2021 Polestar 2.
Guillaume Fournier Photographe
Volvo's upstart electric division is out to get Elon Musk with its new Polestar 2.
Hugues Bissonnette, country manager at Polestar Canada, spoke with Insider about nailing the North America market and separating itself from Volvo's origins.
While the company has a long journey ahead in beating Tesla, it does have an edge over the EV maker in one major aspect — build quality.
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As I stared at the Tesla Model 3 through the frozen windshield of the Polestar 2 press unit I was driving during -20 degree Canadian winter weather for a
YouTube video, I couldn't help but interrogate myself about how Volvo's upstart electric division will manage to dislodge Elon Musk's electric machine. I ask because it isn't the first time we hear about a mainstream carmaker that claims to "finally" manufacturer a Tesla killer, only to be left humiliated by Pao Alto's electrified tsunami. In case you haven't been following, Tesla shipped just over
165,000 Model 3s in the US and Canada alone in 2020. Meanwhile, Chevrolet only managed to sell some
16,000 Bolts and Nissan about
7,800 Leafs. Both of those electric cars were supposed to take on Tesla, yet failed.Yes, the Polestar 2 is a better built automobile than a Model 3, better designed, too (in my opinion at least), and does many things better than its Californian rival. Polestar itself even says it aims at grabbing a slice of Model 3 sales with its new electric sport sedan.
