What informed the design of Polestar’s first SUV

POLESTAR Australia last week embarked on a rolling preview of the forthcoming Polestar 3 model through some Australian capital cities (Sydney, Melbourne, and Perth) presumably to sure-up interested parties including customers waiting for their car to be delivered.

Order books were opened, and pricing announced for the fully electric large SUV way back in February this year with a hoped for arrival date in Q1 next year, pushed back to late in Q2, and depending on the spec, possibly even later as a result of “software issues.”

Polestar Australia says it is holding plenty of orders for the sexy looking luxury SUV with customers focusing on the style, specification, and size of the incoming 3.

The Sino-Scandinavian auto maker trotted out one of its senior designers, Nahun Escobedo, all the way from Gothenburg, Sweden, for a three-day Aussie whirlwind tour alongside a striking, white, right-hand drive example of the big family carry-all… and to provide insight on its (superb) design.

Some worthy nuggets of info’ came out of Mr Escobedo’s presentation including that the Polestar 3 is his first Polestar assignment.

The US educated engineer/designer said, “We carried out lots of research before committing to a design for the Polestar 3 especially as EVs offer more opportunity from a design perspective”.

“We asked ourselves, what can we do to make this vehicle unique particularly with the challenges of aerodynamics and electrification?” he said.

“We wanted to ensure it looked good and not derivative of other electric SUVs and it had to be functional and serve a purpose.”

This data informed Mr Escobedo and his team on opting for a two row, four/five seat configuration for the Polestar 3 instead of cramming three rows in as is the case with many other “family” size vehicles.

“The design process starts from sketches of different versions of the car that straight away told us it would not be boxy, particularly at the rear which is a common style these days,” he added.

“It’s trial and error as you can imagine until we are happy with the result.”

The architecture (chassis and other underpinnings) is shared with Volvo’s forthcoming new XC90 which brings a long wheelbase, low mounted seats and flat floor along with a large luggage space at the rear and a frunk at the front.

For aero efficiency and a sleek look, Mr Escobedo and his team ran with a low coupe style roofline which allows a low centre line of the car (horizontal middle of the doors) while retaining a practical ride height as befits an SUV.

“The Polestar 3 still has good ground clearance despite its low stance, “said Mr Escobedo.

The vehicle features a rounded frontal area with a novel wing integrated into the leading edge of the bonnet for aerodynamic gains… it is rated at 0.29Cd.

“The wing allows air flow to stick to the car along its side with a range of benefits including reducing interior noise levels. It functions in concert with a rear wing integrated into the top of the tailgate to smooth the laminar flow across the vehicle,” explained Mr Escobedo.

The model features characteristic Polestar Thor’s Hammer headlights and other family styling cues across the exterior but something new are the “starburst” taillights that illuminate on approach and are a signature of the Polestar 3.

Mr Ecobedo said the designers have clustered most autonomous sensor tech’ at the front of the car but interestingly, failed to position the recharge port in the middle at the front which is arguably the most practical position. It is on the passenger side rear flank.

Technology partners guided the design effort on Polestar 3 integrating its many electrical systems and sensors including a roof mounted LIDAR.

Seating is all captain’s style chairs which suggests a four-seater but on examination, the rear pew can accommodate three.

When asked about the five instead of seven seat configuration, the designer, who has a penchant for American muscle cars and sports cars, said he didn’t want a big, tall SUV and didn’t want to design a seven seat people mover, “and the trick was to get the aero right on Polestar 3”.

Mr Escobedo said he was not tempted to equip the 3 with a “fest of lights” preferring to create a calm atmosphere inside with uncluttered subtle lighting … not too many.

However, when it comes to the audio system, the Polestar has a potentially record setting 28 speakers dotted inside and outside supplied by premium manufacturer Bowers & Wilkins.

The outside speakers are to warn pedestrians of the car’s presence.

Efforts to declutter the interior were successful as it has minimal switches and buttons with most controls and functions activated through the large portrait style screen in the middle of the low level “Scando-design” dash.

The Polestar 2’s Android Automotive OS was developed with Google and is carried over into the Polestar 3.

Mr Escobedo said the Polestar was, like all other Polestar models, built with sustainability front of mind in terms of design, manufacture and materials used.

“The Polestar 3 is built responsibly with all stages of its build transparent to the public,” he said.

Following on from Polestar 2, which was the first vehicle globally to use Blockchain technology to trace the cobalt used in its batteries, Polestar will expand its partnership with traceability partner, Circulor, and use Blockchain to trace cobalt, lithium, mica, nickel and leather in Polestar 3.

The new model features three upholstery alternatives: animal welfare secured Nappa leather, bio-attributed MicroTech vinyl, and animal welfare certified wool.

Polestar says each material has been carefully selected and developed to create a more sustainable expression of premium.

GoAuto asked Mr Escobedo when designers and engineers will start addressing the ever-increasing weight cycle (bigger batteries and bigger electric motors = bigger brakes, wheels, tyres, suspension, steering and other components) of BEVs including the 2600kg Polestar 3.

His reply… “We are expected to fit numerous features to these cars which all add to weight but are on a learning curve which we hope will start to reduce weight in the future.”

To recap, the incoming Polestar 3 large electric SUV starts from $132,900 excluding on-road costs for the Long Range dual motor launch version that comes equipped as standard with the Pilot and Plus Packs.

A Performance Pack that increases power and performance but reduces range will cost $9000 more bumping the price to $141,900 +ORC.

It is Polestar’s first SUV, with order books already open and the company fielding some 7000 expressions of interest.

Competitors for the sleek Swedish SUV built in China include BMW’s iX starting from $130,900, the Jaguar I-Pace from $147,475 and the upcoming Audi SQ8  e-Tron from $153,900 all excluding on road costs.

Few options save for so-called Packs, are available as the automaker wanted it that way for “easy configuration” with benefits to production schedules, costs and to the customer.

All variants boast air suspension, a full-length self-tinting panoramic glass roof, LED lighting inside and out, retractable door handles with proximity sensing, and 21-inch alloy wheels.

Polestar 3 uses a dual-motor configuration, with an electric traction motor driving each axle and a power bias towards the rear for a sporty drive feel. The system produces a total of 360kW and 840Nm of torque which rises to 380kW and 910Nm with the Performance pack.

As is the case with some other BEVs, the Polestar 3 provides adjustable one-pedal drive utilising the regenerative braking system to modulate slowing (to a stop).

The 3 has an electric Torque Vectoring Dual Clutch function on the rear axle – an evolution of the system on Polestar 1 that delivers finer traction and drive to the rear wheels while a decoupling function is also available for the rear electric motor that allows the 3 to run using only the front electric motor to save energy.

It has Advanced Chassis Control delivered through dual-chamber air suspension allowing Polestar 3 to automatically adapt between comfort and dynamic suspension characteristics through driving data collection carried out once every two milliseconds (500Hz).

The two electric motors are fed from a 111kWh battery pack that may provide the Polestar 3 with a driving range of up to 610km WLTP, less for the Performance Pack equipped model.

Within the lithium-ion battery is a prismatic cell design that’s housed in a protective aluminium case with boron steel reinforcement and liquid cooling. A heat pump is used to help Polestar 3 utilise ambient heat for climate- and battery preconditioning.

The new model has bidirectional charging for vehicle-to-grid and plug-and-charge capabilities. It is the brand’s first vehicle to feature centralised computing with the NVIDIA DRIVE core computer, the AI ‘brain’ of the Polestar 3 which processes data from the car’s multiple sensors and cameras to enable advanced driver-assistance safety features and driver monitoring.

Collaborations with industry-leading safety technology partners like Zenseact and Smart Eye provide Polestar 3 with cutting-edge Advanced Driver Assistance System (ADAS) technology that integrates seamlessly within this system.

The model features a total of five radar modules, five external cameras and twelve external ultrasonic sensors to support numerous advanced safety features. The SmartZone below the front aero wing collects several of the forward-facing sensors, a heated radar module and camera, and now becomes a signature of Polestar design.