On paper, 2024 Polestar 3 is exactly what it sounds like: Polestar’s third model. This is also the brand’s first foray into the SUV segment, but there’s so much more to it. It illustrates the direction in which executives intend to steer Polestar as they embark a great expansion.
“The core of our brand is embodied in 3,” insists company boss (and former Volvo designer) Thomas Ingenlath. Maximilian Missoni, the company’s head of design, echoed these comments: “This car really shows where Polestar is going,” he told me shortly after the launch of the 3.
Where is Polestar going? On top of that, it is moving away from the co-owner Volvo. Its first two cars (called first and 2, respectively) come alive under Volvo’s watch; the 1 made its debut in 2013 as the beautiful Volvo Concept Coupe car, inspired by the P1800 and both were revealed three years later as Volvo 40.2″ conceptpicked up a ball rolling with Rare S60 Cross Country, high riding (remember that?) in 2015.
The significant difference between the Polestar 3 and earlier models is that it was designed in-house from the outset. Undoubtedly, it is built on the same fundamental foundation that will underpin The next generation XC90 coming in the coming months but pretty much everything else is brand-specific, including the suspension, steering, chassis tuning, tires, interior layout and inspired exterior design. Inspired by the concept of Precept.
Ingenlath points out: “It’s like a guitar: two different musicians can make completely different pieces of music with the same instrument.
One of the biggest differences is the design. Angled yet aerodynamic, all 3 begin the design language that will pervade the rest of the range in the 2020s. There’s a Volvo-ness strip up front, the distinctive shape of LED daytime running lights. notably creates a visual link between the two brands, but it’s very subtle. What’s inside (and importantly, what’s not inside) is even more important.
“It was a deliberate decision to choose the number 3 with two rows of seats. In a way, that symbolizes what we do at Polestar. We don’t try to do everything. We have to choose. What is the right decision for our brand Creating a luxurious and airy cabin for four or five people is possible because we’ve made it clear that we don’t want a seven-seater. We have two more seats, immediately the aerodynamics of the silhouette will have to be affected and immediately, you will have to compromise on how you position the remaining two rows. our path,” Ingenlath explained. Read between lines of powerful hints XC90 will come with three rows.
Joakim Rydholm, the company’s head of chassis development, stressed that the 3 will not drive like the XC90 to which it is related because his team has tweaked the chassis in-house to make it sporty. than Volvo’s. “They are two different cars with two different philosophies,” he noted. And, while the platform is relatively modular and removing one of the electric motors is technically possible, a single-motor variant isn’t in the pipeline.
Then Polestar looks ready to stand on its own. It doesn’t have the vast legacy of Volvo, but it thinks it’s an advantage because it can create a car on a blank sheet of paper that doesn’t live up to pre-established expectations. The newcomer status also partly explains why Polestar is more open about its future models than many of its rivals and peers: for example, 5 cars won’t steal sales from an existing vehicle model.
The legacy has not been completely lost to the Polestar team, and Ingenlath interestingly argues that the brand is settling into an important place in history.
“In the past, Scandinavia had two very strong and iconic brands. One of them is gone, and now Polestar is coming to fill that void,” he points out, seemingly alluding to Saab without naming the innovative, quirky, and dead automaker.
We already know what’s next: coming out late 2023, trilogy will be next a crossover with a roof-like roofline called 4, a sedan have inspiration from Precepts concept is named 5, and production version of the O2 conversion concept voiceover – you guessed it – 6. When all is said and done, Polestar’s reach will expand through several segments. The release of a car under 2 was ruled out, and not just because nameplate 1 was used: the company wanted to play in the high-end space and avoid spreading its resources too thin.
“At the moment, we have no plans to produce a smaller car. We have two and in the future we would like to keep that position in our portfolio, but today we do not see that. that we’re going to expand into a small segment. The design of a small Polestar is very appealing but, again: stay focused,” said Ingenlath.
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