What won me over: Rear window was easier to see through, the above mentioned Carplay/AA support, not a fan of Tesla's extreme minimalism extending to things like air vents, brand tainted by Musk.
The between the rear headrests and huge slanted C-pillars you had a tiny sheet of paper sized opening to see out. I honestly thought the mirrors were adjusted wrong and were looking at the roof. Couple that with a half-baked 360 reversing camera that turned every obstacle into a trapezoidal blur, reversing parking that car between two other cars at the end of the drive was terrifying experience.
Nice car though.
For parking, I don't think I have looked at anything but cameras for the last 15 years. The camera is so much better than both looking backwards and using the center mirror. The rear window doesn't show the most important thing you want to see when parking: the area of ground closest to your car. Especially with 360 cameras because you can then "look" backwards without missing anything happening elsewhere. I definitely bought my last car without 360 cameras several years ago.
Aside, IDK if the Polestar 4 is "the new Polestar".
The Polestar 2 is on the roads - I've seen them, and the 3 hasn't even shipped yet, now due in 2024: https://electrek.co/2023/05/11/polestar-delays-polestar-3-pr...
What does that make the 4? The one after the new one? The vapourware?
It's possible to get _better_ visibility from a camera than a mirror. e.g. good placement, adapting to low light.
While I have an EV6 (and my wife an ID.4), if I was on the market now, there's a ton of low-mileage Model 3 and Y out there, and the prices have come down significantly.
I liked the Tesla software and easy supercharger access. The model Y also felt more spacious, especially in the trunk.
I would summarise it as a much better UX in the model Y.
- Cockpit -- EV6 has a panoramic (horizontal) display, plentiful buttons, and a heads-up display. I found this much more ergonomic for my eyes and hands than Tesla's all-in-one center-mounted display.
- Availability of Android Auto/CarPlay -- Tesla's software is more polished than Kia's but I'd rather project my phone. All my stuff's on it.
- EV6 is the #1 recommendation for its class in Consumer Reports as well as #1 in projected dependability for same.
- quality concerns (which possibly are overstated for the average purchase)
- worries over phantom braking
- V2L
- CarPlay
- I was swayed by Elon's politics, but that likely wouldn't have mattered if it had been a slam dunk decision for me.
- Supercharger network is a lesser concern for me, as I own my home. I did do a road trip from Houston to San Diego and back. As far as I could tell, between major cities, EA vs Supercharger coverage was equivalent along the relatively unpopulated stretches of I-10 and I-8
However, given the price differential now vs then, I would likely go for a low mileage used Model 3 now.
That's situation here in Cyprus, thus in spite of a lot of people with money willing to buy, only 0.8% of cars sold are electric vs ~20% in poorer countries that do have Tesla dealerships. Because when Tesla is there, everyone else tries hard to sell their electrics too.
And there are plenty of car ferries to/from Cyprus, so you can get one there for under €100.
This is not true, it's not 2017 anymore. Everyone is designing their EVs from "the ground up".
How is it that people can both think that Tesla will dominate because building EVs is simpler, but also that the legacy auto world can't figure out how to do it?
On the other hand, Tesla (and the other new electric companies) have nothing else. It's electric or die. It's carve a space out in the market now, while the legacy players are still dragging their feet, still figuring out battery issues or production issues Tesla dealt with 5-10 years ago, still figuring out how to make good software for the last 20 years, still trudging along as if things haven't much changed. Kodak didn't lose because digital cameras were harder, they lost because they didn't want to cannibalize their existing products with something easier and cheaper.
Most automakers have long since stopped basing their electric cars on platforms designed for ICE cars that have have EV components badly squeezed into whatever space they can 'find'.
They've been making platforms designed specifically to include EV drivetrain components for a while, and many have shifted to EV-specific platforms.
There's also literally nothing wrong with platform-sharing, by the way; it's more efficient use of design, manufacturing, and service/support networks. The "it must be PURELY designed from the GROUND UP to be a EV" is largely marketing who-haa that hasn't been relevant for a while.
The Ford Lightning? It's largely based off the F150. Who cares? It's still a brilliant car that has been selling like hotcakes and will convert a TON of good-ol-boy types to driving an electric vehicle.
But here's a list of cars with EV-specific platforms:
* Audi e-tron * BMW i-series * Chevy Bolt and Bolt EUV, as well as their entire Ultium platform of cars, which I believe includes the HUMMER) * Porsche Taycan * Ford Mach-E * Hyundai Ioniq 5 (and Kia equivalent) * Lucid Air * Rivian * Mercedes EQS * VW ID series * Polestar
I'm probably forgetting some?
All have things Tesla doesn't: an extensive dealer network for sales and service, a healthy parts distribution channel, the build quality and reliability people expect from such an expensive car, no worries about bullshit like being banned from getting parts because the company thinks your vehicle shouldn't be on the road, transmission/motor units that are properly sealed so they can be driven in heavy rain and through puddles without issue, windows that spontaneously shatter, their cars randomly braking on the highway, self-driving systems that like to slam into the back of emergency vehicles on the shoulder...
Is it? Feels like it was designed to be an EV, considering it has a massive frunk.
Just wish we had the battery breakthrough needed to give these vehicles some real range.
> ... windows that spontaneously shatter, their cars randomly braking on the highway, self-driving systems that like to slam into the back of emergency vehicles on the shoulder...
Scary! :)
And as far as I know, the polestar is designed as an EV too.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compact_Modular_Architecture_p...
There is no body designed around the constraints of routing exhaust or transmission elements. It is just an empty box.
The first polestar built off of a dedicated EV platform will be the polestar 3.
My Polestar 2 has a glass roof too. I think it's part of the "plus" pack?
The one thing I absolutely hated about driving a Tesla was regenerative breaking. They should’ve made it optional.
I loved the Ford Mach-e GT.
Consumer Reports had it as the best EV for reliability.
It appears that Chinese regulators forced them to put it back.
Aside from that, if you want range, the Y beats the EV6, although the EV6 charges faster (theoretically - if you can find a 350 kW charger, and if the rate can be sustained)