Polestar has put out a revealing teaser image of its third production model, the Polestar 3 electric SUV, ahead of its global launch next year. The company has also confirmed plans for 10-fold growth by 2025 with three new models.
The new image, which shows the Polestar 3 with only a light camouflage wrap over its production body, reveals that the new Jaguar I-Pace and Tesla Model X rival adopts design cues from the firm’s Precept luxury saloon concept translated onto a taller SUV body. That’s clear in particular in the front end design, which uses a similar T-shaped headlight profile and sloping bonnet.
The car’s design is intended to create a larger degree of visual separation between Polestar and sister brand, Volvo. Although it will share its SPA2 platform with the next-generation Volvo XC90, it will be very different in terms of design and is unlikely to offer three rows of seats, being more of a style-focused electric SUV in the vein of the Audi e-tron Sportback.
The Polestar 3 will also share its production facility with the next XC90 at Volvo’s South Carolina plant. “Polestar 3 will be built in America, for our American customers,” said Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath. It’ll be the most important market for the model, but it will be globally released and also built in China for export into the European market.
Hitting back at the growing number of young electric car startups Polestar is competing with, Ingenlath said “We are not a virtual company waiting to build factories and sell cars; we are an actual company already building and selling cars around the world. Our two award-winning cars [Polestar 1 and 2] are on the road in 14 markets globally and we expect our global sales volume to reach around 29,000 vehicles this year.
Polestar plans to enter three new markets and three new cars, plus advance further in existing markets. The company’s ambitious growth target is to turn 29,000 vehicles into 290,000 vehicles by 2025. Polestar will also list on the Nasdaq stock exchange, as first announced in September.
Polestar 3: design director explains SUV’s look
In 2020, Polestar’s Design Director Max Missoni explained how the Precept would be a strong indication of what’s to come for the brand, with the 3 SUV the first in a number of models to be inspired by it.
“The next car that Polestar will launch is the Polestar 3,” said Missoni. “It will be a high-performance SUV that is a different car in its bodystyle, but I would say the Precept serves as a precursor to the design language that you will see in that car.”
Missoni also confirmed that the Precept’s interior and infotainment system preview what comes next inside Polestar models. “This is quite a realistic statement of our future,” he stressed.
Missoni explained how Polestar has gradually separated from Volvo from a styling perspective. According to the design chief, while the Polestar 1 was based heavily on the Volvo Concept Coupé from 2013, the Polestar 2 represented a parting of the ways.
Polestar 3: exclusive images
The Polestar 3 will be “the next bigger step” and our exclusive images preview how it could look when Polestar reveals it in 2022. It’s expected to use some, but not all, of the Precept’s design cues, and repackage them as a coupé-like SUV, not unlike the Jaguar I-Pace.
The swooping shape is an important factor. The Polestar 3 will arrive at around the same time as the all-electric version of the next-generation Volvo XC90, which is also due in 2022 based on the same architecture – the new SPA2 platform. The two cars will share the same chassis and battery technology, while a range of 310 miles has been rumoured for the Polestar 3 in the past.
However, while Volvo’s electric SUV will major on ride comfort, the Polestar version will have sportier chassis settings. Missoni claims that it will be a performance SUV, so the Polestar 3 is likely to use a more powerful dual-electric motor set-up, too.
The new SPA2 platform is an evolution of SPA1 and it has been designed to cater for cars including the next S60 and V60, as well as the larger S90 and V90 models. Smaller Volvos and Polestars, such as the 2, use the CMA architecture, underpinning the XC40 Recharge and the new C40.
While most of the technical limitations of the smaller CMA platform are already known, SPA2 is a totally new step. On the Polestar 3 and next XC90, Volvo will introduce a range of fully electric powertrains, as well as integration with a new Google developed infotainment system called Android Automotive. The tech giant’s extensive mapping data will be built into the cars alongside new advanced driver-assistance features, which will include the latest semi-autonomous driving capabilities.
Are you excited by Polestar’s re-invention as a standalone brand? Can it tame Tesla? Let us know below…
Keyword: New 2022 Polestar 3: electric SUV shown in new image