Polestar 3 teased ahead of 2023 arrival in Australia

June 7, 2022August 17, 2022 Toby Hagon 3960 Views polestar

The Polestar 3 electric SUV has been revealed – at least in part – more than a year before it is due to go on sale in Australia.

The Swedish-based electric car newcomer has released a single image of the new large EV SUV that looks set to compete against the BMW iX as well as attempt to lure people away from ICE-powered cars, including the Porsche Cayenne that Polestar has nominated as a prime competitor.

The five-seater SUV will be the second Polestar model to be sold in Australia and will simply be known as the 3.

“Polestar 3 is the SUV for the electric age,” said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath of the upcoming new model, which he describes as “a major milestone for our company”.

“Our design identity evolves with this high-end luxury EV, with a strong, individual brand character.”

While glimpses of the front and rear lights appear to follow a similar theme to those on the Polestar 2, the Polestar 3 has a different silhouette, with a dominant rear pillar that rises and pinches in towards the centre of the car.

A prominent spoiler extends from the roof and is likely to form part of the aerodynamic package to improve efficiency. There also appears to be air vents near the leading edge of the bonnet that could be indicative of a front spoiler.

Black cladding around the lower part of the car is designed to emphasise its higher-riding SUV stance.

Gold highlights on the brake calipers and seatbelts have previously denoted the Performance pack, suggesting that will flow through to the Polestar 3.

Polestar 3 large SUV with camouflage — Polestar had previously released images of a camouflaged 3, which show some of the detail around the front of the large SUV

Classified as a large SUV – Polestar hasn’t released dimensions – the Polestar 3 should be larger than the Tesla Model Y as well as mid-sized contenders such as the BMW iX3, Audi e-Tron and Mercedes-Benz EQC.

Beneath the skin the Polestar 3 will be based on a new EV-optimised architecture known internally as SPA2 (a version of SPA2 will also be used for some hybrid applications).

That architecture and some of the 3’s hardware will be shared with the upcoming replacement for the Volvo XC90 (the all-electric model may undergo a name change).

However, whereas the Volvo large EV will be offered with seven seats, the Polestar will get a maximum of five.

Polestar says it will fully reveal the 3 in October before beginning production early in 2023.

The new electric SUV will initially be offered with a dual-motor EV setup driving all four wheels; Polestar has not said whether there will also be a more affordable single-motor version later, but it seems logical.

Early cars will have a claimed EV range of more than 600km.

The Polestar 3 will be manufactured both in China and the United States; Australian cars will be sourced from China and are likely to arrive around the third quarter of 2023.

Polestar Australia boss Samantha Johnson previously told EV Central there was “quite a lot of interest so far” in the 3.

“There are a lot of people out there with families that want something larger.”