Polestar 3 test drive | The Car Expert

Make and model: Polestar 3
Description: Electric SUV
Price range: £69,900 to £81,500

Polestar says: “A powerful electric SUV that appeals to the senses with a distinct, Scandinavian design and excellent driving dynamics.”

We say: Polestar’s first SUV is an impressive car that certainly widens the choice at the premium end of the market. 

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Introduction

The simultaneous arrival of the Polestar 3 and its sister the Polestar 4 marks a significant ramp-up for the Swedish performance-focused electric brand that has been spun off from Volvo. 

Polestar has until now relied on its first mainstream model, the 2, which has so far found 30,000-plus UK buyers – the 3 and 4 widen the brand’s presence and in little over a year will be joined by another new car, called the (you guessed it) Polestar 5.

Even ahead of launch, the Polestar 4 has so far generated all the headlines due to its lack of a rear window, but the 3 earns equal importance as it is the brand’s first SUV. Mind you on first viewing that description might seem odd, as it looks nothing like the average SUV. 

What is this car?

If you currently run a big and upmarket petrol or diesel SUV and are looking to make the electric jump, Polestar thinks you are going to want to look at this. While with its rather shapely body and low stance you might question the designation, Polestar wants you to consider it that way. We are told it has plenty of space to carry five adults in comfort – filling the ‘sporty’ coupe SUV role is the equally new Polestar 4.

How does it look?

As mentioned this is an SUV with some of the slipperiest looks around. Based on the Precept concept that Polestar first unveiled in 2020 and which will shape several forthcoming models, the 3 is built on the same underpinnings as sister brand Volvo’s EX90. 

The Polestar has a completely different visual presence to the Volvo however, with its low roofline, an equally low bonnet and a shallow rake to the front screen, the roof curving down to end in a close-to-vertical but letterbox-like rear screen.

It looks purposeful and the exterior visuals also indicate the potency that the dual-motor setup of our test car provides. And it’s clearly a Polestar, with pencil-slim Volvo-style ‘Thor’s hammer’ daytime running lights on a front end that is already recognisable as the brand’s signature. 

We like: By no means a typical boxy SUV.
We don’t like: Rear end does look a little ‘chopped off’.

What are the specs like?

We’re long past the days when everything was on the options list in the premium car maerket. The basic Polestar 3 specification includes lots of equipment, including heated seats in front and rear, wireless charging, three-zone climate control, a head-up display and a panoramic glass sunroof. 

There are extra options packs available – our test cars included the Plus and Pilot packs. Major gain of the first is an upmarket Bowers & Wilkins audio unit with some 25 speakers including in the headrests and Dolby Atmos sound for an almost cinema-like experience. The Pilot pack adds extra driving aids extending to semi-autonomous progress – automatic lane changing, parking and speed and steering adjustments to keep the car where one wants it on the road.

Having said that, the standard safety specification is impressive, extending to some 22 ADAS driver-assistance systems activated by a total of five radar modules, five external cameras and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

At time of writing, the Polestar 3 is yet to be crash-tested by Euro NCAP. Its makers say that they’re confident of a five-star rating – as you would expect of anything associated with Volvo – but we’ll let the world’s top safety organisation be the judge of that…

Polestar adds that the safety systems are among all of the electronics that are updated over-the-air without any need to take the car to a dealer, ensuring that the cars are always taking immediate advantage of any technology gains.

We like: Extensive specification and auto updates
We don’t like: Central screen can be daunting in complexity 

What’s it like inside?

Polestar insists that its core values are avant garde design, a commitment to technology and sustainability, and the first two in particular are obvious as soon as one slips behind the wheel. 

The interior is one of clean lines, minimalism and high quality surfaces. There are very few actual buttons, everything dominated by a large 14.3-inch vertical-format touchscreen of a type again familiar to anyone who drives a current Volvo. 

In what Polestar describes as its most technological car yet, virtually everything is controlled by this screen with the electronics shaped by a tie-up with Google – initially it can be highly daunting but familiarity with its various widgets does breed confidence.

While that’s lovely for Android phone users that also run on Google, Polestar and Volvo have been (deliberately?) slow in bringing Apple CarPlay to their latest models. By the time the Polestar 3 reaches UK showrooms, all cars should have it – but it’s been a long road to get there and Polestar 2 customers with iPhones regularly vented their frustrations about being treated like second-class citizens until CarPlay was finally made available a few months ago. Hopefully, this will now be properly sorted, but it does give cause for concern that ongoing over-the-air-updates to the car’s Google operating system could again freeze out iPhone owners with regard to latest features.

Cabin space is well handled – that low roofline does not translate to a lack of headroom inside, even for rear-seat passengers. Further back, the boot is plenty big enough at 594 litres, extending to 1,411 litres with the rear seats folded.

The view out front and to the sides is perfectly fine, though that tiny rear screen is rather restrictive – perhaps an argument for expanding the rear camera technology of the rear-windowless Polestar 4? 

We like: Quality fit and finish
We don’t like: Restrictive view through rear screen

Under the bonnet

Actually lift the bonnet and you’ll find a useful extra storage compartment of around 32 litres, useful to hide a laptop or similar in. The propulsion hardware is all down in the chassis. 

The Polestar 3 has launched in a dual-motor all-wheel-drive format, adding up to 360kw, equivalent to 490hp and 810Nm of torque, which can be boosted to 517hp and 910Nm with the optional (and £6,000 extra) Performance Pack. Without said pack the car will pass 62mph in 4.8 seconds, with pack in 4.5.

A third and cheaper variant will follow, Polestar intending to offer the car in single-motor format and at a price reduced by again £6,000 over the £75,900 of the standard dual-motor model.

All three are specified as standard with ‘long-range’ battery packs, offering an official driving range of 390 miles that’s comparable to petrol-propelled cars of similar potency. All also come with a recharging capability of up to 290kW, which if one can find a suitable charger means replenishment from 10 to 80% in half an hour. A heat pump is also standard, aiding the range particularly in colder temperatures. 

How does it drive?

The cars available on the launch event might have had two motors but they did without the Performance Pack. Even so this car can feel from the start like a potent SUV – but only when such potency is desired. 

In normal use, the Polestar 3 exhibits all the qualities one expects of an upmarket EV – smooth, refined and virtually silent progress. The ride is slightly firm but it’s easy to imagine dispatching many a motorway mile in comfort at the wheel of this car, particularly with its impressive range.

When one needs performance… Not only is significant power available, but the Polestar 3 has a low-down stance, perfect 50:50 weight distribution and air suspension on every car. As a result it handles very well and can be great fun to drive, especially when getting around slower-moving traffic which is a task achieved far quicker than it takes to write.   

With the rise of the EV has come one-pedal driving, using the motor rather than the brakes to slow the car and recovering energy to the battery as a useful by-product. The Polestar 3 makes the most of this with a specific button to activate the one-pedal format with then three selectable levels of regeneration available. The problem is one has to use the central touchscreen to change them – steering wheel paddles would be much better to enable easy changes while in motion, reacting to road and traffic conditions.   

We like: Lots of power but lots of refinement
We don’t like: Touchscreen control of one-pedal driving

Verdict

The Polestar 3 is definitely a major step forward for the Swedish brand (well, Swedish with its cars built in China or the USA). This is a full-size SUV, even if it doesn’t look like one – compromises one might expect particularly from the low roof line are simply not evident once in it, and the surroundings are very upmarket.

The car is potent as befits a performance-pitched brand, but also very well-behaved and one would imagine easy to live with. The irritations are few, even the central touchscreen – on first view it might appear that one will need a PHD to work it, but the functions soon become familiar.

At prices that start from just under £70k this is definitely a premium SUV, but one that can truly provide an alternative to the German heavyweight brands.    

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