Polestar has been on a roadshow across Australia this week with its upcoming Polestar 3 electric family SUV. I got a chance to check it out in person at Polestar’s Melbourne Space so here are my first impressions of the brand’s first large electric SUV.
From the outside, it has a fairly low and elegant look. Like the new Polestar 2, the front grille is covered from one “Thor hammer” headlight to the other.
The front of the car is lower than what you would expect from most SUVs, which does make the Polestar 3 stand out from all the other taller, bulkier SUVs we see on the road today.
The Polestar 3 interior is elegant with a narrow wide screen behind the steering wheel that displays key driving information. The steering wheel itself is quite minimalist and has a flat bottom, giving it a sporty feel when holding it.
There is also a larger vertically mounted infotainment screen that has all the Android Automotive with Google in-built features. It feels similar to navigate as the recently tested Polestar 2 refresh.
A wireless charging pad is also found underneath the screen, making charging a phone convenient.
The seats in the front are also very comfortable with good lumber support and sporty feel. This obviously needs to be tested on Australian roads.
The rear seats have a soft leather finish, the centre armrest have cup holders enclosed and the yellow seat belts give it a sporty look. The legroom in the back is plenty, but road trip comfort levels are yet to be tested.
The boot has plenty of space too with a hidden storage compartment underneath the boot shelf. A retractable parcel shelf is also included to hide anything in the boot.
Overall, the Polestar 3 is a step up on the Polestar 2 in terms of the premium feel and classier look. This is expected though with the starting price of $132,900 excluding on-road costs. This is for the Long-range Dual motor edition, which packs 360 kW of power.
The top-of-the-range Polestar 3, Long-range Dual motor with Performance Pack which was on show comes in at $141,900 plus on-roads.
The Performance pack adds more power to the dual-electric motors to help them produce up to 380 kW of power and 910 Nm of torque. The total cost of the Polestar 3 on show in Melbourne was $175,771 with the pilot pack and plus pack included.
Both versions are powered by a 111kWh battery pack which can deliver up to 610 km WLTP, range. We look forward to test-driving the new Polestar 3 when it lands in 2024
Riz is the founder of carloop based in Melbourne, specialising in Australian EV data, insight reports and trends. He is a mechanical engineer who spent the first 7 years of his career building transport infrastructure before starting carloop. He has a passion for cars, particularly EVs and wants to help reduce transport emissions in Australia. He currently drives a red Tesla Model 3.