Would a large-ish automobile firm truly try and kill off the world’s most revered motoring journalists, and if it did, wouldn’t it solely take out those who’d mentioned good issues about Tesla?
That is the query that plagued me as I arrived on the brilliant white fringe of a frozen lake in Swedish Lapland to drive the all-new, massively necessary Polestar 3, which weighs greater than two tonnes, or absolutely greater than sufficient to interrupt by the ice and entomb me, frozen in a second of developing with yet one more tortured metaphor about frozen testicles.
Polestar is hoping to maneuver above and past its closest, fiercest and way more well-known rival, Tesla, with the Polestar 3, and we’ve come a good distance, in a number of thick clothes, to see if it might probably pull it off.
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2024 Polestar 3: Worth and options
The brand new Polestar 3 arrives with one thing of a heavy-walleted thud as a result of it prices round twice as a lot as the corporate’s earlier providing, a the sedan-shaped, Tesla Mannequin 3-mirror picture that’s the Polestar 2.
Costs for the Polestar 3 begin at $132,900 of the entry-level Lengthy Vary Twin Motor variant (how lengthy vary? A claimed 610km) and rise to $141,900 for the thrilling Efficiency Pack model, which is the one you actually need. Throw in some choices, and also you’re very a lot speaking a few $150k-plus, Euro-premium stage SUV.
Which is why Polestar was eager to push the purpose that Tesla is “a volume-selling model like VW”, whereas it’s eager to tackle automobiles just like the BMW iX, Audi Q8 E Tron and, fairly gamely, Porsche’s Cayenne with the Polestar 3.
That cash does get you a a lot improved, stylish and spacious inside, genuinely beautiful exterior design that appears to shrink the automobile’s measurement right down to one thing good to have a look at, and a very good 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins audio system with of 1,610 Watts of energy as customary.
Oh, and an inventory of security gear that’s too lengthy to go on with.
2024 Polestar 3: Driving
I don’t learn about you, however once I’m invited to drive a heavy SUV on a frozen lake I assume that it must characteristic ice that’s at the very least 4 metres deep, perhaps extra, so it got here as an much more chilling shock to listen to the the lake we have been driving on, outdoors JokkMokk, contained in the Arctic Circle, was solely ice right down to 72cm.
This made me suspect an try on my life, or perhaps they have been simply out to kill the opposite journalists and make me watch, as a warning. I used to be instructed to not fear, that the cracks I may see and the creaks I may hear have been completely regular and that I ought to concentrate on staying heat sufficient to maintain respiratory, because it was at present -20C (per week earlier it had bene -50C, so we have been fortunate).
This huge lake, which options three big and massively entertaining check tracks which can be minimize into it annually after which soften away once more (however hopefully not right this moment), is the place Polestar has spent months of depressing climate, fettling and twiddling with the Polestar 3 to make it not solely tremendous Swedish secure, however, fairly extra surprisingly, massively enjoyable to drive, and particularly to drive fully sideways.
I have a tendency to consider Swedes as cautious and cautious, however it seems the engineers behind Polestar are window-licking lunatics who consider that even household SUVs ought to be as able to thrilling an enthusiastic driver as a rally automobile. Huge time and love has been put into offering the Polestar 3 with the type of steering that makes you smile (there are three adjustable ranges for this, so if you happen to like mild and boring steering, you may have that too).
In addition they developed a Torque Vectoring Twin Clutch system that’s little question excellent for security on grime roads, because it shifts torque to the wheel the place it’s wanted most, and for effectivity, as a result of it might probably shut off the rear motor solely whereas cruising, turning into a FWD EV to save lots of power and lengthen driving vary.
However, and that is clearly extra necessary to the Polestar individuals I met, it can be used to push the automobile right into a bend extra tightly at turn-in, or that can assist you drift and Scando-flick like a champ if you happen to occur to be on a frozen lake.
They declare that this atmosphere is a good check of a machine, and if it might probably succeed right here it should win individuals over anyplace, and that the sluggish slides you find yourself doing right here give engineers extra time to analyse and modify issues like traction management software program, however I’m telling you, they simply actually get pleasure from driving right here, and making the Polestar 3 deal with like a sports activities automobile. Therefore its good 50-50 weight steadiness and a centre of gravity that matches the peak of what they achieved within the unique Polestar 1 sedan.
The seats are additionally bolted in as little as attainable, decrease than in most SUVs they declare, for a greater, extra enjoyable driving place.
Whereas a freezing atmosphere like this was not a great place to check battery vary (the Efficiency Pack I most popular is supposed to supply 560km, we might have been fortunate to get half that), it’s a great place to go driving, and to adjudge that this actually is a automobile constructed to be loved.
In its greatest settings, the Polestar 3 provides correctly meaty steering suggestions, it feels balanced, playful, and surprisingly not as heavy as I’d anticipated. Whilst you’d count on torque supply to be an issue on a no-grip floor like this (with out studded winter tyres you’d barely go anyplace), with 910Nm and 380kW, at your disposal, the TVDC does an important job of providing you with every little thing you require.
I additionally dip my very thick and wooly hat to the traction methods, which let you play to your coronary heart’s content material, however all the time step in to save lots of you, simply earlier than you smash right into a snow financial institution like a plonker
Polestar 3 2024: Verdict
I have to say I loved the Polestar 3, and the frozen lake, an entire lot greater than I anticipated to, and I’m enthusiastic about driving it for actual on our roads. And I can report that no-one died. Bonus.
SCORE: 4/5.
Polestar 3 2024: Specs
Three-phase Everlasting Magnet Synchronous Motor on the entrance, and everlasting synchronous motor on the rear for AWD.
Energy and torque: 360kW/840Nm
Battery: 111kWh battery
Vary: 610km or 540km
Effectivity: 19.8-21.8kWh per 100km
Worth: $132,900-$141,900