Polestar 2 or Tesla Model 3? and 2wd or AWD

[ConnectionError]

Hi

as per the title, I am considering either a Polestar2 or a Model 3.

Not new a 2022/23 vintage.

And 2WD, or is there a benefit of AWD?

Any thoughts or recommendations either way?


Many thanks

[51mes]

There is a major facelift change for the polestar 2 in the 2024 model year. Moved from FWD to RWD, and a change to batteries and motors. My P2, was August 23 and was a very early facelift, noticeable by the solid front grill rather than the one that looks like a grid.

It's a noticeable/big improvement to handling and range. If you can get one of those, I'd strongly recommend it. The 4wd car got improvements too, but not as significant. I I haven't missed AWD in the 2+ years I've had mine.. YMMV.

I'm planning on retiring early next year, and my P2 with plus (a must have - pan roof/heat pump/better seats/h&k stereo) and pilot (matrix headlights and level 2 self driving) company car will go back. I'm really tempted to buy a used one to replace it, as I just don't like the look of the Teslas, though use their network for charging...

[Gone fishing]

ConnectionError said:

Hi

as per the title, I am considering either a Polestar2 or a Model 3.

Not new a 2022/23 vintage.

And 2WD, or is there a benefit of AWD?

Any thoughts or recommendations either way?


Many thanks

If you're looking at Tesla, they introduced a relatively signifcant change during 2022 where they changed the processor in the big screen, and changed to a lithium ion low voltage battery. Some of the latest software updates require it to get the most out of it. They also dropped parking sensors during that year relying on cameras. The model 3 was also significantly overhauled in 2024 so you'd be looking at the last of the prefacelift, the advantage is you get indicator stalks (although these can be party retrofitted on the later cars) but the ride, comfort etc all improved with the facelift.

In the Tesla world, 2 wheel drive of that age tends to have a different battery and shorter range, whilst they did bring out a long range rwd model I think its later than cars you're looking at. The spec is a little lower too on the RWD, but they are pretty efficient and for most people plenty fast enough.

Forget self driving tech on these cars because the Teslas of that age have the HW3 and the videos you;'re seeing from the US and Australia are nearly always HW4 cars. You can still get a credible driver assist with lane keep, but pretty much all EVs have that tech either as standard or an option, and in my personal experience other do it much better than Tesla in the form we get in the UK.

Charging wise, it's much of a muchness. The supercharger network is increasingly open to all EVs, and you can even pay a small subscription and get the same rates as Tesla owners get,

I don't know a lot about the Polestars, but there are few really bad EVs now and pick the one that you like the look of, feels right behind the wheel, etc, just like you may have done buying any other car.

Edited by Gone fishing on Sunday 14th December 13:50

[Deadlysub]

I’ve just gone through exactly the same conundrum and I went with the Tesla.

The Polestar 2 is a lovely thing especially the facelift, the reason I went with the Tesla were the end of year offers made it considerably cheaper than the Polestar.

One thing that would bug me with the Polestar is the lack of wireless CarPlay, which is ironic considering the Tesla doesn’t have CarPlay but it doesn’t really need it due to the built in Apple mucic, Spotify and Apple podcast apps.

[andrewpandrew]

Deadlysub said:

I ve just gone through exactly the same conundrum and I went with the Tesla.

The Polestar 2 is a lovely thing especially the facelift, the reason I went with the Tesla were the end of year offers made it considerably cheaper than the Polestar.

One thing that would bug me with the Polestar is the lack of wireless CarPlay, which is ironic considering the Tesla doesn t have CarPlay but it doesn t really need it due to the built in Apple mucic, Spotify and Apple podcast apps.

Think I used CarPlay once in my P2, and that was nothing to do with it being wired. Have literally never used it in my P4, just don t see any functionality in it that the AAOS system doesn t have, unless you use Apple Music.

[uktrailmonster]

For that age of car I would probably go with Tesla. I don’t think the pre-facelift Polestar 2 was very efficient, so could be limited on real world range. Something to check carefully if range matters to you. I generally prefer AWD too, but haven’t driven a RWD Tesla to compare.

[ConnectionError]

Thanks all for the input

[p4cks]

Got a cheap Tesla Model 3 LR myself, it's very good. Nowt to go wrong and range is better than the Polestar which is why I chose it

[TheRainMaker]

Deadlysub said:

One thing that would bug me with the Polestar is the lack of wireless CarPlay, which is ironic considering the Tesla doesn t have CarPlay but it doesn t really need it due to the built in Apple mucic, Spotify and Apple podcast apps.

The Polesar can have Spotify; you download it from the App Store. I'm not sure about Apple Music, as I don't use it.

[oldmanbm]

Looked at both back in 2022 but the Tesla won on Superchargers - more room and constantly updating. Tesla does not always use the 4RWD and is a legend for efficiency. Hired a Polestar 2 from Hertz for a week and got on well with it. The previous user was Spanish and no-one could tell me how to change the voice! Luckily my other half is a fluent Spanish speaker so we were all right! Off soon to look at a new Tesla RWD Long Range if we can agree on a trade in for mine!

[PaulWoof]

I wanted the polestar 2. prefer the look of them, stand out a little more, has a rear hatch so more loading space. but the range killed it for me.

have a model 3 long range for 2 months now. Really enjoying it. nice and easy to drive. very efficient. Some niggles. the cameras only methology is dumb. "park assist is degraded" for the next 4 months probably as the rear camera is always filthy. no front sensors so parking is somewhat of a guessing game. for all the cameras the car has to not have a 360 camera but instead a 3d fuzzy map of what it thinks are walls is a bit annoying

autopilot is good but the radar cruise leaves a bit to be desired.. "curvature assist" is meant to predict tight corners and slow down for you. it has never done this once for a corner but has done it several times in a perfect straight road where it slammed on the brakes. also very slow to speed up when car ahead moves out the way/speeds up leading to cars behind coming up your arse.

also no android auto. the tesla stuff is good but i would prefer to have waze and whatsapp etc. never used kareoke/netflix or any of the other stuff.

And the auto wipers are the worst ive ever experienced. swipes when its not raining then doesnt swipe when its pissing down. resorted to rain-x which seems to be working a treat.

for all the moans though. its a perfect appliance of a car. get in, pull lever. drive with one foot. costs pennies to drive.