For mostly psychological reasons, 300 miles of range is the magic number to consider an electric vehicle as being able to truly achieve “long range” status. The new Polestar 3 looks fantastic, is full of the kind of restrain ed Scandinavian design we expect, and sits in the popular SUV category. The most important number, though? 300.
In case you’ve just wandered onto this website and have no idea what a Polestar is, it’s basically a Sino-Swedish tie-up that sees Volvo’s parent company Geely working across continents to produce electrified cars with an Ikea aesthetic.
Their first car, the Polestar 1, was a hybridized-GT that offered a high level of performance wrapped in concept car skin. It was limited. Their first mainstream model, the Polestar 2, is a crossover-y sedan thing. It gets up 270 miles of range in Long Range trim and starts at about $48,400.
The Polestar 3 is the most conventional offering from the brand. It’s an SUV. People love SUVs. This is of the five-seat variety, somewhere in the Jeep Grand Cherokee range, being longer than the regular GC but shorter than the GC L. It doesn’t look anything like a Grand Cherokee. It looks just concept-y enough to stare at for a while.
As is popular today, the Polestar 3 has a dual-motor setup with the bias towards the rear wheels. The two motors produce 489 horsepower combined, though you can option the Performance Pack and get 517 horsepower in exchange for 30 miles of range on the EPA standard. The battery is a monster 111 kWh lithium-ion setup with prismatic cells, which is bigger by about 10% than the Model X 100D battery but, notably, has 48 miles fewer range.
Polestars, historically, have some of the best one-pedal driving feel and the company promises that’s the same here. For those who want performance, a Polestar 1-derived Torque Vectoring Dual Clutch setup sits on the rear axle. Having tried this system on a race track in a Polestar 1 it’s a setup that can actually adjust torque between the rear wheels and not just use the brakes to slow one wheel down. An adaptive dual-chamber air-suspension is also standard.
Inside it’s extremely Polestar as well and benefits from a high level of recycled or recyclable materials and welfare-certified leather. The Polestar 2 was the first car to launch with Android Auto as the default vehicle operating system and that continues here.
It sounds like from the press release that a Level 2 ADAS is standard, with a LIDAR-based option as an add-on in the future:
As standard, Polestar 3 features a total of five radar modules, five external cameras and twelve external ultrasonic sensors to support numerous advanced safety features. The SmartZone below the front aero wing collects several of the forward-facing sensors, a heated radar module and camera, and now becomes a signature of Polestar design. Inside, two closed-loop driver monitoring cameras bring leading eye tracking technology from Smart Eye to a Polestar for the first time, geared towards safer driving. The cameras monitor the driver’s eyes and can trigger warning messages, sounds and even an emergency stop function when detecting a distracted, drowsy or disconnected driver.
You can build your own now, with price starting at $83,900, which is less than a Model X by a good margin ($120,990) and a touch less than the BMW iX ($84,100).
I don’t understand that efficiency disparity vs the tesla – wondering how that plays out in real life (don’t tesla’s generally underperform vs their EPA numbers?)
That “80% in 18 minutes” is a best-case scenario, and from 10% (so about 30-miles of range) to 80%, equates to a range of 270-miles – charger overhead, ambient/battery temps, etc. all add charging time.
My EV6 (AWD long-range) easily estimates 300 miles when driving in traffic, but drops to the 250-range when on the open road at 75mph (even less at 80mph). Then maybe a modest 15% drop in the winter (213 miles) and charging to 80% will net me 160 miles, and will take longer than 18 minutes in cold temperatures.
Looks nice, bad price
I lease a Polestar 2, I was waiting for this vehicle pricing, features, etc. For this much money, I don’t feel its worth it. The Rivian R1S or Cadillac Lyriq look like better options, tax credit available for both (depending which version you choose), a better established service department (At least for Cadillac, Rivian I dont know how they stand with that). Dealing with the Bolt battery recall, GM handled it pretty well, replacing batteries, paying rentals for people didn’t feel safe driving it, paying full MSRP price back if you decided not to own the vehicle anymore. Cant believe I am saying this but I would rather go with the Cadillac option
I had annoying small issues with the P2 (mostly software related) and the company is slow to give solutions back, mostly software updates. I would not own this car without the warranty
I don’t blame you. I was waiting to see how much the P3 would cost and was very disappointed in the high price. I had considered the P2 but the cramped cabin, strange chassis with an I-beam down the middle, and the UI drove me away. Still a great car, but I was not willing to part with that much money with the drawbacks I saw. The P3 promised a new chassis, an updated UI, and, supposedly, new motors with better performance.
The chassis is new and the UI is somewhat updated, but the performance is not improved at all. I’m still trying to figure out what exactly the extra $25k gets you over a P2. Guess I have to keep waiting on an EV purchase. : (
“The cameras monitor the driver’s eyes and can trigger warning messages, sounds and even an emergency stop function”
This is the kind of feature I want in other people’s cars, not mine. Until a car can actually drive itself, I don’t value it’s feedback on the topic.
Still bums me out that they couldn’t make a bloody wagon out of the Polestar 2. Would have been quite hit here in the Nordics and I would guess rest of the Europe too. Wagons still sell more than sedans here.
At least the 2 is a liftback not a sedan. But it would look amazing as a wagon.
Gorgeous? It looks like every crossover. I mean, they didn’t make any huge mistakes or anything, but at the end of the day it’s just another crossover as far as styling is concerned.
The Cadillac Lyriq is looking like an amazing bargain at $62k with 312 miles of range.
I was hoping for an “emergency slap” function for distracted drivers. But no, I had to re-read it.
“The cameras monitor the driver’s eyes and can trigger warning messages, sounds and even an emergency stop function when detecting a distracted, drowsy or disconnected driver.”
One look at that dashboard and my decision to just walk is complete.
“You can build your own now, with price starting at $83,900, which is less than a Model X by a good margin ($120,990) and a touch less than the BMW iX ($84,100).
Why compare to model X (a bigger 3 row suv). I think most people would cross shop the Y, not the X with this car.
If the cars are within 6″ of each other they’re probably reasonable to compare. Why not both.
Just because it has 3 rows doesn’t mean it SHOULD have 3 rows.
1). Tablet in place of a center console=no dice
2). $83,900. Cool. Another EV that’s nothing but a virtue signaling status symbol for the 1%. It’s not like we have any of those out there already…oh wait
I think you’re missing the point of what the Polestar brand is supposed to be. It never had any pretences of being anything other than a high end, electrified performance spin-off from Volvo. The performance figures match up with the asking price, and it’s a hell of a lot more appealing looking than the iX. I’ve no doubt Geely would use a different brand to offer more accessible EVs.
It’s a high end, low range toy. 300 miles is nothing still. I can buy two Jeep grand Cherokees for that price. The commenter above is correct. Pricey toy.
What definition of toy are you working with? 300mi is enough to get through a workweek and a half given the average daily commute, I don’t see how this thing is much less practical on the day to day than my ICE-powered car with a 400mi range.
“For mostly psychological reasons, 300 miles of range is the magic number to consider an electric vehicle as being able to truly achieve “long range” status.”
Says who?
https://www.kbb.com/car-news/survey-americans-want-evs-with-over-500-miles-of-range/
Yeah, as much as I’d like to go full BEV instead of plug-in hybrid, I want 500 miles of range because in the winter, and after a dozen years of ownership, that IS about 300 miles, more or less.
Until then, I think hybrid systems are by far the best solutions. They’ve finally moved up to minivans. I’m really looking forward to a meaningful plug-in hybrid system in a nice truck.
And really, what is the idea behind ANY hybrid without a plug, and why do plug-ins cost so very much more than without? Most places, non-plug-ins are all we can get, but I would gladly go to the bother of plugging in to get even 5 miles per charge of full electric driving in a hybrid. That’s to the grocery store and back, why not? The battery is already there!
Yep as one of the few people who went FROM (and preferred) the Chevy Bolt TO the Volt, I agree.
If you have 3 cars, an electric car might make sense. That is of course if you want to waste one of your three choices on a car that makes you clammy on a road trip. Or during a freeze. Or a hurricane. Or during a power outage. Or during a holiday weekend. Electric cars are our future. Battery cars as they are now? Not our future.
300 miles is perfect for me because it means 80% battery is more than 3 hrs of highway driving. That’s longer than I can honestly hope to drive during a roadtrip before someone in the car (wife or kids) has to pee. With the Kia/Hyundai platform charging to 80% in 18 minutes, the car would be charged by the time everyone is done peeing / buying snacks. That would mean my roadtrips would take about as long as they take now.
I agree, except that 300 miles is 240 or so, at best, in the winter. And it becomes 160 to 200 miles or so in the winter, once the car has reached the average age of the cars currently on the road. 160 to 200 miles is simply not enough.