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Two-row, five-seat electrical SUV
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Estimated vary: 279 miles (Efficiency Pack), 315 miles (base)
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0-60 mph, 4.8 seconds (base); 4.5 seconds (Efficiency Pack)
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Worth: $80,300, Launch Version; could also be eligible for Federal incentives
Polestar’s new electrical SUV has been delayed by software program points, and it has seen sister model Volvo has reduce its funding, leaving the fledgling EV model by itself to forge a brand new path.
However that path appears brightly lit, now that we’ve pushed the 2025 Polestar 3. It’s not essentially the most environment friendly electrical SUV on the street; the Tesla Mannequin Y simply outpaces it there. However the smooth new EV revels in trip and inside high quality that set it other than that groundbreaking, bestselling mannequin.
Polestar sees the three additionally as a rival for the hybrid-enabled Porsche Cayenne, and it clearly treads a few of the identical floor as its platform-mate, the upcoming Volvo EX90. But when nothing else, the three jogs my memory of a XC90, in its poise and low-gloss refinement—with a decade’s value of structural and effectivity enhancements logged in like code revisions.
If there’s an electric-car denier in your family, this is perhaps the car to alter their thoughts.
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
How does the 2025 Polestar 3 carry out?
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111-kwh battery pack (107 kwh usable), twin 180-kw motors
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Vary: 315 miles; Efficiency Pack, 279 miles
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0-60 mph: 4.5-4.8 seconds (base vs. Efficiency Pack)
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2.2-2.6 miles per kwh (our estimate)
On a current check drive from the middle of Madrid to Segovia and again, the Polestar 3 sped alongside motorways and dove by means of niches between excessive hills, leaving solely behind optimistic driving impressions. It packs on a number of weight to ship luxury-car really feel, however doesn’t depart precision behind.
The essential format of the dual-motor, all-wheel-drive Polestar 3 places equivalent 180-kw motors on the axles, framing bracketing a 111-kwh battery pack with 107 kwh of usable power. Polestar charges the setup at 489 hp and 620 lb-ft of torque, which propels the SUV to 60 mph in 4.8 seconds.
Add on the Efficiency Pack for $6,000, and Polestar jailbreaks the battery and motors for an additional 28 hp and 51 lb-ft of torque. There’s extra by way of suspension tuning and refined beauty modifications like gold-painted Brembo brake calipers and gold seatbelts, however the bragging rights right here prolong largely to a 0-60 mph time of 4.5 seconds. Prime velocity stays put at 130 mph.
All that hustle comes at some price. The SUV can decouple its rear electrical motor to enhance effectivity—and in doing so can drive for as much as 315 miles of Polestar-estimated vary, however that dips to 279 miles with the Efficiency Pack. These figures are on par with the usual Mannequin Y, however fall behind these of the Tesla’s efficiency version, partly as a result of it outweighs that automobile by about 1,500 kilos, at 5,886 kilos in its portliest configuration.
However the Polestar 3 carries a marked benefit over Tesla in the way in which it grips the street with out white-knuckling it. It’s configured for agile however compliant dealing with, with its quick-ratio electrical steering, a twin-clutch rear axle that distributes energy extra merely than a 3rd motor may, and, on this mannequin, two-mode air springs and adaptive damping. There’s valuable little additional steering movement concerned right here—the Polestar 3 takes path snappily—and it irons out pavement admirably, even on automobiles with 22-inch wheels. Tesla’s generally brittle trip high quality can’t muster this sophistication; nor does it pay the vary penalty from the air suspension’s power-hungry methods.
Polestar’s one-pedal drive mode leaves the rubber-band regenerative braking to different automobiles. It’s easy, maybe too gradual in its onset even in essentially the most adventurous regen setting (there are three). Its friction brakes mix in effectively, and have 15.8-inch vented entrance discs to haul down one hefty car. Efficiency Pack vehicles get these 4-piston Brembo calipers and extra taut tuning, however we spent solely a quick stint in a single and should anticipate an extended, U.S.-based drive earlier than saying extra.
Drivers can toggle their Polestar 3 by means of drive modes that spare some battery or throw vary warning to the wind. The three additionally has driver-selectable modes for trip and steering firmness, however all are buried behind an icon on the all-important touchscreen.
A agency suspension and steering setting don’t intrude a lot in any respect on its poised manners—nevertheless it’s irritating to need to cease to faucet into a unique mode safely.
A faucet faucets Off-road mode, too, and that grants the Polestar 3 one other two inches of floor clearance past the same old 8.3 inches. Commonplace self-leveling help with the air springs assist it alongside to an total towing capability of three,500 kilos.
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
2025 Polestar 3 outglams the Mannequin Y
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192.9 inches lengthy
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117.5-inch wheelbase
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1.1 cubic-foot entrance trunk
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17.1 cubic ft of cargo house behind the rear seats
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49.8 cubic ft of room behind the entrance seats
The Polestar 3 caps its succesful EV skateboard with passenger house outfitted in excessive Scandinavian fashion. Which means low-gloss all the pieces and minimal fuss—perhaps too minimal by a level.
The tapered physique units a particular SUV tone, one which reads extra like a sport wagon. With all its seams tightened and flattened for much less drag, the three has a particular instrument throughout its nostril for higher aero: a wing cut up beneath the pickaxe emblem into three sections, which direct the wind over the physique and towards the tail, the place one other wing shuttles it downward. Polestar has no styling guidelines to interrupt, so why not?
Inside, the cabin conforms rather more readily to the Swedish norm, impressed and iterated to a brand new benchmark. A single line cuts throughout almost the entire sprint, bisecting comfortable trim from wooden or aluminum items with a strip of air vents hidden solely partly by the 14.5-inch portrait-style touchscreen. A 9.0-inch rectangular show on the steering wheel broadcasts primary info whereas a head-up show throws extra element up on the windshield.
Set-up of those shows and the seats, mirrors, and different firmware generally is a ache. Polestar buries many of the controls in touchscreen capabilities, and attracts its icons in pale, skinny fonts. Want to regulate a facet mirror? That requires a faucet or two, then a flick of steering-wheel controls to maneuver it into place. It’s a fussy process that perhaps future drivers will take as gospel. The remainder of the inside will get placed on mute, particularly when it’s wearing grey and black. On the upside, the supplies rise a magnitude or three above the Tesla norm, and the few glints of character—just like the gold seatbelts on the Efficiency Pack automobile—matter all that rather more in distinction.
Polestar’s Volvo cousin has lengthy claimed a few of the greatest seats within the automotive universe, and these aren’t any totally different, with a lot of changes obtainable to the facet, again, and backside bolsters. The again seat advantages from broad door cuts and a deep, correctly angled seat backside. Upholstery ranges from artificial leather-based in base automobiles to nappa leather-based or wool. Folding down the rear seatbacks renders the Polestar 3 virtually prepared for automobile tenting, with greater than 70 inches of inside size. That sounds overly pragmatic for a automobile with doorways that shut and not using a clang, or propulsion that hardly emits a legally required burble. So let’s name it automobile glamping.
2025 Polestar 3 Efficiency Pack, check drive, Madrid
What’s the 2025 Polestar 3’s value?
The $80,300 Polestar 3 Launch Version noticed a current value reduce to get it beneath the quantity that will make it eligible for the $7,500 federal EV tax incentive, nevertheless it’s unclear whether or not it will likely be eligible for individuals who buy in addition to those that lease. The very first variations will come from China, however as of August 1, Polestar will assemble the three in South Carolina. Keep tuned for clarification as as to whether it will get that large break.
Launch Editions carry automated emergency braking, adaptive cruise management, 20-inch wheels, a surround-view digicam system, and artificial leather-based trim. Additionally included on the Launch Version are options that can ultimately be cut up out into the Plus Pack and Pilot Pack on subsequent 2025 model-year automobiles—options starting from the head-up show and air suspension to a 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system. Polestar’s Android interface means there’s no Apple CarPlay, although Spotify and Tidal service have native apps.
A Pilot Pack with lidar features extra sensors that can increase its hands-free driver help by means of OTA updates, as these options develop into obtainable. And all Polestar 3 SUVs carry a 4-year/50,000-mile guarantee that features three years or 30,000 miles’ value of free scheduled upkeep.
Base Polestar 3 SUVs will price $74,300 after they arrive later this yr. All in, it’s straightforward to see a totally loaded mannequin checking in just under $100,000.
Polestar has extra automobiles within the pipeline, along with the already-available 2 sedan. We’ll inform you extra concerning the Polestar 4 sedan in just a few weeks. A Polestar 5 and 6 are coming, too, on a brand new platform developed in-house and assembled within the firm’s personal manufacturing unit. Polestar then plans for a 7 which…will in the future exchange the Polestar 2. We’re undecided concerning the naming technique. However the automobiles thus far—whereas they haven’t set new benchmarks in charging, effectivity or velocity—have hit the mark on luxurious and EV efficiency. A 1 right here, a 2 there, and now a 3—for Polestar, it’s all beginning to add up.
Polestar paid for journey bills to Spain in order that we might convey you this check drive evaluate.
