2024 Polestar 3 Prototype Is Promisingly Quick and Refined

Where Volvo leads, Polestar normally follows. Yet that’s not the case this time, in that C/D has driven the new Polestar 3 (in prototype form) before experiencing the closely related Volvo EX90. The finished version of Polestar’s fully electric SUV will be reaching the U.S. in the second half of next year, with the EX90 expected in late 2024. We’re still a ways out, but based on our limited first experience, the Polestar 3 looks promising.

Whereas the Polestar 2 uses the same platform as Volvo combustion models, the Polestar 3 instead rides on an all-new EV architecture, the SPA2 platform. At launch, it will feature a dual-motor all-wheel-drive powertrain with a torque-vectoring rear differential and a substantial 107.0-kWh battery pack. We don’t have EPA numbers yet, but Polestar is predicting the most efficient version will have a range of 300 miles, with the optional Performance pack cutting that slightly to 270 miles.

We drove both the regular and Performance variants at Volvo’s Hällered Proving Ground near Gothenburg, Sweden. The cars weren’t fully finished, with some UI system glitches and various dynamic settings unavailable, but we can tell you that neither will be slow.

The entry-level car boasts 483 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque, with the optional Performance pack increasing those to 510 horses and 671 pound-feet. Even working against curb weights approaching three tons, both variants felt seriously quick. The company quotes a 4.9-second 60-mph time for the standard car and 4.6 seconds for the Performance pack. Both are limited to 130 mph.

Polestar is, in the most literal sense, a design-led brand. CEO Thomas Ingenlath’s previous role was as Volvo’s styling boss, where Polestar design director Max Missoni worked under him. To no surprise, the Polestar 3 is a handsome beast when viewed up close, with myriad neat details. It is considerably bigger than the existing Polestar 2 at 192.9 inches long but also more elegantly proportioned thanks in large part to its sizable 117.5-inch wheelbase.

While the Polestar 2 mixes elements of crossovers and sedans, the Polestar 3 has a more traditional SUV silhouette, although with a rakish falling roofline and only two rows of seating. When he spoke about the new car, Ingenlath cited the Porsche Cayenne Coupe as a potential rival.

The sleek shape has been created for aerodynamic efficiency as well as looks, with a wing element integrated into the front of the hood to help smooth airflow, plus another one above the liftgate glass. These result in a commendably slippery coefficient of drag of 0.29. A full-length panoramic glass roof will be standard, along with 21-inch wheels. The Performance pack brings 22-inchers.

The Polestar 3 continues the brand’s habit of adding small captions to its vehicles, with the battery capacity and power output written on the front doors and a “SmartZone Sensor cluster” label applied to the panel between the headlights. That panel shields a heated radar module and a forward-looking camera; the company plans to later introduce a more powerful lidar system.

There are more labels inside the cabin, where the seats report both what they are made from and the CO2 emissions of the materials that go into them; trim options will include recycled vinyl and a wool blend cloth, as well as extra-cost nappa leather. (We were not surprised to find no environmental-impact tags on the interior’s many pieces of plastic trim.) The cabin is spacious for occupants in both rows and, thanks to the glass roof, light and airy. Luggage space is more limited, with just 14 cubic feet of capacity behind the rear seats, although there is another hidden 3-cubic-foot storage compartment under the load floor. There’s also a dinky 1-cubic-foot frunk for storing charging cables.

While the quality of trim materials and interior finish felt high, the Polestar 3 has largely abolished conventional switchgear. Beyond the touch-sensitive panels on the steering wheel and a combined volume/forward-back knob on the center console, everything is managed by the vast 14.5-inch portrait-orientated central touchscreen, which runs Polestar’s version of Google’s Android Automotive UI system.

Although the prototype system was in a non-finalized configuration, the big screen looked great with graphics crisply rendered, and there are shortcuts to easily reach different groups of functions. But the lack of physical switches will definitely impact ease of use; adjusting the exterior mirrors in the absence of conventional controls took three inputs. Polestar has also followed Volkswagen’s minimalist lead in only having one pair of window switches on the driver’s door, so one needs to separately select rear operation to work the ones in back—an apparent simplification that adds complication.

On the test track, the Polestar 3 proved itself both quick and good to drive, with plentiful grip on the optional Pirelli P Zero summer tires despite temperatures in the low 40s on the day of our drive. Air springs and adaptive dampers will be standard at launch, although we’re told a steel-sprung variant may follow. The air springs provide around two inches of ride height adjustment, allowing the Polestar 3 to raise itself for light off-roading and lower itself at higher speeds. The suspension felt pliant over a variety of surfaces, including a simulated stretch of frost-broken U.S. freeway, and body control was excellent over rougher surfaces and during fast cornering. Refinement impressed, too, with only wind noise from the door mirrors disturbing the calm of the cabin at 80 mph.

The Polestar 3’s rear motor drives through a torque-vectoring differential with dual clutch packs, which allow the motor’s full torque output to be sent to either wheel. Similar systems are fitted to some internal-combustion performance cars, such as the retired Ford Focus RS, but manufacturer BorgWarner says this is the first application in an EV. The system can fully declutch both wheels when they’re not required, turning the Polestar 3 into a front-driver and improving efficiency.

The clever differential works subtle magic, without the aggressive sense of impending oversteer we remember from the Focus RS. Instead, it just fights understeer, helping to keep the Polestar 3 on a chosen line even in slippery conditions and at speeds well beyond the point where it feels as if something so tall and heavy should be starting to run wide. The system also proved its ability to boost traction on Hällered’s off-road course when one side of the car was sitting on a higher-grip surface, a situation that would result in wheelspin with open differentials.

The Polestar 3 offers three levels of energy recuperation, ranging from none (coasting) to a full one-pedal mode. Large 15.7-inch front rotors gripped by four-piston Brembo calipers headline the friction braking system, and the left pedal offered both good weight and feel, with seamless integration between the two braking systems.

The biggest question for early buyers of the Polestar 3 will be whether to go for the Performance pack. In terms of subjective performance, the differences feel almost insignificant, although the Performance model will get additional software tweaks including a punchier throttle map and more aggressive settings for the suspension and the differential. Visual distinctions are minimal: Besides the bigger wheels, the Performance gets a revised power output figure on its door information panel along with gold-colored seatbelts and tire valve caps.

Polestar 3 production has already been delayed, and we’re told that the first cars to reach the U.S. next year will be built in Chengdu, China—with Polestar swallowing the considerable cost of import tariffs before production from the plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, where the Polestar will be produced alongside the Volvo EX90, comes on stream later in the year. Pricing will start at $85,300, with all early cars getting the Plus pack that includes a 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system and the Pilot pack for adaptive cruise control. The Performance pack costs another $6000. With pricing for the EX90 starting at $77,990, it appears the Polestar 3 will be leading its Volvo sibling in cost, too.

Senior European Correspondent

Our man on the other side of the pond, Mike Duff lives in Britain but reports from across Europe, sometimes beyond. He has previously held staff roles on U.K. titles including CAR, Autocar, and evo, but his own automotive tastes tend toward the Germanic: he owns both a troublesome 987-generation Porsche Cayman S and a Mercedes 190E 2.5-16.