Isn’t it weird how rapidly and how far your opinions about a car can change? Such thoughts flooded my mind after spending some time in Matt Prior’s long-term Polestar 2, a £60,000 dual-motor, full-house edition.

The point at issue was that when we first drove this car on its optional £5000 Öhlins sports suspension, early reviewers – including me – complained loudly and long about its uncomfortable ride. Lumpiness was again evident when I started to drive Prior’s Polestar, but the further I went, the more I began to enjoy the unimpeachable body control, supreme body rigidity (manifesting itself in quiet, one-impact bump absorption) and complete lack of pitching – a particularly infuriating fault with many current rival EVs.

This car’s excellence was cemented when the Steering Committee and I returned from a 400-mile drive and agreed, as we turned into our drive, that its unique combination of superbly sculpted seats, grippy ‘sustainable’ seat materials and taut ride made it a supremely comfortable car for long drives. For me, what’s more, that £5000 suspension would now be a must.

Tuesday

97 Cat awards

World Rally Championship star Elfyn Evans proved his status as an all-round good bloke by showing up at this year’s CAT Awards (that’s Car Aftermarket Trader, part of the same stable as Autocar) as a special guest.

The Toyota works driver impressed us all with matter-of-fact tales from the toughest motorsport coalface going. Despite having a rally-star father, he came up the hard way, driving for free at one point to keep his place at the top of the WRC tree.

His humility seems completely at odds with his otherworldly driving talents, which have taken him within an ace of a world title for each of the past two years and earned him a famous win in Finland. He has had a rough start this year, as he amusingly admitted, but you would be a fool to write him off.