Tired: Buying an EV. Wired: Leasing One for Six Months or Less
Subscriptions and flexible, short-term leases are popping up to cater to the battery-curious and those waiting on electric cars that have yet to be made.
The Polestar 3 isn’t on sale yet, but that hasn’t stopped the carmaker from trying to lock in future buyers now.
Photographer: Stefan Isaksson/Polestar
The Polestar 3 is the type of electric vehicle that drivers go mad for these days. It’s safe, a little swanky and, critically, a Goldilocks SUV — not too big and not too small. There’s just one problem: Polestar won’t start delivering it en masse for another couple of months.
That’s not stopping the carmaker from getting butts in drivers’ seats now. In October, Polestar started offering what it calls a “flexible lease.” Customers can drive off in the only car the company currently makes — its “2” sedan — and then scrap the lease in as little as five months. If all goes as Polestar has planned, those drivers will hand in the keys to a 2 and go home in a 3.