When Polestar burst onto the scene as a standalone brand, rather than the engineering skunkworks for sensible car maker Volvo, it did so with a $155,000 hybrid coupe. How un-Volvo.
This was soon followed by the all-electric, Polestar 2 sedan, which has been on sale for almost a year. Now, the Swedish carmaker is going all guns blazing as it prepares to unveil its third model. Can you guess what it will be called?
That’s right, the Polestar 3 is coming. And this is the big one, both literally and figuratively.
When it launches in 2022, the Polestar 3 will be an all-electric SUV that follows the same “confident and powerful” design language the brand has used throughout its range so far.
Ahead of its debut, Polestar teased the details of the upcoming SUV at an event in New York, where it also showcased the stunning Precept concept car.
According to Polestar CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, the Polestar 3 will share design elements found on the Precept when it launches.
The car remains under wraps, save for the camo-clad teaser image you see at the top of the page. But during the event, Ingenlath said that when it launches, the 3 will share a similar ‘face’ to the Precept.
He waxed lyrically about how a car’s front end is where it displays its personality. But the long and the short of his talk was that Polestar will be cramming the same array of sensors found in the front of the Precept into the nose of the 3.
Ingenlath said: “With an electric car, [the grill] is obsolete and you can take it away. But it becomes pretty bland and anonymous. To heal that, Polestar invented the SmartZone.
“Here, we cluster all the modern devices that you need, the radar, sensors and camera in one unit. We seal it and bundle it in the SmartZone. And that makes the face of the electric Polestar complete.”
There’s more, the Polestar 3 will also draw influences from the hood of the Precept.
Gesturing to the front of the Precept, Ingenlath explained: “The Polestar 3 next year will introduce a very new device, the front foil. You see this wing here at the front? That aerodynamic foil calms down the disturbance and turbulence at the front and improves the air flow. Of course, it looks awesome at the same time.”
I’m inclined to agree.
When it launches, the Polestar 3 will also be equipped with long-range lidar sensors to help it map the road ahead. These sensors, Ingenlath said, will allow the Polestar 3 to offer “autonomous highway piloting.”
That all sounds very exciting and ticks all the necessary buzzwords for the modern electric car. There’s no word on price just yet, but Gregor Hembrough, Head of Polestar USA, told me that the new model would sit in between the luxury Polestar 1 and entry level Polestar 2.
He said: “Launching with the Polestar 1 was the brand messenger and the brand halo. And then, arguably, the second fastest growing segment is the entry level, so bring the Polestar 2 in as an introduction to the Polestar brand.
“Now we come right into the middle point. So you’ve got the bookends; the halo, entry level and now bringing ourselves into the [SUV] segment feels great.”
Entering this segment will be essential for Polestar to meet its ambitious growth targets. During the media briefing, the company said it was closing in on 30,000 sales for 2021. But, it is hoping to increase this almost ten-fold by 2025.
It’s no surprise, then, that Polestar is eyeing the fast-growing SUV market.
Hembrough added that the Polestar 3 was an “important link in the chain as we move forward,” as the car is being billed as “a car for the US consumer, built in the U.S.”
The Polestar 3’s debut in 2022 will be followed by two other models in the coming years. The 4 will launch in 2024 and the Polestar 5, which is based on the Precept concept car, will premiere in 2025.
It’s an exciting time for fans of Polestar’s vision for a minimalist, all-electric utopia.
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