[11] Volvo's exterior design chief Maximilian Missoni tweaked the car's taillights, grille, and wheels in order to differentiate it as a standalone vehicle.

The production version was officially unveiled on 27 February 2019 during an internet livestream and made its first public appearance at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show that month.

[15] The front end also received an update, exchanging its grid-like grille for a more covered version, with an array of sensors and a camera in the center.

In addition, the Pilot Pack will come standard for dual-motor models in the North American market.

[17] Technical upgrades include a suspension lowered by 25 mm (0.98 in), specially designed Öhlins manually adjusted dampers, stiffened springs, bespoke Pirelli P ZERO tires, and improved performance, with the two electric motors having been tuned to produce a combined output of 470 hp (480 PS; 350 kW).

[18] The Polestar 2 is designed to protect the battery pack during an impact and automatically disconnect it after a collision.

A driver-monitoring system monitors steering inputs and warns the driver if it detects those which are characteristic of drowsy driving.

In tests of its reaction to other vehicles, the AEB system performed well, with collisions avoided in almost all test situations.In October 2020, Polestar issued a recall on all Polestar 2 models due to a software defect that caused loss of power to the vehicle whilst driving.

[26] Using the ISO 14044 method, Polestar 2 has lower life-cycle emissions than the XC40 when driving more than 35,000 to 80,000 kilometres (22,000 to 50,000 mi), depending on conditions.