Polestar 3 Review

Introduction

The Polestar 2 has been the subject of nearly every headline from the Swedish-born manufacturer for what seems like forever. The car has dominated its lineup, but while it's not bad at all, it's nice to have something else to talk about.

The brief dalliance by Polestar 1 was essentially a test run to get the brand into public consciousness, and it quickly faded. It was also a plug-in hybrid, which no longer aligns with Polestar’s vision as an all-electric brand.

Happily, the next one is finally here: the Polestar 3.

While the Polestar 2 is aimed at the executive end of the saloon market (despite not being a saloon), the Polestar 3 is a mid-size crossover SUV suitable for families.

However, the part-Volvo-owned manufacturer claims it “drives like a sports car”.

We will be the judge of that.

Polestar may have a point, though, because while it’s unmistakably SUV-sized, it’s got a low profile. Given that electric cars are partly about energy saving, we're sure that the spoiler on the back isn't just for show.

While the car shares DNA with Volvo’s new seven-seater EX90, Polestar won’t welcome the comparison.

The EX90 - the electric equivalent of Volvo’s flagship XC90 SUV - is built for practicality. At the same time, the five-seater Polestar 3 is intended to be its more athletic cousin with a distinct personality, appealing to keen drivers.

That should mean decent agility and sporty performance.

At A Glance

While Polestar may want to distance itself from Volvo, you can see the resemblance.

The panel covering the absent grille looks a perfect fit for a Volvo grille and badge.

Its headlights look like hammers on their sides, while two triangular cut-outs beneath are joined together by a slit running along the front, above rugged black cladding.

The smooth sides feature pop-out door handles and no indentations, with the only creases defining the wheel arches.

The skirts rise to emphasise more cladding, while the unmistakable Volvo shoulder bulge is visible, particularly from the back.

Meanwhile, the downward roofline slope rises at the rear, revealing an almost vertical rear window and a spoiler.

A sizeable LED lightbar connects the taillights, while even thicker cladding completes the car’s smart appearance.

It is futuristic and modern, certainly, but it can look awkward in some places.

Key Features

As with the Polestar 2, the Polestar 3 doesn’t have individual trim levels.

Instead, you pick the model: the electric motor - or motors.

Entry-level is the Long-Range Single Motor, producing 299PS.

There is also a Long-Range Dual Motor, which outputs 489PS; adding a Performance Pack increases the power to 517PS.

It has 20-inch alloys, a 14.5-inch Google-derived infotainment touchscreen with Google Maps navigation, Apple CarPlay, DAB+ radio, voice control and a nine-inch digital driver display.

A rear control screen, Bowers and Wilkins audio system, keyless entry, electrically adjustable heated front sports seats with memory function, three-zone climate control, Brembo brakes and LED headlights are also included.

Both Long-Range Single Motor and Long-Range Dual Motor versions have the same specs, while the Performance Pack upgrades to 22-inch wheels and includes Pirelli P Zero tyres, chassis tuning, and gold décor.

It is currently available in the Launch Edition spec, which includes two optional extra packs as standard, which we'll cover later.

We are testing the Long-Range Dual Motor version (without the Performance Pack).

Range & Batteries

The Polestar 3 gets a 111kWh (107kWh usable) battery, capable of an impressive 403-mile range in the Single Motor, only dropping to 392 miles in the Dual Motor.

Choosing the latter with the Performance Pack reduces the range to 348 miles.

In practice, you won’t achieve these figures – anything above 70 per cent of the claimed range is normal.

Performance & Drive

The Single Motor version gets from 0-62mph in 7.8 seconds. That is more than adequate for a family SUV, and thanks to an instantaneous burst of torque typical of all-electric cars, it feels even pacier than this.

Nevertheless, by making sports car claims in its marketing, Polestar is clearly trying to appeal to those who want more.

If you’re among them, you’ll probably like to know that the Dual Motor significantly reduces the 0-62mph time to 5.0 seconds, decreasing slightly further to 4.7 seconds with the Performance Pack.

The pack doesn't add much in terms of outright speed, so it’s hard to justify, especially as the price jump from Single Motor to Dual Motor is similar to the cost of adding the Performance Pack to the latter, give or take a few hundred quid.

However, considering the price of an equivalent BMW or Mercedes-Benz is considerably more for similar performance, the Polestar 3 looks like a bargain.

But while 0-62 times hog the limelight, it’s in this corner that the big premium brands really stand out from the crowd.

Thankfully, the Polestar 3 delivers with aplomb.

It is excellent at tackling twisty B-roads, and on our test drive, we took it on a fast-paced country road.

It resisted body roll exceptionally well, while the steering, which weighted up nicely in the corners, made it easy to place accurately.

It has some tricks up its sleeve, such as torque vectoring, which sends the power to whichever wheel needs it most – and the resulting grip is impressive.

Adaptive air suspension means it'll adjust itself to road conditions, too - and, of course, if you want the best handling, set it to 'Firm', and it'll deliver keen cornering by the bucketload.

The downside is the ride comfort.

Yes, you can tune it via the infotainment screen – and we only used ‘Firm’ mode to test its agility – but even in its softest setting, the Polestar 3 rides hard.

Enormous wheels don’t help - the 20-inch rims on the standard car are the smallest available, and 22-inch alloys are only available with the Performance Pack.

However, although we don’t have the Performance Pack fitted, Polestar has included the 22-inch alloys.

None of Polestar's wheel sizes are so uncomfortable they’re unbearable, but this isn’t a car that’s going to be forgiving on roads full of lumps, so on balance, we’d prefer the smallest available.

Nevertheless, at least the 3 knows what it’s doing at any given time, so it can automatically adjust the suspension to suit.

It is still easy to drive around town centres and has the performance and agility to zip into gaps on ring roads.

Equally, the Polestar is capable of wafting along at higher speeds on motorways and, despite the firmness of the ride, doesn’t get particularly tiring on longer journeys.

Road and wind noise is very well damped out, adding to the serenity.

Charging

The batteries can charge at a maximum rate of 250kW – faster than any equivalent Audi, BMW or Mercedes-Benz.

This results in a 10-80 per cent top-up in just 30 minutes, although only some public chargers can currently manage such speeds.

If you have a home wall box charger capable of 11kW, a full 0-100 per cent charge takes 11 hours.

Running Costs & Emissions

Being electric, the Polestar 3 has minimal running costs and, despite electricity price hikes, it’s still generally cheaper than filling up with diesel or petrol.

With no CO2 emissions, you’ll be treated well by the taxman – it’s in the bottom band for Benefit In Kind tax, making it a tempting acquisition for company car owners.

Road tax is free for now, too, although electric cars will be charged from April next year.

The car is new, so we don't know how it'll fare reliability-wise, but it’s encouraging that it shares its DNA with Volvo, which isn’t amazing but ahead of most of its rivals.

Interior & Technology

If you're familiar with the interior of the Polestar 2, the Polestar 3 will not look alien to you.

There is little to look at, with the cabin steeped in a minimalist philosophy that reduces ungainly buttons and switches and maximises smooth, undisturbed surfaces.

The steering wheel looks wide, partly a trick of its design, given the large silver surrounds on the enormous spokes. More brushed aluminium also stretches from one side to the other behind it.

With little else on display, the large 14.5-inch infotainment tablet dominates – bolted to the dashboard in portrait orientation rather than the more conventional landscape. This is because, like Volvo and a couple of other manufacturers, it uses a Google-developed system, meaning apps like Google Maps, which provides the SatNav, are native to the car.

As the system is Android-based, Android Auto isn’t offered as it would be redundant, although Apple CarPlay is.

The system is lovely. It offers a responsive screen with modern graphics, a sharp, high-resolution display, and an uncomplicated and intuitive menu layout.

Some of the icons on some menus are a bit small, but that's a minor criticism. It is one of the best systems we've come across, and it allows you to customise the shortcut buttons, which is handy.

The smaller nine-inch digital instrument display is behind the wheel and shows helpful information such as your speed and the car's remaining range. It can also display the Google SatNav map via Android Auto – another advantage of a native Google system.

A head-up display from the included Plus Pack adds further convenience, as you don’t even need to take your eyes off the road.

The build quality feels good – everything seems solidly screwed together – while a few cheaper, thinner plastics are mostly hidden.

Its excellent interior will impress those who might have otherwise opted to lease an Audi or BMW.

Arguably, the German giants are still ahead, but not by much.

Practicality & Boot Space

The Polestar 3's seats are comfortable and offer plenty of support, even if you take bends at speed.

Finding a chilled position is easy enough. One control on each of the front seats provides the electric adjustment, although the steering wheel is set through a combination of infotainment menus and buttons.

The touchscreen allows you to save your seating position, which is especially useful if multiple people drive the car.

You sit reasonably high up, given the car has a lower-than-average stance for an SUV, so forward visibility is reasonable, especially as Polestar has kept the front windscreen pillars as thin as possible.

The rear pillars are hugely obstructive to your over-the-shoulder vision, though, as the windows taper inwards aggressively.

Front and rear parking sensors come factory fitted, along with a rear-view camera (although a 360-degree surround-view camera is included with the Pilot Pack), which helps mitigate any issues.

Front occupants will have oodles of space, with the Polestar 3 offering plenty of legroom and headroom despite Polestar keeping the car fairly low.

However, the back is even more notable, with enough legroom for shorter passengers to really stretch out - and even headroom is plentiful.

There are downsides, though, with the floor being relatively high in the back. This would compromise under-thigh support, but Polestar appears to have resolved this with extra cushioning at the front of the outer rear seats. However, this cushioning extends to the sides of each of the outer seats, too, limiting the space for a middle-seat passenger.

Three in the back isn’t as comfortable as you might think, given the amount of space on offer, but with this much legroom, few will be complaining.

Inevitably, the trade-off for rear legroom is a smaller boot. This measures 484 litres up to the parcel shelf and 597 litres to the roof, expanding to 1,411 litres when the rear seats are folded down. The seats can fold in a convenient, versatile 40:20:40 split.

A so-called 'frunk' under the bonnet provides 32 litres of additional storage, a common feature on electric cars.

Interior storage is provided by fairly large door bins, a couple of big cupholders, a sizeable cubby in the central armrest, and an even larger storage space on the floor between the front seats.

Safety

The safety professionals at Euro NCAP have yet to test the Polestar 3, but there should be no concerns.

The only Polestar ever tested – the Polestar 2 – achieved a five-star rating in 2021, scoring 93 per cent for adult occupants, 89 per cent for children and 83 per cent for safety assists.

What’s more, the Polestar 3 is based on a Volvo, a manufacturer known for taking safety exceptionally seriously. Indeed, no Volvo has ever failed to score five stars in the 15 years that the overall star ratings have existed.

As if that wasn't enough, the Polestar 3 has a suite of safety systems and driver assistance technology.

Automatic emergency braking, adaptive cruise control, blind spot information with steer assist, a driver monitoring system with steering recommendation, and electronic stability control are all standard.

You also get intelligent speed assist with speed limit information and warnings, an automatic speed limit, lane departure warning, lane keeping aid, oncoming lane mitigation, traffic sign information, and run-off road mitigation.

The Pilot Pack, included as standard in the Launch Edition version, comprises pilot assist, lane change assist, rear cross-traffic alert, nine exterior cameras, a dozen ultrasonic sensors, and a 360-degree 3D camera.

Options

The Polestar 3 offers several optional extras.

Magnesium silvery-grey is the default colour, while white, dark grey, light grey, dark blue and black are also available, although these alternatives aren’t cheap.

There is the Pilot Pack we mentioned earlier, while the separate Pilot Pack With LiDAR scans the area around the car and adds three additional cameras.

The optional Plus Pack is also included as standard in the Launch Edition car. It boasts noise cancellation, headrest speakers, a head-up display, and an infrared filter to the windscreen. It also adds acoustic rear windscreen glass, a foldable boot floor, heated rear seats and steering wheel, and soft-close doors.

Elsewhere, the Pro pack adds 21-inch wheels and gold décor to the seatbelts, tyre valve caps, and a laser-etched light line.

As we covered earlier, the Performance Pack has 22-inch alloys, increased power to 517PS, Pirelli P Zero tyres, chassis tuning, and enhanced gold décor.

Furthermore, 1.3-megapixel LED headlights are offered if you have both Pro and Plus Packs.

Rear privacy glass and an electric tow bar are also available, as well as a choice of alternative upholstery materials, including Nappa leather.

Rival Cars

Of course, everyone thinks of Tesla as the main alternative to Polestar – and that’s true with the Model Y, which is considerably cheaper, albeit slightly smaller.

The Model X is slightly bigger but isn’t available in the UK at the moment.

There is plenty of choice from traditional premium brands, such as BMW’s iX, Audi’s Q8 e-tron, and Mercedes’ EQE SUV.

Volvo's parent company offers the EX90. Porsche's Cayenne is also worth considering, while Ford has the Mustang Mach E.

If you’re looking for something at the upper limits of the Polestar 3’s leasing price range, then Lotus’s new SUV, the Eletre, may also appeal.

Verdict & Next Steps

Overall, the Polestar 3 is very tempting.

It is practical, has a notable range, looks modern and contemporary, offers a nice interior, performs well in a straight line and handles well around corners.

Although it doesn't look cheap to lease on paper, it's very keenly priced compared with many of the premium alternatives.

However, some competitors can beat it for practicality, and if you opt for the Performance Pack version, you'll be in for a harsher ride.

We would stick with the Single Motor variant, which offers plenty of performance and most of the essential creature comforts - although the Dual Motor is worth it if you’re after a performance car.

The Polestar 3 certainly puts up a good fight, which will concern long-established rivals.

Where to next?

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**Score based on Select’s unique meta score analysis, taking into account the UK’s top leading independent car website reviews of the Polestar 3.

**Correct as of 06/11/2024. Based on 9 months initial payment, 5,000 miles annually, over a 48 month lease. Initial payment equivalent to 9 monthly payments, or £6,999.03 (Plus admin fee) Ts and Cs apply. Credit is subject to status.