EV Chronicles #71 - Polestar Sales Blocked by US Government in 2027

Just over 2 weeks ago, we got the announcement that Polestar was not able to get approval to continue its sales in 2027. For those not following, this is due to (I admit, I lifted the following from a Google Search Result) the U.S. Department of Commerce banning Polestar from selling new vehicles in the United States starting with the 2027 model year. The restriction is a result of the "Connected Vehicle Rule," which prohibits the sale of connected vehicles with hardware and software linked to China or Russia due to national security concerns. Despite Polestar being headquartered in Sweden, the government denied the company's authorization request because it is majority-owned by the Chinese automotive conglomerate Geely.

Because of the ban, the brand is exiting the U.S. market and shifting its focus toward Europe, which accounts for the vast majority of its global sales. For U.S. buyers, this restriction has triggered aggressive sell-offs. Polestar is currently clearing out remaining U.S. inventory of the Polestar 3 (built in South Carolina) and the Polestar 4 (imported from South Korea) with discounts reaching up to $25,000. (end of Google Search response...)

So, want to know what I think? This is a bunch of Bullshit, and here is why:

Geely also owns VOLVO, and Volvo does NOT have the same sales restriction.

Fun Fact: the VOLVO EX90 is fundamentally the exact same car as the Polestar 3. Both share the company's core EV-dedicated SPA2 platform, electric powertrain hardware, and underlying software. So why then, are sales of that vehicle permitted here in the US and the Polestar 3 is not? If concerns about national security were truly at the heart of this, then HOW is the EX90 not also excluded?

There are two other vehicles sold in the US that are imports from China whose future is also in question. The Lincoln Nautilus and the Buick Envision. It is not clear how "connected" these vehicle are and if their lack of some high tech functionality might save them from this law or not.

I suspect there is more to the story here, but we may never truly know. I personally believe that the US Auto Industry has gotten our politicians to get on board with protecting US owned automakers from competition from the Chinese, because honestly, the Chinese brands are making outstanding vehicles at prices the US industry just cannot compete with. Geely and BYD for example (check out this video - https://youtu.be/RWlx1dt_q5Q?is=3IteOunK_4HsIpib) are pushing EV charging speeds into gas fillup territory. The US Government is already putting tariffs on imported vehicles depending on the country of origin to level the playing field somewhat. I believe that THEY believe that protection isn't enough and got them to agreed to this added measure of "national security concerns" to keep them out. Unfortunately, the way the law was written, it ended up impacting the one company (Polestar), that was already selling vehicles in the US. So, back to Volvo. Why are they not impacted? I have no proof of this, but honestly, given the level of corruption within the current US government, it is my guess that Geely figured out it would need to pay off several government officials to get a brand approved. They also likely decided they weren't paying that bribe twice, so they picked the one brand of theirs that is currently more popular and well known than the other, and likely the brand that many politicians likely own today (vehicles or stock), and got it through the approval process some how.

Where does this leave me and the thousands of Polestar owners? No one really knows right now. By the end of 2026, Polestar will have sold roughly 35,000 vehicles in the United States since entering our market. They are not going away as a company and continue to have solid sales in Europe and will continue its sales in Canada (of models 2, 3, and 4). Obviously, sales centers will begin to close across the country this year into next here in the US, but there has been no word on what is going to happen to their service centers. As a Polestar 3 owner, I am at least hoping since the Volvo EX90 is basically the same vehicle, that I'll be able to continue to get my vehicle serviced in the US by Volvo throughout my ownership. I am not a fan of Leasing vehicles. I leased my Polestar 3 because the deal they were offering for the lease was way better than a purchase at the time. It turns out, that might have been a great decision as it now also gives me an exit strategy after 3 years (April 2028). Only time will tell honestly. I will have all of 2027 to find out how their service model evolves to then make a decision about buying the vehicle at the end of the lease or if I just need to consider moving on to another brand (Rivian R2 or a Volvo EX60 or EX90 would be my top choices right now). I might reach out to our local Volvo service center to see if they can do my next 20,000 mile interval checkup next Spring rather than getting it shipped all the way to the Polestar service center in NJ.

There is the possibility that Polestars might become rare collectors items some day due to the rarity of them. There are no exact numbers being reported by Polestar, but if a majority of their sales in the US have been the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 models, I am guessing that the Polestar 3 model sales are somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 units. Google suggests the Polestar 1 is the most likely to become a future collectors item while the 3 and 4 will depreciate much like most EVs today, maybe faster due to the exit of Polestar from the US. Only time will tell. For now, I have about 20 more months on my lease to figure it out.