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Feds Killed Polestar and Spared Volvo. That Should Terrify You
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this post was submitted on 26 Jun 2026
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Being an American wanting an electric car must be a nightmare!
Not many options, and all of them are too expensive, because competition is stifled by keeping competition out with insane tariffs.
In Europe we are spoiled with choice, lots of European brands with lots of models, and we even have American although we don't want them, but we also have Chinese although they do have an EU import tax, to compensate for the Chinese subsidies.
But several Chinese brands are becoming quite popular, especially BYD and XPeng have become popular here in Denmark.
Yeah, it's extremely frustrating here. The EV market actively sucks with limited options and inflated prices. I also bought a used Polestar 2 last year, so now I'm extra frustrated.
My guess, however, is that PS just didn't care to deal with obtaining the waiver- the brand has sold poorly here in the US and they've been posturing to exit the market for a few years.
For some reason Polestar doesn't seem to be doing as well as it deserves in many markets.
I hope you can have yours maintained as long as is required even if they leave the market.
It was a runner up when we bought our EV.
If they're priced the same as the US models, it's little wonder they're not selling well. MSRP for the P2 was ~70k USD which is a non-starter for most folks.
I got mine used at 4 years old with 74k miles on it (fortunately EVs generally tend to last towards 200k miles barring any other issues) for 20k, it's the only reason I could afford to buy it. Otherwise I was probably going to go with an ID.4 which was at a similar price point. What did you end up going with?
Here in Denmark a Polestar 2 is just below $50,000 excluding VAT but including all other taxes.
Competition in USA is absolutely destroyed by crazy tariffs.
That’s still ridiculously high for a car. When my wife and I bought a new car a couple years ago we really stretched the bank to make a $35,000 car work.
We ended up with a 4 year old ID.4, 😋
We could have had a more powerful Polestar cheaper, except my wife didn't want anything Chinese, and insurance was more than 50% more expensive on the faster Polestar.
But we got a nice ID.4 77 kWh battery, and with literally all the options included.
One of our neighbors however went with the Volvo, which is also very nice.
Driving electric is really nice IMO, it feels absolutely super luxury compared to a similar ICE car.
Absolutely agreed, I can't imagine going back to an ICE car for my daily driver unless I absolutely have to.
I periodically have to rent a car for work (I travel a lot) and never realized how much noise engines make until it was conspicuously missing from car. The PS is also just super comfortable and feels great on the road, while my rentals rarely are/do.
If the seats are as good as in the Volvo, they are absolutely stellar. We have luxury seats in our ID.4, but the ones in our neighbors Volvo are even better.
We always had European style cars with very good driving capabilities, but I'm still impressed that the ID.4 as a CUV is able to match them, it is a good deal higher than what we are used to, but the low weight balance because of the batteries, makes it way better in road capability than it looks. 👍
One of the things I really can still enjoy, is when turning into a bigger road, that smooth quiet confident way the car handles.
But not having a manual gear is also a first for us with this car, so that is part of it, probably not much of a factor in USA.
Yeah, the seats are fantastic. I also know exactly what you mean about turning into the road with confidence- the ID.4 was the first EV I test drove and that feeling absolutely sold me on electric!
I never had the opportunity to drive a manual, so I don't really know what I'm missing I guess. Automatic transmission is the de facto standard here. I don't love the little gear shift on the PS and find having a separate parking button unintuitive, but it's still miles ahead of the cars with weird buttons or dials for shifting. I didn't mind the shifter on the ID.4 either, I learned to drive on a truck with a stalk gear shift like that.
When I borrowed a car recently for a few days, it had a manual stick. It was kind of a nostalgic feeling, and I understand Americans better now that enjoy driving manual ( To us Europeans it was the default before the EV ) . It's hard to describe, but I guess it's a bit like when people like Vinyl records to play music. It somehow feels like you are more in contact with it, and you are more in control.
Still the automatic is superior for comfort and convenience.
Regarding the park thing, I've been using that button on our ID.4 for more than half a year now, and only recently I found out I don't even have to, it goes to park automatically when I open the door. 😋
I like how they placed the gear knob on the ID.4, I only have to move my hand a few centimeters to use it. But somehow I feel like they could have made it even better, so I didn't have to move my hand behind the steering wheel, but a bit more flux to it.
But maybe that's to avoid accidental gearshifts?
With all the automatics in this car, I'm sometimes flustered a bit that it can't figure out to change into forward by itself after I've backed out of the garage. And why the door doesn't open when I approach the car.
Some of the new Chinese cars open the door for you. 😎
Haha I feel that, nostalgia is more oowerful than we give it credit for imo.
I always use the park button even though my car will also put itself in park when I get up, I just don't trust it. I wouldn't mind if the door would open for me, though my trunk has one of those foot sensors which is pretty convenient.
When I open the door, the seats also slide back a little, so it's a bit easier to get in and out, and then it slides back into position when the car is put in drive. 🤣🤣 Maybe it's a bit silly, I find it mostly kind of cute.
But I too absolutely love the foot sensor for opening the trunk. It was also one of the first things I tested before we bought the car.
And the close button on the hatch is actually also surprisingly convenient.
Ooh I wish my seat would move back for entry/exit, I sometimes move all the way back in a tight space to get out more easily
The price point for electric cars in America is 25-30k. 70K is mentally ill
The average price for a new EV in the US is much closer to $40-50k with a range from $25k to >$100k per this US News article. Most EVs are well outside any dream of affordability for the average American, but it makes sense given the ICE market is also increasingly more expensive every year.
Polestar isn't an entry level or budget brand- they make luxury vehicles and price them as such. It doesn't make the MSRP less insane and I question why anyone would pay that, but there's clearly a market for luxury vehicles here given the popularity of BMW, Audi, and other luxury brands that sell ICE cars.
Chevy Bolt MSRP is $28,995.
It's just a Volvo. Volvo specialists will maintain it. They'll also maintain Lynk&Co probably.
I wasn’t even aware they were selling in the US. I used to pay attention since they seemed to have compelling vehicles, but never here and never affordable
Yeah I absolutely love my P2, but they sold terribly in the US. Compared to a Tesla model 3 (which are unfortunately still super popular despite Musk), it was nicer but with les range and around twice the stocker price. Polestar struggled to really position themselves here successfully, imo, but they aren't a particularly high volume brand in other places either.
It’s gets better. Even if you find an EV, the states tax you more than an ICE car. Texas has a $200 yearly fee to supposedly make up for lost gas tax revenue. But at 20c/gallon and assuming 30mpg, I’d have to drive 30,000 miles to offset that cost (only drove about 8,500 miles per year).
And now they want to do the same at the Federal level with another $150 tax (federal taxes are 18c/gallon), which would be another 25,000 miles.
So I would be taxed $350/year to offset “gas tax losses”, which would only even out for me if I were to drive 55,000 miles in a year.
I heard about that, and that's crazy. You gotta love all that freedom. 🤥
I don't drive nearly that much either.
I understand the logic of the tax on gas to pay for roads, but here an EV is taxed less because it pollutes less. USA needs more of that.
Realistically we should be taxing by weight and miles driven as the former causes the most damage to the roads. At that point the propulsion type and efficiency don’t really matter. EVs actually would be taxed more given that they’re heavier, but it’d also proportionately tax trucks and larger vehicles correctly at that point.
You could easily implement it with a yearly odometer reading with your registration or inspection and every car has a GVWR registered with it.
Yes that would be fair, but IMO there should be an environment tax on gas.
So by that logic you don't have to pay tax for electric consumption, right? Right? Damn USA became such a cesspool...
It’s almost as though Tesla is being granted a monopoly.
Hey just a friendly reminder those Chinese EVs are backdoored with an Elon style god mode like Tesla. Lots of modern cars have a similar issue but EVs get it bad. Tl;dr rip out your car's modem.
I bet all the new cars are unfortunately, my VW is also constantly connected to VW.
We need to make that shit illegal. Until then we have to live with it, just as with our smartphones.
I know I can install AOSP and get rid of it, and I did use that for years, but I just want the hassle anymore.
Not ALL but most yeah. It's partially just for data mining to make new cars more profitable but is also an easy way for spooks to RC a car
Even more so in Australia, as we have zero tariffs, as the new EU trade agreement removed the small tarrif that was on EI cars, none on Chinese cars.
I have a BYD and charge off solar panels on my roof
Awesome, we do that too, and haven't felt the increased oil/gas prices at all. 😎
I'm interested to see how the low-cost Chinese brands do on longer-term reliability. Their initial build quality is generally good, but their product cycles are so short that I don't see how they can capture knowledge that leads to them correcting design defects. To me, it looks like too much churn. But maybe they'll be fine. We'll have to see.
This is absolutely an issue, having used many 2nd hand cars for decades, most of them Japanese but also French because they were cheap, I was extremely astounded when we bought a 14 year old German built Opel Vectra, we had it until it reached 20 with next to no repairs, before it finally gave in mostly because of a legal technicality.
When we had our new (used) car at the shop, and borrowed an only 8 year old mid range car, there was no doubt that compared to that, our 20 year old Vectra was still a way nicer car, faster, smoother, more powerful and better comfort, and also better looking IMO, and would absolutely be worth the repair that was only a sixth of what that 8 year old car cost on the free market!
Problem is that our old Vectra is $850 in taxes per year, because the fuel economy isn't as good as newer cars. And that $850 per year tax kills the economy of keeping it.
Our new car that is heavier and way more powerful is only $100 in taxes per year!! Because it's an EV.
I’ve got a bad feeling about overall repairability. Glue and potting used throughout.
Not like American EVs ... Oh hang on, another bit fell off a cyber truck
There’s a lot of knowledge about how to build a car that doesn’t apply to EVs. Similarly there’s a lot that does and it will take a while to sort it out. cybertruk is a good example of what not to do on many levels while charging a premium
🤣
rather to keep European manufacturers afloat. Protectionism under a different name.
European car makers too profit from subsidies and they make worse e-cars for double, triple the price.
Chevy Bolt MSRP is $28,995.
I'm waiting to see if Slate can hit their crazy $24,950 target base price. With a 65kWh battery, that's a pretty great price. That's almost cheaper than buying batteries alone. I'm wondering if it will be able to do home backup power.
To be fair, Chinese EV's should have tariffs also because they use virtual slave labor.
I get this, but european Brands lobbied to not implement or stifle the supply chain transparency laws, soooo... none of them guarantee "no slave labor" either. Actually, given their opposition to the laws, it's reasonable to assume they indeed use slave labor too. So what does that leave the end buyer with?
Also they are mobile surveillance devices for the chinese government. Unlike american cars which are rolling surveillance devices for the lowest bidder.
While it could be better. There's a lot of great deals on used EVs around 20k. Plus we have Lucid, which has the longest range of any ev in the world afaik.
If we had the Chinese EVs then the prices would be a lot more reasonable.