- MKBHD says he has many things he really likes about the Polestar 3 and others that he could do without.
- The electric SUV majors on interior and exterior design but the quest for minimalism inside negatively affects the user experience.
Polestar offers the Polestar 3 as a sportier alternative to the Volvo EX90, with which it shares its underpinnings, motors, batteries and tech. The result is a crossover that is easy to recommend even despite its quirks, and it made Marques Brownlee fall in love with it. He also said it’s not a car he would consider buying for himself.
The tech vlogger explains in the video review he uploaded on his car-centric channel Auto Focus that there is a significant difference between the car’s high and low points. It does several things really well, one of which is design. Its exterior is unique with its lower-slung take on the SUV formula and a tapering roofline that doesn’t quite put it in the coupe-SUV genre.
Polestar has even integrated a wing in the front—very unusual—which helps smooth the air flowing over the car and is complemented by an additional wing in the back. There are additional “aero blades” on the rear of the car, which serve the same purpose on the sides of the car.
Second-row headroom isn’t affected by the shape of the roof, and the interior is also a pleasant place to be. It strikes a great balance between the ultra-minimalist approach you see in a Tesla and the more conventional button-heavy cars, although it still leans too much toward minimalism, according to Marques.
He points to the confusing unlabeled buttons on the steering wheel or the single pair of window controls for the front and back glass. The Polestar 3 is also one of those cars whose glove box only opens through the screen—ugh.
There is little to criticize about the SPA2 platform that underpins the Polestar 2. It is the first production vehicle to have this platform, which bestows it with a 111-kilowatt-hour battery pack good for up to 350 miles of EPA range. The top dual-motor version makes 510 horsepower and accelerates to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds, but its claimed range drops to 279 miles.
It can decouple its motors to maximize coasting efficiency, and the dual-motor variant gets torque vectoring, which Polestar says improves cornering speed and improves traction on slippery surfaces.
Another thing that makes the Polestar 3 attractive is its eligibility for the full $7,500 federal tax credit. It lowers the South Carolina-built SUV’s entry price to $67,500, helping it undercut rivals like the BMW iX or the Audi Q8 E-Tron.