Probably just demand, there's only a few spaces in California and they could probably make more ground faster by adding more in CA

 

The Minneapolis space is excellent!

 

Like @TwoThirdsRiceKrispy I also live in St. Louis and so feel the pain. We're ironically almost exactly equidistant from Minneapolis and Detroit, and the upcoming Atlanta space will also be almost the same distance from us.

I'm also not convinced there's no demand. That same Volvo dealer he mentioned has already sold a few used Polestar 2's (2021's) and I've actually seen at least two others around the city that are not him and not me (a Void and a Thunder). I'm pretty sure with recent interest in EV's they could make a killing here, particularly since we would be closer to Chicago than Detroit, and the Chicago dealerships are actively blocking a Polestar space up there. Still.

 

We live in the Des Moines, IA area...local Volvo dealer says they can't service Polestars and won't becoming a Polestar space....so nothing closer that Minneapolis (no Kansas City, no Omaha, no Chicago) . Good to hear from MAS though that the Minneapolis space apparently is a good one!

 

Let me know if you want a contact and a phone number.

 

Scottsdale, AZ space is soft opening tomorrow I believe. April 8 is grand opening. Not in Midwest of course but looking forward to seeing one.

 

Were you able to find a solution? I live in Columbia, Mo and in the same predicament as you. It is frustrating and I'm not sure what to do. The only options I'm being given is either drive down to Mn or have it towed to them all at my expense. This is a 473 miles journey just one way. It is not encouraging.
I really need help.

 

I'll answer (of course) as another Missouri resident.

Honestly I've not had a need to worry about it. I'm 9 months and 13K miles in and I've never had a need that required a visit to a dealer. I had one punctured tire that was fixed by Firestone and beyond that 100% of my issues have been transient software problems... and even then they were never bad. Given I'm still another 10K out from required maintenance I'm just fine as-is... and when I do need maintenance I'll probably take my car up to Detroit... a city I happen to go to often enough anyway.

While I haven't heard anything yet I imagine it's only a matter of time before we get a closer Space. The demand is certainly there and if you look at the "Spaces Map" then you'll see that very notable blank spot in the middle-right of the map that covers a vast potential market for these cars. I still think it's only a matter of time before a Space turns up in one of the nearby Midwest cities; if not St. Louis then KC, Memphis, Nashville, Chicago... hell even Tulsa! Indianapolis is another one that is possible though I think Louisville seems more likely than Indy to me. I think it's inevitable that Polestar will want to fill out their Spaces map to fill in this glaring gap sooner rather than later.

And I'll say this here because I've said it elsewhere; but generally speaking worrying about problems with the car is pointless. No car is perfect, and if you were to go by online forum posters alone then you'd shy away from EVERY CAR ON THE ROAD because they've all got problems... some worse than ours. Simple fact is that generally speaking people done come to online forums to tell everyone how good their car is. I post replies but don't post many stories because frankly I don't have much to say. The car's always ready to go when I'm ready... it's never locked me out or left me stranded... and it gets me from A to B with no fuss or bother and happens to be one of the smoothest and nicest rides I think I've ever owned.

Hope that helps... summary of my post is "don't sweat the small stuff" LOL

 

I live in Chicago and haven't seen anything about a Polestar space here. The Chicago dealership blocking the creation of a Polestar space is just dumb and this city is a big market. I booked a flight to fly out to Detroit to pick up my P2 in 2 weeks.

 

@TwoThirdsRiceKrispy That's funny; part of my timing of buying the EV was also tax related... but more because I had cashed out some investments that I'd made good money on in order to pay off my wife's student loans and wanted to offset the tax hit for 2021. Worked out perfectly, too.

I might actually keep my car for a decade. I really like it and it both makes for an incredible, useful vehicle and happens to scratch both my "performance car" itch AND my "techy, geeky toy" itch. The fact that I was able to take advantage of the 0% 60 month financing means that I'd be unlikely to get into a better deal anytime soon and it just makes sense at that point to keep the car indefinitely. I see people's points about the march of technology making this car less attractive in a few years, but I really don't care. So long as I don't get a massive drop in either range or charging performance over time the car will continue to meet or exceed my needs for quite a while in my estimation.

Taking my car up to Detroit again in a couple of weeks to act as a "support vehicle" for my wife's uncle's 68 Fairlane in the Woodward Dream Cruise... basically I follow behind and become the "A/C car" as well as the guy who carries the big fire extinguisher just in case LOL

 

From what I understand, there are no Polestar spaces in Chicago, and in fact, all of Illinois…not because of lack of demand/interest, but because a number of Volvo dealerships in Illinois have been (apparently) excluded from Polestar’s plans to only go through a select number of Volvo dealerships, rather than make Polestar available to all Volvo dealerships. Sounds like it‘s a pissing war between Volvo dealerships? There is a pending review and litigation ongoing. Apparently, a number of states that haven’t yet opened spaces are closely following this issue, that could have major implications to Polestar’s plans for future expansion?

Read the full story here:

Volvo dealers fight Polestar's plan for sales with only select retailers

Ten dealerships in Illinois are fighting Polestar Automotive USA's plans to work with only select Volvo stores as the subsidiary rolls out electric vehicles in the U.S. Dealer associations in other states are watching closely.

web.archive.org

 

From what I understand, there are no Polestar spaces in Chicago, and in fact, all of Illinois…not because of lack of demand/interest, but because a number of Volvo dealerships in Illinois have been (apparently) excluded from Polestar’s plans to only go through a select number of Volvo dealerships, rather than make Polestar available to all Volvo dealerships. Sounds like it‘s a pissing war between Volvo dealerships? There is a pending review and litigation ongoing. Apparently, a number of states that haven’t yet opened spaces are closely following this issue, that could have major implications to Polestar’s plans for future expansion?

Read the full story here:

Volvo dealers fight Polestar's plan for sales with only select retailers

Ten dealerships in Illinois are fighting Polestar Automotive USA's plans to work with only select Volvo stores as the subsidiary rolls out electric vehicles in the U.S. Dealer associations in other states are watching closely.

web.archive.org

Just read this story and it does appear to be a pissing contest. They should just do what Hyundai did with the Genesis brand. Polestar should just let the Volvo dealers sell Polestar as long as the dealership builds the space.

 

I know here in Maryland, we have one Polestar space. Currently in Rockville, Md. I was told that Polestar has almost completed a new space in Washington DC, for sales only. Coincidentally, just down the street from where Tesla is in DC.

Locally, Polestar sales and servicing will be split between sales in DC and servicing at the Volvo dealership in Rockville, Md (where they are now). The service space will be shared with Volvo and Polestar, which makes a lot of sense. Nevertheless, Polestar still offers free service pickup and drop off at your location, up to 150 miles. This seems to be the new model that many newer automotive companies are going to….

 

Very helpful and interesting thread here, adding to and confirming what I've been told as well.

I live in southeast Iowa, near Iowa City and will be getting mine from Minneapolis, which is 328 miles away. I was told the same directly by Kevin, that in the event of a catastrophic failure, since I'm way outside the 150mi towing radius, they will send someone to my garage. And in the event of the car being undrivable, they will set me up with a rental from Enterprise as long as needed. They will also credit/cover 150 miles of the tow, in case it has to be brought to them in MN. I am not super thrilled about potentially having to cover the other 178 miles of towing if that should happen, but I appreciate the in-home repair effort and rental car provision. I was satisfied enough that I placed my order.

I can also confirm that Minneapolis did send someone to my friend's home nearby when he had a TCAM failure just a couple months ago. A tech came to his home and corrected the issue in his garage (near Cedar Rapids, about 40 mi from me) and he hasn't had trouble with it since. I can add to the praise for Minneapolis Space; Kevin and Max have been great to talk to, knowledgeable, eager to help, and enthusiastic about the car and what they do.

If there's an issue that I would want corrected but wouldn't be deemed critical enough for them to send someone out, I'd have to decide what's worth the drive to Minneapolis. I like driving and definitely will enjoy daytripping with the PS when I get mine, but Minneapolis and back with probably two brief charge stops each way is kind of a trip. And if...whatever...can't be fixed that day, I'm looking at a hotel stay. Again, no super big deal ultimately, but suddenly it's a weekender.

Ultimately I decided this risk of potential issues and inconvenient logistics is part of the cost of being an "early adopter" of this car. Sure there's a legacy manufacturer backbone, but not in reality until I can have it serviced at Cedar Rapids Volvo, which is unlikely to ever be the case. I placed the order knowing full well it's a lot like buying a Tesla before there was a service center in Des Moines 120 mi away, when the only one was in Counciltucky--er, Council Bluffs--on the exact opposite end of Iowa, 245 mi from home.

 

Ultimately I decided this risk of potential issues and inconvenient logistics is part of the cost of being an "early adopter" of this car. Sure there's a legacy manufacturer backbone, but not in reality until I can have it serviced at Cedar Rapids Volvo, which is unlikely to ever be the case. I placed the order knowing full well it's a lot like buying a Tesla before there was a service center in Des Moines 120 mi away, when the only one was in Counciltucky--er, Council Bluffs--on the exact opposite end of Iowa, 245 mi from home.

This is exactly how I am operating now too, I like the car and I am willing to take these risks as an early adopter as well. I typically don't need a car for any commuting or even getting groceries and such, only on the weekend and even then I am close to trains so it's no a do-or-die situation if I am out. My current car, a Subaru, was in the shop for a month and I got along fine.

So I digress, I hope there will be one close to Chicagoland in the future, but I understand the risks and inconveniences i'll probably endure with service and the like. And I accept it to get behind Polestar and what I find s a unique and interesting car.

 

The rumor is with Illinois Volvo dealerships is that they will never sell or service Polestars until Polestar allows them to sell under the "regular dealership" agreements. Polestar wants to sell under the standard pricing method in which you customize your car and the price is set and the same everywhere.. Dealerships hate that because they can't play with the numbers or mark up new vehicles over MSRP.
"Spaces" are tied to dealerships because you can't commercially sell vehicles if you are not a dealership. That's why you have to go to the actual dealer to complete the purchase and delivery of a Polestar.

So Polestar either has to allow dealership to set their own prices or not sell in those states. Given the huge automotive mark ups seen during the pandemic... don't expect Polestars to be sold or serviced in Chicago/Illinois anytime in the near future. The dealerships will not let it happen. The only way is if Polestar caves in and lets dealership set their own prices.

 

That being the case, why can’t Polestar simply have a completely independent space in a few markets that operate in such a hostile way? Is there anything that legally would prohibit opening a Polestar space, with no space shared with Volvo, in Chicago, much like what tesla does? Why should these 8 (I believe it was a small number) of Volvo dealerships in Illinois be able to set the terms under which Polestar cars are sold. Is Polestar in Sweden/Greeley hostile in doing this? With the clear understanding that an independent shop would only happen in situations like this?

 

I also have no doubt that Polestar will be in Chicago sooner or later. It's already a glaring hole in the map, given the market size for this kind of product. Your linked article shed a lot of light on this mess. I thought the quote from Polestar was kinda funny though: "Polestar Automotive USA is a separate franchise which is not in the Illinois market, and Polestar has no current plans to enter the Illinois market," a Polestar spokesman said in a statement. "For this and other reasons, Polestar believes that the protest is without merit and should be dismissed." Right. No plans to enter the IL market until there is a legal avenue, then there will be plans posthaste to access that Chicagoland revenue.

I did a little research into how Tesla exists there and found some interesting things, including a new lawsuit being brought by the Illinois Auto Dealers Association. Basically, the IADA and Tesla were in similar legal fisticuffs until the State in 2009 granted Tesla some half-salad called an administrative constraint order that allows Tesla to sell in IL, but caps their number of stores at 13. Checking the Tesla website, there's currently 10 in IL.

Now currently the IADA is suing the IL Sec of State over this concession, plus aims to keep Rivian (and Lucid) out as well.

Illinois' car dealers lawsuit: State of IL illegally letting Tesla, Rivian sell electric cars direct to consumers

This seems to indicate that the Polestar/Volvo and the Tesla situations aren't quite as parallel as it would first appear, and the IADA is fighting this dealership threat on two fronts. The Volvo dealers want a slice of the Polestar pie, whereas the Tesla/Rivian/Lucid fight is purely protectionism of their business model. It's so amusingly weird. "Polestar, we are meant to be together forever! You complete us!" "Chicagoland Volvo, stop trying to make a shared sales model happen. It's not going to happen."

Meanwhile, my own state won't let Tesla show off their cars within the borders. Tesla was going to hold a test drive event at a Des Moines hotel, but the dealership association got wind of it and called the cops. Literally, a friend in town said the state patrol showed up. This was several years ago when Tesla was just starting to really rock the boat:

Iowa curbs Tesla test drives

From what I've heard, the Iowa dealership lobby is second strongest in the nation, behind only Michigan. So dear European friends, see what kind of bullsh*t we have to deal with over here?

 

I also have no doubt that Polestar will be in Chicago sooner or later. It's already a glaring hole in the map, given the market size for this kind of product....

Thank you for this post it was highly informative. I figure we'll get support over here one way or the other in due time. For now, though, I'll be continuing to read up on all the issues coming up.

It will be an interesting drive back home from the Detroit space that's for sure

 

I'll echo here that I was also told by the guys at my Space (Detroit) that if the car were inoperable they would fly someone to me... and if they still couldn't get it working then it'd be towed, 150 mile limit be damned. That was good enough for me. To be honest it's fine for my lifestyle anyway where I don't commute therefore don't really need a "daily driver" per se... but when I need a car I need a car, and usually it's with little warning. That might also change in the future but we'll see what that brings...

As for the Illinois issue; it's a complicated issue. Illinois dealers still don't like the "direct sales" or even "direct pricing" models, and though I have no evidence for it I'd bet those Volvo dealers were pushing Polestar to sell through their dealerships and allow the dealers to set prices. I suspect these exact conversations are going on all over the country, and places with a strong and stubborn dealership association (like Illinois) are places where Polestar has just decided to push those off to deal with later when they have more leverage due to having more units on the street and spaces elsewhere.

All this is to say this is one reason I suspect we might see a Space in Missouri before Illinois. While the dealership associations in this state aren't exactly pushovers they have a history of allowing more changes in sales models than Illinois. It's one reason we had a Tesla dealership in St. Louis WAY before one appeared in Illinois. I also think that it would make a lot of sense for Polestar given their current locations because we're almost equidistant between two current spaces and just a smidge further from a third. Either here or KC would nicely fill out the gap in the current map... but again I think a lot of that comes down to the negotiating power that Polestar has and frankly when it comes to that they're just going to knock out the "low hanging fruit" first in order to get more cars on the road before dealing with the dealerships who are less willing to negotiate.

 

While anything can happen, and there are extenuating circumstances that may not allow…but I think it’s incomprehensible that Polestar would NOT do right by a customer, that owns one of their cars and is outside the 150 mile limit…a limit that, for whatever reason, exists because Polestar has not yet established a closer space. That would simply NOT be good PR for a new company that’s trying to establish a reputation and brand loyalty.

If you inquire, and are persistent, I’m positive that some suitable arrangement can be found.

 

Here is a screenshot from a Polestar chat I had, this information was confirmed by the Detroit Polestar space Manager so we'll see if they keep this statement to be true or the limits of what they mean!

 

Here is a screenshot from a Polestar chat I had, this information was confirmed by the Detroit Polestar space Manager so we'll see if they keep this statement to be true or the limits of what they mean!

Funny, when I was posting above something in my head was nagging that I had been told the same by MN, that a bricked car would incur no cost at all including the tow, because I thought I remember thinking my only hassle would be the short drive to Iowa City to Enterprise. But I thought maybe I was remembering wrong and didn't want to post something I wasn't 100% about. Well, here's hoping we never have to test this!

As for the Illinois issue; it's a complicated issue. Illinois dealers still don't like the "direct sales" or even "direct pricing" models, and though I have no evidence for it I'd bet those Volvo dealers were pushing Polestar to sell through their dealerships and allow the dealers to set prices. I suspect these exact conversations are going on all over the country, and places with a strong and stubborn dealership association (like Illinois) are places where Polestar has just decided to push those off to deal with later when they have more leverage due to having more units on the street and spaces elsewhere.

I agree here and think Polestar has no reason to rush to a resolution with these dealerships or any entity like IADA and give a concession that could cost them a lot of revenue--or operations autonomy--in the long term or permanently.

The Ford situation will be interesting to watch play out. CEO Farley is splitting the company into two divisions, the ICE vehicles called Ford Blue and the EV called Ford Model e:

Ford will split EVs and legacy autos into separate units as it spends $50 billion on electric vehicles

I don't think this article mentions it, but I've read elsewhere that the EV division will be non-dealership, order online just like Tesla and Polestar. Totally predictably, Ford dealers are freaking out and there's a Richter-scale hissy fit brewing. I wonder if some dealers will try to reject servicing EVs that they didn't get a cut from selling off their lot. This is different than Polestar since Ford isn't spinning Model e off as its own entity, but I'm still getting popcorn ready.

 

I hope they make a space either in St. Louis or Nashville. Would be closer for me (especially Nashville). Better yet, do both! I doubt there will ever be a Space in Memphis - I think I still have the only one in West Tennessee, although I have seen a Thunder here twice. It's still the only other Polestar I've seen in person ever.

 

It's funny... for being 600 miles away from the nearest space I see a surprising number of Polestar 2's around St. Louis. There's at least 2 Voids, another Midnight (with 19" wheels) that I suspect is a member here and I see weekly... and at least two Snows. And these are just the ones I've seen (mostly clustered around Clayton with one exception for those who know St. Louis). I've also seen a Thunder on the Illinois side a couple of times. I mean; I know they got them from Volvo St. Louis on Manchester because I saw a couple of them on the lot while driving down that way. They also sold pretty quickly as they were on the lot a pretty short amount of time. Not sure what these people were told about service.

 

Yep...lack of nearby Polestar dealer/service station has taken the brand off our "consideration" list. In fact, the rudimentary EV charging system in the middle of the U.S has us still thinking ICE and we'll be getting a new BMW x3 M40i next month at BMW's Performance Delivery Center in Greet, SC....across the street from the manufacturing facility. Perhaps we'll be back in a "Volvo" product and EV next time...we've had 3 Volvos since 1980 and have enjoyed each one.

 

FWIW, I live in Chicago. The nearest space is in Detroit, and I drove the car there once for its one and so far only maintenance visit. (When I bought the car, the nearest space was in NYC.) Yes, it is certainly a bit of a bold move and I was worried, but so far everything has worked out fine.

We had a collision once, and the car was repaired by a local body shop that was endorsed for such work by both P* and the other party's insurance. (They had to pay the whole thing, luckily.)

 

Stopped into the Autobarn Oak Park (IL) Volvo, confirmed a new Polestar space is coming to that location; they’re transforming the used car space to accommodate P*; I purchased a V60 from them, solid experience.

 

Really? That would be fantastic news. However, I'm still skeptical: Why is there no mention of this at all on the Polestar web site? They usually show spaces as "coming soon" a loooooong time in advance...

 

This is great news. I recently put in a P*3 order and really the only downside of the car is lack of Midwest service centers, which seems to be potentially alleviated. Being in Milwaukee, this would only be 80 miles or so away, which well within their 150 mile service range.

 

Also, read on several other posts/articles that the main obstacle to Polestar opening spaces in Illinois has to do with opposition from Volvo dealerships in that state.

So, part of the blame has to fall on the dealership/laws/etc in that state., and Volvo, themselves. So much for Polestar being considered a subsidiary of Volvo....which is 100% OK with me. The sooner Polestar separates themselves from the Volvo brand, the better. The TCAM fiasco was inherited from Volvo.