Polestar offering $5,000 discount to Tesla owners who’ve had enough of Elon Musk
Polestar has been trying to steal Tesla customers with a radical discount scheme focused on the divisive antics of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
At the end of February, the Swedish EV maker’s US operation launched a ‘Tesla Conquest’ discount, which offered Tesla owners a $5,000 discount on an new Polestar 3 if they decided they’d had enough in light of Musk’s political affiliations and public spending cuts within the Trump administration.
Even before the special discount, which ran from February 21 – 28, the South Carolina-built Polestar 3 already came with $15,000 off of its $73,400 starting price.
While Polestar’s US arm has not commented on how many Tesla owners took the Swedish EV maker up on their offer, its head of sales, Jordan Hofmann claimed in a social media post that ‘the numbers speak for themselves’. Hoffmann posted: “This week saw some of the highest order days for Polestar 3, and the response to our Tesla Conquest Offer has been incredible. Manufacturered in the USA, Polestar 3 is turning heads and driving are making moves – it’s clear they like what we bring to the table.
“The excitement is real, the momentum is growing, and as I always say – we’re just getting started! We’ve got plenty more in store, and trust me, you’re going to watch what happens next.”
The Polestar 3 is a rival to the Tesla Model X and Model Y crossovers, and has won several awards including the 2024 Good Design Award for exterior design, and the top spot in the world’s largest independent winter range test in Norway. In base single-motor spec, its 111kWh battery returns 279 miles of range, the mid-tier model dual-motor Performance delivers 315 miles, while the top-tier long-range dual-motor trim has a 350 mile range. The Polestar 3 was the second model introduced by the brand after the Polestar 2.
Tesla’s woes are not just relegated to its home market of the US. In Europe, Tesla is in a legal battle with the European Union following the imposition of tariffs on cars built at its Gigafactory in Shanghai. Moreover, 59% of UK car buyers considering making the switch to an EV have been put off of Tesla because of Musk’s politics.
Despite the issues, Tesla unveiled an updated Model Y earlier in 2025, has commited to launching “more affordable models” later this year, and will pilot a virtual queuing scheme at its Supercharger stations in the spring following a recent fist fight between Tesla owners at one of the facilities.
