In driving the freeway with cruise control/driver assist activated, if you want to change lanes, you activate the turn signal. Driver assist signals, then at the appropriate time, begins to execute the lane change if it’s safe. If it becomes unsafe or isn’t safe at the start, it will cancel the move, stop the signal and display a message that the lane change has been canceled.
Recently the car responded quickly when some jackass clearly seeing my signal intending a lane change barreled up on my right to pass me. It had begun the move but responded by returning to the center of my lane, cancelled the signal and displayed a message.
With a lot of fools (I have a stronger term in mind with the initials A H) out there the car has emergency stop procedures as did my 2018 Volvo. Recently while driving in the right or number two lane on Brundage Lane, some fool in the number one lane thought he needed to go to a smoke shop I was passing. He turned directly in front of me to get the driveway of the smoke shop. My car activated the emergency stop procedures. The brakes activated with that juddering feeling you get when making a hard maximum stop[3], an alarm went off and the seatbelt tightened. This car is designed to do the same thing.
Then there’s the sound system. Wow! It’s a concert hall in a car! I had never even heard of Bowers & Wilkins audio company but, looking them up I found that they make absolutely top of the line audio equipment and, yes, it’s priced accordingly. The Polestar has a Bowers & Wilkins sound system where the operator can choose the type of audio atmosphere they desire. Then there’s also a sound board to adjust the details of sound. All this comes from 25 speakers located at strategic places each with their specialty to contribute to the ambiance of the sound. I’ve never heard anything like it in a car.
Outside it features four spoilers, one in front of the hood and another at the rear plus two small ones like mini-wings on the lower rear corners.
The downside of this car, if you want to call it that, is getting used to and learning the many features of this car. Everything is managed by a touch screen with minimal controls. One knob in the console that primarily is the button to control sound volume or to mute or activate the sound system. But that aside passing those high priced gas stations is, indeed, a pleasure. I’m enjoying the experience and driving a gorgeous car I only paid forty grand for doesn’t exactly hurt either.
[1] To lengthen battery life they recommend setting the maximum charge to 80 percent. Then the app also allows you to set the time the car will activate charging to specific parts of the day to dodge the high priced window for time of use utility clients. So my car will charge only between 9 p.m. to 4 p.m. the following day.
[2] A previous trip over the bay bridge in March of 1969 I was separating from active duty with the Navy and, because there was no mess hall available I was buying my own food and was hoarding my dwindling cash anticipating the coming Monday I would go to the bank and cash my unused leave check of $400. I was out of money by Sunday but unfortunately former president Eisenhower had died and the banks were closed in his honor. So here I was with a $400. Check and no way to cash it and I had to cross that bridge. I got to the toll booth then staffed by toll takers. I hoped the guy would be sympathetic to a vet out of cash and the fact the banks were unexpectedly closed but he wasn’t. He was rather angry and stopped the entire toll plaza so I could drive across the field in front of lines of cars filled with drivers angry at the delay to report to an office. At the office after being roundly chewed out for having the temerity to cross their bridge without having the required toll was unforgivable. Toll was the princely sum of 25¢. They gave me an envelope containing an addressed return envelope, another letter of admonishment and instructions on how to pay my toll. Also there was this little brown envelope the size of the quarter I was instructed to place with the quarter and the letter in the envelope and mail it back, my postage. Today I still have that stuff as souvenirs of my tour of duty.
[3] That judder you feel when you are making a hard stop is your brakes applying and releasing with microsecond spacing thus preventing a skid. Safely skilled motorists have long known that to make a stop in the shortest possible distance the driver, rather than simply locking up the brakes so the car goes into a slide, presses and releases the brake pedal as rapidly as possible. Now with computer assisted braking the computer manages that in microseconds making for a safer and faster stop.
Stephen Montgomery is the chapter chair for the Kern-Kaweah chapter of the Sierra Club and a long-time Volvo driver.
