2024 Polestar 2 vs 2023 Tesla Model Y

What's the difference?

The Polestar 2 arrived to a warm welcome in Australia just a handful of years ago, as an outstanding electric car, and a worthy European-branded rival to the Tesla Model 3.

Despite this, there were a few things we wished the original car had. Some of these were reasonable. For example, we wished key safety items weren't optional. Others were decidedly less so, like, wouldn't it be great if it was rear-wheel drive?

Imagine our surprise when this new 2024 version was announced, with so many of our wishes, unreasonable and otherwise, catered for.

So is the new Polestar 2 the car it always should have been, or is it too good to be true? Plus, with a significant number of rivals - both cheaper and more expensive on its hands - does this Swedish-Chinese pioneer still make sense?

Read on to see what we found.

This version of Tesla’s Model Y is the new frontier for enthusiasts. How do you make an electric performance car?

It should be easy, right? Just up the power of the motors - no need to fit a larger, more complex engine, and make sure you’ve got a battery with the appropriate outputs.

There’s far more than meets the eye. The big question is, is it worth the significant additional spend over the base Model Y?

We grabbed one of the earliest examples of the Performance to hit Australian shores to find out.