Polestar 3 here 2023 at about $160k

POLESTAR has confirmed its large SUV, the Polestar 3, will launch globally on October 12 and is expected to land in Australia by mid next year with a price of around $160,000 plus on-road costs.

The fully electric SUV – which is similar in size to the Volvo XC90 but with only five seats – aims at the premium SUV segment with crosshairs zeroing in on customers including those considering the Porsche Cayenne and Taycan Cross.

In concept, it also claims the ground of the Audi e-Tron, BMW iX and upcoming Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV. The Polestar 3 sits on the SPA2 platform which it will share with Volvo’s 2024 seven-seat EX90 eSUV.

Two variants are proposed for Australia: the 360kW/840Nm “Launch Edition” long-range and the 380kW/910Nm “Performance Option”. Polestar claims a range of up to 600km.

Concurrent with the Polestar 3 launch, the company will roll out infrastructure packages of charging stations for owners’ homes and work.

Announcing the Polestar 3 for Australia in Perth this week, the brand’s Australian managing director Samantha Johnson said it was the first car to be built entirely from sustainable and recyclable materials.

It also involved uncompromising support from component suppliers to ensure they committed to follow Polestar’s “Project 0” mandate for a climate-neutral production car by 2030.

The Polestar 3 also marks a new approach to retail with its current online sales program and test-drive centres enhanced with CBD “spaces” to inform prospective buyers of Polestar products. The first “space” is planned for Melbourne this summer.

Ms Johnson said the Polestar 3 was designed as the brand’s flagship SUV and bristles with high-tech features, including Google-based infotainment and access to owner-choice apps; Lidar tech for semi-autonomous driving and self-parking (dependant on regulations); and high-end cabin features and materials.

The incoming Polestar will also accent performance and clearly is aimed at Porsche.

It has an all-wheel drive system that features rear-wheel bias and a dual-clutch system on the rear axle that splits the torque between the wheels.

There is also a dual-chamber air suspension and adaptive dampers that can adjust to suit road conditions, switching between comfort and firm settings, for example, once every two milliseconds.

In a statement, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said: “It’s this instant ability to transform from a comfortable cruiser to a sharp, agile performance car in less than the blink of an eye that makes Polestar 3 special as an electric performance SUV. 

“It also benefits from a low centre of gravity and wide track for ultimate stability, and an exciting feeling behind the wheel.”

There is an optional Performance Pack (with a more powerful 380kW/910Nm drivetrain) that has additional suspension tuning with the ‘tell-all’ gold details – including seatbelts, cabin light strip and tyre valve caps – on the car showing the higher-spec variant.

Polestar in Australia has sold 694 of its Polestar 2 models – the only one available to date – this year. Ms Johnson said that demand for the band was so strong that if supply was available, it could have doubled that figure.

Australia is one of the latest Polestar markets. The company said that by 2023, its products will be available in 30 markets.

The cars are built in two factories in China and one in the US. Australian Polestar 2 are made in China, as will the Polestar 3.

Polestar, which now makes only full EVs, launched its first, the hybrid Polestar 1, in 2019 and ended production in 2021.

It followed in 2021 with the Polestar 2 and, from this year, plans to launch one new EV a year, starting with Polestar 3. The Polestar 4 (mid-size SUV to rival the Porsche Macan) is expected to follow in 2023 and in 2024, the Polestar 5 four-door performance sedan which is the production version of the Polestar Precept concept.