For
$G = \mathrm {GL}_2, \mathrm {SL}_2, \mathrm {PGL}_2$
we compute the intersection E-polynomials and the intersection Poincaré polynomials of the G-character variety of a compact Riemann surface C and of the moduli space of G-Higgs bundles on C of degree zero. We derive several results concerning the P=W conjectures for these singular moduli spaces.