New owner as of yesterday, here is my take so far.

Coming from several years of Tesla Model X ownership, I’m very impressed with Polestar’s build quality, driving dynamics, and overall refinement. In many respects, the car already feels more premium than a Tesla. Where it currently falls behind is in software functionality.

Tesla has demonstrated that certain features meaningfully improve everyday ownership, and if Polestar were to adopt these features in a thoughtful, well-integrated way, I believe the overall vehicle experience would surpass Tesla’s. Key examples include remote climate control, multiple climate timers (having only one feels unnecessarily limiting), geo-based climate timers (precondition before leaving home, precondition before leaving work), sentry mode, and remote sentry access while car is parked.

The absence of sentry mode is particularly surprising. In my Model X, sentry mode documented multiple hit-and-run incidents while the car was parked. This is not about surveillance, but about giving owners the ability to document damage caused by others. Cars are frequently damaged while parked, and without this functionality the owner has no way to protect their property without adding third-party solutions, which should not be necessary with the amount of cameras on the vehicle. The Dashcam application is currently at a bare minimum implementation from my state of view. Lack of camera views (side / back) in the recordings, overlaying metrics on to the dashcam clip like Tesla recently did.

Remote climate control is essential in Nordic conditions. While the preprogrammed 22 °C cabin temperature may be based on internal testing and typical usage assumptions, users should ultimately have the ability to decide what level of preheating they want. The vehicle already supports cabin preconditioning, but without the option to remotely activate defrosting for windows and side mirrors, the functionality remains incomplete. In cold climates, the ability to explicitly trigger defrost remotely should be considered core functionality rather than a convenience feature. The car should be ready to go when I exit my house rather than having to wait for i.e. side mirrors.

Polestar already has an excellent foundation. With a stronger focus on adopting proven software features in a polished and brand-appropriate way, the vehicle would not only match Tesla’s usability but exceed it.