Tesla proved that electrical automobiles could be cool. And really dependable. Now, a number of startup EV corporations are attempting to copy its success and steal a few of its thunder.
A type of up-and-comers is Polestar, a Swedish model taking purpose at Elon Musk with modern, modern-looking automobiles. We have test-driven a number of autos from each manufacturers, a number of instances, and have lined each corporations for years. Here is how they examine.
What’s Tesla?
Tesla
Tesla was based within the early 2000s and has turn into synonymous with electrical automobiles throughout the globe. Its largest sellers are the Mannequin Y compact SUV and Mannequin 3 sedan. It additionally sells greater, higher-end autos: the Mannequin S sedan, Mannequin X SUV, and the most recent launch: the actually unique-looking Cybertruck.
The Tesla Mannequin 3 is a direct competitor to the Polestar 2.
What’s Polestar?
Alanis King
Polestar is an EV-only model that spun out of Volvo in 2017. It is owned by Volvo and Geely, Volvo’s Chinese language mother or father firm. It has the perspective of a startup with the infrastructure and monetary help of a world automotive behemoth.
It kicked issues off with the Polestar 1, a limited-run hybrid coupe. The Polestar 2, Polestar’s first EV and its first mass-market providing, is the automobile that basically put the model on the map.
In 2022, Polestar offered round 51,500 autos worldwide, handily beating out different newcomers like Lucid Motors and Rivian. And in 2023, the corporate delivered roughly 54,600 EVs to clients. Whereas nonetheless a powerful quantity, the corporate might have offered much more had it not centered extra on profitability than on enlargement.
The Polestar 2 is inbuilt China. Polestar additionally launched the Polestar 3 in 2023, which can also be inbuilt China however is slated to maneuver to manufacturing at a Volvo manufacturing facility in South Carolina in 2024.
The Polestar 4, a smaller SUV with out a rear window, is already accessible in Asia and Europe and is coming to North America in 2024. And the Polestar 5, a modern, full-sized sedan that can rival the Tesla Mannequin S, is predicted to be launched in 2025.
How do Tesla and Polestar automobiles examine?
Tim Levin/Insider
Tesla was the primary carmaker to make use of an enormous touchscreen and reject all buttons (save for the emergency flashers, home windows, and lights, that’s). Polestar is following go well with whereas placing its personal spin on issues.
Inside and outside, the Polestar 2 exudes Scandinavian minimalism. It is uncluttered and includes a large touchscreen that controls most car features. We discovered its Android-based working system tremendous clean-looking and simple to make use of, and cherished that it got here loaded with Google Maps.
Alanis King
Tesla’s system is extra difficult but additionally consists of extra features like a digital whoopee cushion, video games, an internet browser, and a surveillance system. Each manufacturers are extra tech-heavy than your common automobile, offering common software program updates and providing paid upgrades like elevated acceleration.
Each manufacturers embrace simplicity of their interiors, however they could be too austere for some tastes.
Tesla sells a few of the longest-range electrical automobiles, however Polestar is not too far behind. The Mannequin 3 earns an EPA score of properly over 300 miles in its Lengthy Vary trim. The 2023 Polestar 2 will get as much as 270 miles, whereas Polestar says the 2024 mannequin can go as much as 320 miles on one cost in its longer-range mannequin.
Tim Levin/Insider
Tesla’s charging stations are additionally an enormous benefit for house owners, as they profit from the sprawling and principally unique Supercharger community.
Each manufacturers place an emphasis on efficiency and invite patrons to pay further for sportier fashions and choices.
Is a Polestar 2 greater than a Tesla Mannequin 3?
The Tesla Mannequin 3 is definitely bigger than the Polestar 2. It’s a number of inches longer at 185.8 inches to the Polestar’s 181.3, and it’s wider at 82.2 inches to its counterpart’s 78.1 inches. The scale distinction isn’t huge, however it’s visually perceptible when the 2 automobiles are aspect by aspect.
How do you purchase a Polestar or Tesla?
Tesla
Some large professionals of shopping for both a Tesla or a Polestar are on-line ordering and extra clear pricing. Each corporations eschew conventional dealerships in favor of minimal showrooms and a web based reservation system.
The Polestar 2 begins at $49,900, whereas the Polestar 3 SUV begins at round $78,900. A lower-priced Polestar 3 is on the way in which, too, together with extra future fashions.
Tim Levin/Insider
Tesla’s costs vary from simply over $40,000 for the entry-level Mannequin 3 to simply underneath $88,000 for a super-quick Mannequin S Plaid. Keep in mind: Some Teslas qualify for the federal authorities’s $7,500 EV tax credit score, whereas Polestars at present do not, being manufactured abroad.
