Polestar is not afraid to voice its opinion. The Swedish EV maker has called out industry leaders for their lack of progress with electric cars. Although often compared to Tesla, Polestar says the EV leader is not its rival. If anything, the new Porsche Macan EV is.
Tesla is not the competition
After Polestar became a standalone EV maker in 2017, Volvo said the brand would compete with Tesla and Mercedes-AMG with high-performance electric cars.
Fast-forward seven years, and the market has changed. Tesla sold 1.8 million EVs last year and another 386,810 vehicles in the first three months of 2024.
After slashing prices last year, Tesla’s cheapest Model 3 starts at just $38,990. The Model Y starts at $44,990, and that’s before the $7,500 EV tax credit. Included, prices start as low as $37,490.
Meanwhile, Polestar delivered around 54,600 vehicles globally last year. The new Polestar 4 electric SUV Coupe starts at $56,300 (including destination), with prices going up to $74,300.
In Europe, it starts at around $68,000 (EUR 63,200). Although compared to the Tesla Model Y, Polestar says it doesn’t see the EV leader as the competition. But the new Porsche Macan EV could be.
Polestar targets new Porsche Macan EV
“From a global perspective … I’m not here to comment on Tesla, but Tesla is … chasing volume.” Graeme Lambert, Polestar’s global design and tech PR and communications head, told Australia media (via Drive).
Lamber said Tesla is a “mass-market production player,” and Polestar is “a premium luxury brand with volume targets that are in line with that.”
While Tesla is “making millions of cars,” Polestar never said it would do millions. “We’re talking … [as a brand] 150,000 global sales as a target for next year, for example.”
Instead, Polestar sees the new Porsche Macan EV as its target. Lambert said, “The target for us would be something like [the] Porsche Macan EV – a coupe SUV now pure electric. That would definitely be where we are looking, rather than Tesla.”
Porsche unveiled the fully electric Macan earlier this year, joining the Taycan as the brand’s second EV.
The Porsche Macan EV starts at $78,800, while the Turbo version has an MSRP of $105,300. CEO Oliver Blume said the new electric SUV had received over 10,000 orders last month, “and these customers haven’t even been able to drive the car yet.”
City Dwellers’s Take
Although Polestar is targeting the new Porsche Macan EV, the brand still considers gas-powered cars its ultimate rival.
Polestar’s CEO Thomas Ingentlath told The Telegraph automakers like Ford, GM, and Mercedes-Benz, that are delaying EV plans are falling into a trap.
“If you don’t participate in that and think you can wait, and customers are ready for it, it’s an incredible trap,” Polestar’s leader explained.
As rivals pull back, like Ford, which announced plans to delay its three-row electric SUV earlier today, Ingenlath sees this as an opportunity for Polestar.
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