I tried driving a new Polestar SUV—and liked it better than a Tesla

[ResidentialBusiness]

It’s an awkward time to own a Tesla. As CEO Elon Musk has lurched from apparent Nazi salutes to gutting the federal government, leading to Tesla protests, many Tesla drivers have added apology bumper stickers or fake decals from other car brands. Others have decided to ditch their cars completely, even though the value of a used Tesla is quickly plummeting.

Polestar, the luxury EV brand that spun out from Volvo, started offering Tesla owners a deal last month: a $5,000 discount off a lease of the company’s SUV, the Polestar 3. That’s on top of another $15,000 clean vehicle discount the company is currently offering, meaning that leases start at $599 a month. After the “Tesla conquest” offer launched on February 21, Polestar’s new leases spiked; 60% of its new transactions in February happened in the last week of the month. The company says that searches and leads have also surged.  

[Photo: Polestar]

Through friends and an ex-boyfriend, I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Teslas in the past. So, I decided to try out a Polestar 3 myself to see how it compares. From the outside, it’s a sleek, good-looking car. Inside, the quality of the materials was noticeably nicer than any Tesla I’ve driven.

When I recently rode in a friend’s Tesla, he apologized because the driver’s seat was squeaking embarrassingly. (His friend, who had the same problem in another Tesla, resorted to buying lube to try to fix it.) It’s one of multiple common complaints that drivers report with the build quality, from rattling noises to misaligned trim.

[Photo: Polestar]

The Polestar 3 looks like you’d expect a luxury car to look—carefully constructed with high-end materials. Options include premium vegan, wool, or leather upholstery, wood or recycled aluminum trim, and surfaces 3D-printed to match the digital structure of a granite quarry. An optional set of 25 Bowers & Wilkins speakers, wrapping around the cabin, connect to Apple CarPlay (Tesla doesn’t integrate with CarPlay). The speakers also use noise cancellation to block outside wind, tire, and road noise, making the car remarkably quiet as it glides down the road.

[Photo: Polestar]

The ergonomic, heated seats were more comfortable than Tesla’s. As I tested the car on roads in upstate New York—full of potholes after the winter—the bumps were barely noticeable. A friend and I took it on a mini road trip and tested the speed while we were on an empty country road. Tesla’s Model X specs for acceleration, horsepower, and torque are slightly better. But the Polestar felt like a sports car and threw us back in our seats. It easily handles curves and tight turns.

[Photo: Polestar]

There were a few quirks with the car’s digital system. As we were driving to a rural waterfall, a warning popped up that the battery was half full, and it wasn’t immediately obvious how to turn off the message and return to the map we needed to navigate (for someone driving alone in the car, dealing with the screen would have been even trickier).

[Photo: Polestar]

Like most tech-heavy cars, there was a learning curve for some things that should have been intuitive. To adjust the side mirrors, for example, we had to press a button on the car’s main digital screen and then use other buttons on the steering wheel. It took me several minutes to figure out how to open the trunk. The first time I parked the car, I looked around trying to figure out how to turn it off (answer: you don’t turn it off, you just get out and walk away). To be fair, I hadn’t read the instructions in advance, and once the details became clear, the tech was convenient. Some features were straightforward from the beginning—with the key fob in your pocket, the door handles pop open as you approach the car, and it’s running and ready to go when you get in the driver’s seat.

[Photo: Polestar]

The car has a long list of safety features. The grille has been replaced with cameras, sensors, and radar to detect hazards. Later this year, drivers will have the option to add a LiDAR upgrade that uses lasers to see objects more than 800 feet away, even in poor weather. Inside the car, cameras track the driver’s eyes and head movements, and the car can make an emergency stop if the driver has a medical emergency. Like other cars, it also issues blind spot warnings, helps keep you inside your lane, reads road signs to track the speed limit, and automatically brakes if a collision is possible; in an accident, it can also call for help. When you park next to a bike lane, the car will warn you if you try to open the door when a cyclist is approaching.

With an upgrade, it can change lanes for you as you drive. It doesn’t offer “full self-driving,” though Tesla arguably hasn’t quite perfected that either: Tesla drivers have reported experiencing problems ranging from sudden, unnecessary braking to the car not recognizing construction zones, stopping for no reason, or ignoring pedestrians.

[Photo: Polestar]

The Polestar 3 starts with a range of 279 miles, with a long-range option of 350 miles. Tesla’s Model X has a range of 314 miles. (Arguably, anyone using this for everyday commuting and charging at home or work doesn’t need nearly as much range as either offers.) Using a fast charger, the Polestar can charge from 10% to 80% in 30 minutes.  

It’s an expensive car, starting at $68,900 and going up to $86,300, depending on the options. But if you’re considering Tesla’s similarly priced Model X (starting at $81,630, up to $96,630), the Polestar could be a better option—and one that doesn’t support a billionaire who’s actively threatening democracy. This week, as Tesla’s stock slumped, Trump urged his supporters to buy the EVs (after years of bashing electric cars). But it’s not clear yet whether Trump’s stunt of turning the South Lawn into a wannabe Tesla dealership-for-a-day has had any uptick on its tanking sales and stock price.

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