Madrid, Spain. Before it became a car company in 2017, Polestar only made cars for a small group of people. It all began small: the brand has only made one model for the past five years, and even though they raised the bar, the two needed help to make the tuner-turned-manufacturer famous on their own.
The backup is now here. The Polestar 3, which will come out in 2022, will raise the bar in the huge and valuable SUV market. It also makes it possible to extend the range in the future in terms of style and technology. Many people will recognize Polestar from this big electric car. I’ve driven the three before on a Swedish test track. It’s time to go.
The Polestar 3 shows how Polestar wants to set itself apart from Volvo even more, just like the segment-bending Polestar 4. Even though they share the same modular SPA2 base, the two SUVs look and feel different. In the near future, both the EX90 and the XC90 will still be on the market. They are not related; they are cousins. The three is meant to be more sporty than the 2, so it has a lower top, a more swept-back shape, and only two rows of seats. You can add a third row, make the EX90 larger, or make it boxier.
There were still some ties with Volvo that were meant to be kept. Maximilian Missoni, Polestar’s design head, told me, “As a family, we like to keep a little bit of a bridge to Volvo because there is a lot to gain.” Most drivers trust Volvo, especially when it comes to safety. Many new companies need this kind of trust, but Polestar does. The fact that they are connected to Volvo is a good thing.
For daytime use, Thor’s Hammer lights link the two stores in front of it. But Polestar DNA is very different from other DNA. The three doesn’t hide its many sensors; instead, it happily shows them off. Lines on the screen between the headlights show where the different sensors power the electronic driving aids. There would be a grille there if the 3 had a straight-six engine.
In a way, this is Polestar’s family tree. This marking method was first used on the Polestar 1, the first model to have a cool, see-through panel in the trunk. It told you what the huge orange wires connected to the battery were for.
The driver’s seat has a stronger Volvo smell. The digital gauge cluster, floating center console, three-spoke steering wheel, and general design of the dashboard all make me think of the EX90. Still, Polestar stresses that it takes a lot of care to make its products stand out. The infotainment system still runs on Android and has a 14.5-inch touchscreen, but the company made the user experience special by adding custom fonts and icons.
The 4 and 3 share about 85% of the entertainment system. The biggest difference is that the touchscreen on the four is landscape-oriented, while the touchscreen on the 3 is portrait-oriented. The head of UX design at the company, Ruben Rodriguez, says this is because the four is aimed at younger people who would benefit from extra features like split-screen mode. Three buyers, on the other hand, will like the top-to-bottom show better.
This software makes good use of tiles and pictures to get its point across because the screen is so small, and there is a lot here. You can do more with the tablet than find a new place or change the radio station. It can also be used to open the glove box, change the steering column, and decide if the door mirrors should fold down automatically.
People in the back seats may feel compelled to send Polestar a heartfelt “thank you” card after a long trip. By sliding the back bench and flipping the three-row layout, the designers were able to make a big difference in the space. But it takes more work to store things. With the second row folded up, the load space drops to 21.1 cubic feet from 49.8 cubic feet when the back seats are folded flat. It’s easy to find a competitor with a bigger trunk. To stay in the same (expanded) family, the XC60 is eight inches shorter than the Polestar 3, but it has a bigger trunk.
When it first comes out, only the Long-Range Dual-Motor will be offered. The name tells you what it is. Two electric motors, one for each side, get their power from nickel-manganese-cobalt batteries that can hold 111 kW each. The system now has 517 horsepower and 671 pound-feet of torque, up from 489 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque without the extra Performance Package. The three isn’t light—it weighs between 5,696 and 5,886 pounds, depending on how it’s configured—but it has so much power that it can accelerate like a hot hatch. Based on Polestar, the base model can go from 0 to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds, while the Performance model can do it in 4.5 seconds.
In any case, many electric cars can offer the kind of horsepower and torque that were common in supercars ten years ago. Additionally, they all move somewhat similarly because most of them use the same basic drivetrain layout. This includes a big battery under the cabin and a single-speed transmission for each motor. At this point, the three take a break from the rest of the group.
Polestar added a dual-clutch torque-vectoring differential to the back axle to make it handle better. This isn’t just a PR stunt, folks. This feature makes the 3 act more like a sporty car on roads with curves. Even though it’s not as fun to drive as, say, a Volkswagen GTI, its size and weight don’t show this. Why not beat the odds with an SUV that’s 192.9 inches long and was made by a company that only a few people knew about ten years ago? It’s one of the most enjoyable EVs to drive.
Thanks to its low center of gravity and 50/50 weight distribution between the front and back axles, the three can turn a bend without too much body roll. You can also change the handling (Light, Standard, and Firm) and the adaptive air suspension (Standard, Nimble, and Firm). The three-act in different ways when these traits are used. Almost all new cars have drive modes and profiles, though they aren’t always as advanced as we’d like.
Stops? The front brakes are four-piston Brembos. They’re big and easy to see, but you won’t use them often. When the brakes are applied with 0.3g of force, the pads only touch the wheels. For speeds below that, the three will instantly slow down thanks to regenerative braking technology. The pedal feels like it could be better. It could be better, but it’s not too much like a video game, either. There are two modes you can choose from to pedal down the road: Low and Standard.
As the three of them drive down the highway, they enjoy the peace and the smell of Eau de Volvo again. However, there is wind noise near the door windows. The driving aids do what they’re supposed to do, and the three stand out because they can change lanes on their own with a flick of the turn signal. On a highway, the rear axle that controls how much power goes to each rear tire on a twisting road is turned off to save power. At 65 mph, the back wheels don’t feel like they don’t have enough power. If it’s needed, the system re-engages them quickly.
Polestar says that the 3’s 400-volt power source can fully charge a 250-kilowatt battery in 30 minutes, going from 10% to 80%. The company is working on faster charging and has already made a sample that can charge from 10% to 80% in 10 minutes, but the technology still needs to be ready. The Performance Pack cuts the 3’s range from 315 miles to 279 miles, which is what the EPA says.
The three should help Polestar become more than just the new kid on the block. It has a sleek look, a comfortable cabin, and fun driving. Its differences from the Volvo EX90 set it apart in a crowded market and calm drivers’ fears about buying a car from a new company.
A $1,400 delivery fee is added to the price of the 2025 Polestar 3 when it is bought. The worth goes up to $80,800 when the Performance Pack is added. Remember that the model can’t get the $7,500 federal tax credit because it was made in Chengdu, China. Polestar wants to start making the three at the Volvo plant outside of Charleston, South Carolina, in 2024. This means that cars made in the United States might be qualified. In the meantime, the carmaker says that customers who lease the three cars can get the full $7,500 tax credit. If you want a cheaper 3, don’t worry—a model with rear-wheel drive will likely come out later in 2024.
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