2024 Polestar 3 electric SUV is the young brand's mission statement

Polestar took a significant step towards becoming a mainstream luxury brand by unveiling the 3, an electric SUV positioned at the top of its range. The young company’s first entry into the hotly-contested SUV segment blazes a path that future additions to the lineup will follow.

In many ways, the 3 represents Polestar’s mission statement. Its first and second models — the aptly-named 1 and 2 — were Volvo offshoots; the 3 was designed for the brand from the get-go, though it’s built on Volvo’s new SPA2 platform. It’s bigger than it might look in photos: it stretches 193 inches long, 64 inches tall and 83.5 inches wide including the door mirrors, and it weighs between 5,696 and 5,886 pounds depending on how it’s configured. In comparison, the current-generation Volvo XC90 stretches 195 inches long, 70 inches tall and 84.3 inches wide, and it tips the scale between 4,387 and 5,145 pounds depending on the options and the powertrain selected.

Visually, the 3 inaugurates the design language that will permeate future Polestar models. Its front end wears a new version of the T-shaped LED daytime running lights seen on the 1 and the 2 and a bumper with a horizontal insert where you’d expect to find a grille. The roof line leans more towards style than utility, though it steers clear of four-door-coupe territory, and the rear end is dominated by a thin light bar.

Minimalism is the order of the day in the cabin. The driver faces a three-spoke steering wheel, a digital instrument cluster and a dashboard with horizontal trim pieces that augment the sense of width. Don’t look for buttons on the dashboard or on the center console; every function is lumped into a 14.5-inch, portrait-oriented display programmed with the next evolution of the 2’s Android-powered infotainment system. 

Beyond infotainment, there is a tremendous amount of technology stuffed beneath the sheet metal — including some features that will undoubtedly raise a few eyebrows. The 3 is the first member of the Polestar range fitted with Nvidia’s DRIVE automotive platform, which serves a number of functions. It processes the data generated by the armada of onboard sensors and cameras and uses it to power the electronic driving aids. It also powers the driver monitoring technology, which is a closed-loop system that relies on two cameras to track your eyes and detect whether you’re distracted, drowsy or disconnected, and act accordingly. Its responses vary from triggering audible and visual warning messages to initiating an emergency stop, though there’s no word yet on precisely when or how it brings the car to a halt.

Keep the rear seats up and you’ve got 17.1 cubic feet of space for your stuff. Folding them down increases that figure to 49.8, including a 3.2-cubic-foot compartment under the trunk floor. There’s not much of a frunk: Polestar pegs its capacity at 1.1 cubic feet.

The list of standard features reflects Polestar’s upmarket ambitions. Factory equipment includes 21-inch wheels, LED exterior lighting, a panoramic roof panel, heated front seats, four USB-C charging ports, adaptive cruise control and a surround-view camera. Options include two equipment packages called Plus and Pilot, respectively. Plus bundles a 25-speaker (!) Bowers & Wilkins sound system, a power-adjustable steering column, soft-close doors, a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats, among other features. Pilot adds Pilot Assist, Park Assist Pilot, and a head-up display. Both packages will be standard during the 3’s first model year on the market, however.

At launch, Polestar will only offer the 3 with a pair of electric motors (one per axle) rated at 489 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough for a 0-60-mph time of 4.9 seconds and a 130-mph top speed. The motors are linked to a big, 111-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack expected to deliver about 300 miles of driving range, and using a 250-kilowatt charger should replenish the 3 from 10% to 80% in approximately half an hour. Brembo brakes and an air suspension system comes standard, and the 3 can tow up to 3,500 pounds.

It’s not too far-fetched to imagine that other variants will join the lineup in the coming years, though nothing is official at this point. In the meantime, buyers who want a more powerful 3 can order a Performance Pack priced at $6,000 that bumps horsepower and torque up to 617 and 671, respectively. The power hike lowers the 0-60 time to 4.6 seconds while reducing the 3’s estimated driving range to around 270 miles. Selecting the Performance Pack also adds an optimized air suspension system and specific 22-inch wheels.

Built in Chengdu, China, the Polestar 3 starts at $85,300 including a $1,400 destination charge. Motorists who want to reserve an early build slot can reserve the crossover online, and deliveries are scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023. Polestar plans to start building the 3 in the new Ridgeville, South Carolina, plant that currently builds the Volvo S60 halfway through 2024.