2024 Polestar 3 electric SUV is the young brand’s mission statement
Polestar took a big step in the direction of changing into a mainstream luxurious model by unveiling the three, an electrical SUV positioned on the prime of its vary. The younger firm’s first entry into the hotly-contested SUV section blazes a path that future additions to the lineup will observe.
In some ways, the three represents Polestar’s mission assertion. Its first and second fashions — the aptly-named 1 and a couple of — have been Volvo offshoots; the three was designed for the model from the get-go, although it is constructed on Volvo’s new SPA2 platform. It is larger than it’d look in images: it stretches 193 inches lengthy, 64 inches tall and 83.5 inches vast together with the door mirrors, and it weighs between 5,696 and 5,886 kilos relying on the way it’s configured. Compared, the current-generation Volvo XC90 stretches 195 inches lengthy, 70 inches tall and 84.3 inches vast, and it suggestions the dimensions between 4,387 and 5,145 kilos relying on the choices and the powertrain chosen.
Visually, the three inaugurates the design language that can permeate future Polestar fashions. Its entrance finish wears a brand new model of the T-shaped LED daytime working lights seen on the 1 and the two and a bumper with a horizontal insert the place you’d look forward to finding a grille. The roof line leans extra in the direction of model than utility, although it steers away from four-door-coupe territory, and the rear finish is dominated by a skinny gentle bar.
Minimalism is the order of the day within the cabin. The motive force faces a three-spoke steering wheel, a digital instrument cluster and a dashboard with horizontal trim items that increase the sense of width. Do not search for buttons on the dashboard or on the middle console; each perform is lumped right into a 14.5-inch, portrait-oriented show programmed with the following evolution of the two’s Android-powered infotainment system.
Past infotainment, there’s a super quantity of know-how stuffed beneath the sheet metallic — together with some options that can undoubtedly elevate just a few eyebrows. The three is the primary member of the Polestar vary fitted with Nvidia’s DRIVE automotive platform, which serves a lot of capabilities. It processes the information generated by the armada of onboard sensors and cameras and makes use of it to energy the digital driving aids. It additionally powers the motive force monitoring know-how, which is a closed-loop system that depends on two cameras to trace your eyes and detect whether or not you are distracted, drowsy or disconnected, and act accordingly. Its responses differ from triggering audible and visible warning messages to initiating an emergency cease, although there is not any phrase but on exactly when or the way it brings the automobile to a halt.
Maintain the rear seats up and you have got 17.1 cubic ft of area in your stuff. Folding them down will increase that determine to 49.8, together with a 3.2-cubic-foot compartment underneath the trunk flooring. There’s not a lot of a frunk: Polestar pegs its capability at 1.1 cubic ft.
The checklist of ordinary options displays Polestar’s upmarket ambitions. Manufacturing unit tools contains 21-inch wheels, LED exterior lighting, a panoramic roof panel, heated entrance seats, 4 USB-C charging ports, adaptive cruise management and a surround-view digital camera. Choices embody two tools packages referred to as Plus and Pilot, respectively. Plus bundles a 25-speaker (!) Bowers & Wilkins sound system, a power-adjustable steering column, soft-close doorways, a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats, amongst different options. Pilot provides Pilot Help, Park Help Pilot, and a head-up show. Each packages shall be customary in the course of the 3’s first mannequin 12 months in the marketplace, nonetheless.
At launch, Polestar will solely provide the three with a pair of electrical motors (one per axle) rated at 489 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque. That is sufficient for a 0-60-mph time of 4.9 seconds and a 130-mph prime pace. The motors are linked to a giant, 111-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack anticipated to ship about 300 miles of driving vary, and utilizing a 250-kilowatt charger ought to replenish the three from 10% to 80% in roughly half an hour. Brembo brakes and an air suspension system comes customary, and the three can tow as much as 3,500 kilos.
It is not too far-fetched to think about that different variants will be a part of the lineup within the coming years, although nothing is official at this level. Within the meantime, patrons who need a extra highly effective 3 can order a Efficiency Pack priced at $6,000 that bumps horsepower and torque as much as 617 and 671, respectively. The facility hike lowers the 0-60 time to 4.6 seconds whereas decreasing the three’s estimated driving vary to round 270 miles. Choosing the Efficiency Pack additionally provides an optimized air suspension system and particular 22-inch wheels.
In-built Chengdu, China, the Polestar 3 begins at $85,300 together with a $1,400 vacation spot cost. Motorists who need to reserve an early construct slot can reserve the crossover on-line, and deliveries are scheduled to start within the fourth quarter of 2023. Polestar plans to start out constructing the three within the new Ridgeville, South Carolina, plant that presently builds the Volvo S60 midway by 2024.
