► New electric Polestar 3 SUV
► Cayenne rival, priced around £65k
► Polestar confirms 2022 production
The new Polestar 3 will extend the Swedish EV maker's range upwards when it launches next year. CEO Thomas Ingenlath told CAR magazine it would compete against cars like the Porsche Cayenne in the €75,000 (£65,000) price bracket with a footprint matching that of the next-generation Volvo XC90, its sister car.
'For a European car those are big dimensions, though in China that is not considered to be big,' he said. 'Shape-wise, it has nothing to do with the XC90. It’s sleeker, more aerodynamic. I don’t like the word "sporty" but it’s a car with an incredible stance and power on the road and it’s clearly in that Cayenne-type SUV segment.'
Ingenlath promised that the new Polestar 3 would be 'very aspirational' with a stylish, minimalist interior and a drivetrain that would deliver effortless performance, a cornerstone of the progressive EV brand.
He also said the new 3 would kickstart an era of sleeker SUVs. 'The SUV market will change: it makes no sense to have high wind resistance on electric SUVs, aerodynamics will become more important.'
Ingenlath was talking to CAR as Polestar announced plans to float on the Nasdaq stock exchange, in a deal that values the Swedish firm at around $20 billion. The funding raised will help finance the next three models waiting in the wings (revealed below), as it aims to increase annual production tenfold from 29,000 forecast for 2021 to 290,000 by 2025.
Polestar 3 electric SUV: what we know so far
Polestar's next model has already been teased in an official hand-out photograph revealing its silhouette under a cloth. The company confirmed that the 3 SUV will be built at Volvo's factory in Ridgeville, South Carolina, with production starting in 2022. The plant was opened in 2018, with the current S60 saloon being the first model to roll off the production line there.
The Polestar 3 will use Volvo Car Group's new battery-electric platform 'which has been designed from scratch for full electrification.' This isn't the platform that currently underpins the Polestar 2, but CAR understands that this new BEV architecture will also be the basis for the next-generation Volvo XC90.
Polestar has also confirmed that the new 3 will also use Google's Android Automotive OS, as expected, which will 'feature industry-leading connectivity features.'
'Polestar 3 will be built in America, for our American customers,' said Ingenlath (above). 'From now on, the USA is no longer an export market but a home market.'
Given the decision to produce the 3 in the USA, Polestar has also announced that 25 'Spaces' – retail areas much like dealers but in more urban environments – across the US, as it continues to ramp up its distribution network in more countries globally.
Stay tuned for more details.
Read our Polestar reviews