Can 2025 Polestar 3 Vault The Brand Forward?

JACKSON, WYO –The Polestar 3 premium battery-electric hatchback CUV is a solid entry into a segment that is getting more crowded. Its biggest challenge will be selling it to a buying public largely unfamiliar with its brand.

Fast, agile and comfortable, and offered in two versions, one of which is a Performance trim, Polestar 3 is not only a competitive people mover, but has a user interface, including the connected-car and telematics function, that is second to none.

The all-wheel-drive Polestar 3 is powered by two electric motors – one for front and one for rear, and a 111-kWh battery. The base Long Range model produces 489 hp and 620 lb.-ft. (840 Nm) of torque with up to 315 miles (507 km) of range, while the Long Range with Polestar’s Performance Pack produces 517 hp and 671 lb.-ft. (910 Nm) and gets up to 279 miles (449 km) of range. The upgrade also comes with gold seatbelts.

When traction is not needed at all four wheels the 3 cruises efficiently with the front motor powering it down the road. The system works dynamically with power and torque distributed where and when needed for AWD performance.

The 3 is a 5-seat CUV that is 5.3 ins. (135-mm) shorter than the 3-row, 7-seat Volvo EX90. To communicate speed and performance, the roofline is about 4 ins. (107 mm) lower.

Related:Photo Gallery: 2025 Polestar 3

A “torque vectoring dual clutch” on the rear axle enhances the 3’s cornering. Brembo brakes are there when you need them. And it’s cladded with Pirelli summer tires for our test. Our driving conditions were dry and smooth roads, so we aired it out when we could, cresting the 100 mph (161 km/h) mark a few times, and we found it to be surefooted and very stable.

Driving around the hills and dales where the bison and bears roam through yards and river edges, both Base and Performance trims accelerate with authority and handle perfectly with 50:50 weight distribution. Driving comfort is enhanced by supportive Nappa leather-covered seats.

The interior is Scandinavian in nature, spare but attractive, with grained ash wood trim. The only mark against it is the use of what is becoming tiresome piano-black trim on the console and steering-wheel – awful stuff that shows up every smudge of grease and fingerprints.

The interior spaciousness is enhanced by the huge panoramic roof and a completely flat floor.

Egress, even for this NFL-sized frame, was comfortable, and the seating position and legroom was more than adequate. Curbside, the 3 does not disappoint with its pleasingly long hood, big wheel openings that the tires fill up nicely, falling roofline and short rear-deck overhang.

The Polestar 3 is built in the same North Carolina plant as the Volvo EX90 all-electric SUV and they share a platform and some parts – motors, batteries and switchgear controls, including a central touchscreen that controls most of the 3’s features, and an instrument cluster mounted on the steering column.

The Polestar will make a believer out of drivers who like one-pedal driving. The regenerative brakes seem perfectly calibrated. Deceleration is smooth and not jerky as so many BEVs are.

The 0-60 mph (97 km/h) time is 4.5 seconds for the Performance Pack and 4.8 seconds for the base model. We are hard pressed to see the added value of the Performance Pack, despite sporty-driving damping and 22-in. wheels, as it means giving up around 30 miles (42 km) of range. Acceleration, especially for passing, is exceptional in the base, getting up to 100 mph (161 km/h) in a few seconds to get around some slow-moving construction vehicles. Paying extra and going unnecessarily faster while surrendering range just doesn’t add up.

Steering is firm, but the arrangement of the wheel relative to the instrument screen and an arcing stitch line in the top of the dash give an odd optical illusion of all three being off kilter. Owners might get used to that, but we were a bit perplexed.

Assisted driving tech is very easy to use and live with. Adaptive cruise and lane keeping works as they are meant to. There’s no way to change the following distances, though, which is something we would like. We do like the simplicity of moving the gear stalk down once to activate, and down again to deactivate.

There is a small compartment under the hood to store the portable charging cable. It would be nice, however, if there was more of a frunk. In the rear, there is ample space and there is a handy, attractive bin under the rear floor with a lid that converts into a divider.

The premium Bowers & Wilkins 25-speaker audio system is superior.

Inside, the 3’s user-interface centers around the floating 14.5-in. (36-cm) vertical touchscreen running Google apps, but we also like the prominent volume knob with the ability to skip tracks on your music library. One goofy feature is not being able to open the glovebox except through the touchscreen.

The Launch Edition Polestar 3 starts at $73,400 and increases to $79,400 for the Performance Pack.

Polestar’s Roots and Future

The Polestar brand began in 1996, when Flash Engineering, a Swedish racing team, was founded by driver Jan “Flash” Nilsson. The team competed in the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) in purpose-built Volvo vehicles. The brand's name comes from the Polestar racing team.

Volvo bought Polestar outright in 2015. The Swedish automaker, owned by Chinese automaker Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, relaunched it as an all-electric brand in 2017. Geely owns the majority of Polestar and is amid shifting ownership, and profit-and-loss, from Volvo to a standalone unit under Geely.

Why Volvo and Polestar? Volvo had planned to be a fully battery-electric car company by 2030. But softening BEV sales and changes in zero-emission mandates in the U.S. and European Union are delaying that transition. Also, Geely and Volvo have thought, rightly or wrongly, that the Volvo brand has a ceiling when it comes to price and EV market penetration. Geely is looking for Polestar to kick in around 200,000 BEV sales a year globally as its first growth milestone.

Volvo sold 708,716 cars globally in 2023 with a mix of internal-combustion, hybrid, plug-in hybrid and battery-electric vehicles. Polestar sold 54,600 vehicles in 2023, which marked a 6% increase compared to the previous year. More models, such as the Polestar 3, are expected to push it to the target in the next couple of years.

But it won’t be easy. The brand’s sole existing model before 3 production ramps up, the Polestar 2, is built in China and is now subject to a 100% tariff. The company was reduced to a penny stock until very recently when it got back onto the New York Stock Exchange. And the CEO was just replaced amidst the turmoil.

Polestar distributes its vehicles in the U.S. through a network of dedicated Polestar Spaces, which are physical showrooms designed to provide a unique customer experience. These typically are located in urban areas and focus on a direct-to-consumer sales model, allowing customers to learn about the brand and its vehicles in a modern, inviting environment.

Polestar better find ways to attract foot traffic to those centers. The cars are excellent. But it won’t matter how good they are if awareness of the Polestar brand in the U.S. market remains nearly non-existent.