2025 Polestar 3 review Australia
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TechTranscript
00:00This is the Polestar 3, a large electric luxury SUV new to Australia and in this
00:06review I'm going to tell you why you should consider this vehicle over an
00:09Audi, a BMW, a Mercedes or even a Volvo. So if you haven't already please ring the
00:15bell and keep up to date with all of my content and let's take a look at the
00:18Polestar 3.
00:23At launch there are two different versions of the Polestar 3 available and
00:28there's another one coming so if you do want to save a little bit of money and
00:31you don't need all-wheel drive it might be worth waiting for the long-range
00:35single motor version which promises, well, a lower price point and that might be
00:40why you choose that model. But at launch as I said there's two versions available.
00:45The entry-level one, it's not really an entry-level car, it's about $133,000
00:50before on-road costs. It's the long-range dual motor and it comes comprehensively
00:56equipped with heaps of standard spec and tech. Things like LED headlights with LED
01:01daytime running lights, you get LED taillights as well, 21-inch wheels and on
01:06the inside you're getting a really nice interior trim with a big central
01:10touchscreen media system that's powered by Android tech. So it has the Hello
01:17Google technology, see I didn't say it fast so it won't trigger your things in
01:21your house that make you think that you're talking to it, and it's got heaps
01:25of other tech as well. A nice big bright instrument cluster, there's dual zone
01:30climate control, you're getting heated seats and heaps more stuff which we'll
01:33touch on when we get into the car. And if you want the long-range dual motor with
01:38more performance then you can get more performance with the Performance Pack
01:41that will also get you 22-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero tyres, yellow seat
01:47belts and a faster 0-100 time because it's got more power and torque.
01:51But let's talk about some alternatives to the Polestar 3, shall we?
01:57If you're considering spending this kind of money on a large electric SUV, well
02:02there are some alternatives that I reckon you should also check out. Firstly
02:06the Audi Q8 e-tron, it's maybe not everyone's cup of tea and it maybe isn't
02:11the newest looking and feeling thing, but it does have conventional controls on
02:15the inside and a really nice driving character to it as well. It's heavy just
02:19like this car and it's big just like this car and it's actually pretty
02:23practical as well. Another car I reckon you should go and check out is the BMW iX.
02:27It is an absolute wow factor vehicle when it comes to the interior at
02:33least. The exterior is maybe not to everyone's tastes either, I don't
02:38necessarily like the look of it but I like the way it drives, I love the
02:41interior design and it is real-world efficient that car as well. I reckon it
02:46could be a great alternative to this if you're considering something like this
02:50Polestar 3. And finally one that maybe you aren't thinking about if you're
02:54considering spending this kind of money on a luxury brand, the Kia EV9. Now it's a
03:00three-row SUV with plenty of space, it's a very very family-focused vehicle and
03:07it's pretty big as well but it doesn't necessarily feel too big to drive and
03:12it's also got heaps of EV driving range. There's three different versions and the
03:16top one costs $10,000 less than this, so it might be one to consider if you're
03:20after a super practical family electric SUV. But tell me what you think in the
03:24comments, would you choose any of those or something else?
03:29I think this is one of the nicest looking larger SUVs on the market. In the
03:34fully electric sphere it certainly cuts its own shape and I really like one
03:39element here, there's like a front spoiler built into the bonnet area to
03:44help it be more aerodynamic and it is fairly aero-efficient and also these 22
03:50inch wheels, well they certainly stand out from other vehicles on the market. At
03:56the back you've got this pinched rear section which looks pretty fantastic and
04:01it doesn't actually look that big this car despite the fact that it is 4.9
04:05meters in length. I think it looks kind of a little bit smaller than that, it
04:09doesn't necessarily drive smaller than that but we'll get to that shortly. Now
04:13let's take a look in the boot and see what we are working with. That's not the
04:17button for the boot, there we go. Yeah, so it is a large boot area, it's got kind of
04:25a high floor so it's maybe not as practical as you might be hoping it is
04:29but I think that for a family of four it should be enough space to put in a
04:35weekend's worth of luggage without too much hassle. But it has a trick right, you
04:39can fold this out of the way and you get even more storage in there and that
04:44unfortunately means you do not get a spare wheel in this vehicle and I can
04:49understand if that rules it out for you but I think that it does still have a
04:53good amount of usability in this back area and you can do something else with
04:57this, you can set it up like this and then you can hang your bags off the back
05:01there which is like shopping bag hooks but it's also got those as well. It's
05:05also got adjustable suspension so you can lower the back of the car down if
05:09you want to and make it easier to load things in and out. Put this back down, you've
05:14also got a little netted area on the side, some tie-down cargo points, another
05:18shopping bag hook, more tie-down points and it's got a ski port as well. So all
05:23of that makes for a pretty practical boot area I reckon and there's a frunk
05:27as well so extra storage under the bonnet for your cables. Nice!
05:35All right, here's your point of view perspective for the interior of this
05:39car and I'm not sure that it necessarily feels the money that's being asked and
05:44I'm not just talking about the fact that it doesn't have lashings of leather
05:47everywhere. It's got heaps of recycled eco-friendly materials and it's also got
05:53sexy yellow seat belts in this performance pack model but I just can't
05:57really come to terms with the fact that this big touchscreen media system has
06:01these digital controls. Digital is cheaper than physical, there is one
06:05physical dial down here but this sort of doesn't really gel with the whole
06:10idea of this being a luxury SUV in my mind. But look, I mean the other thing is
06:16that these controls aren't necessarily easy to use. So you do have a home button
06:20here which doesn't really do much apart from zoom in and out on the map just a
06:23little bit because you've got other sub menus down here but if you want to go
06:27into the car menu there are a heap of different settings and controls in here
06:31for you to play with. Yes your drive mode system is through here, there's a heap of
06:36different controls for the actual physical driving elements, your safety
06:41systems you can adjust those through there as well and there's heaps heaps
06:46heaps more on the screen that you have to learn. And it does have that system
06:51where you can voice control it as I mentioned earlier and that does add some
06:56kind of wow factor to the experience and you get the built-in maps and all that
07:00sort of thing and you can even see where your nearest charging locations
07:03are using the data connection. So all of that is good there's no doubt about that
07:08but I just think that some of the controls maybe aren't as simple as they
07:12could be because there's been so much focus on having everything through the
07:17touchscreen. So there's also a different display you can have to check on your
07:21range and also how you've been driving in recent times and I just think that
07:27you will get used to it but things like the glove box being a button on the
07:31screen, where have we seen that before? Yes that Tesla brand has that, and
07:36adjustments for the steering wheel and the mirrors and the head-up display all
07:41done by touching the screen and then having to use these controls here which
07:46yes will adjust where things are. That's all fine but I don't necessarily think
07:54that it's the most intuitive thing to live with on a daily basis. You do have
07:59your gear selector on this side and that's also your cruise control
08:02controller. You can see down there that yes you do need to pull it all the way
08:07down to engage the cruise control and that might be a little bit concerning to
08:11try for the first time when you're driving. Those little purple lights there
08:15that's your driver monitoring camera system and over here there's your
08:20everything stalk I guess so it's got a wiper and blinkers and lights but you'll
08:25have to do some of the other stuff with the lights on the screen too. On the
08:28screen in front of the driver you do have a few different views that you can
08:32play with so you can cycle through those just looking here. Those are controlled
08:39by the steering wheel controls as you can see for yourself but weirdly because
08:43those steering wheel controls are multimodal they don't actually have
08:46icons on them and they are haptic as well so yeah you might end up accidentally
08:50bumping things while you are driving. Now this car also has the head-up display
08:55which hopefully you can see there. It is a pretty decent little display and you've
09:01also got some really nice features in terms of the amenities. Yes you've got
09:06illuminated vanity mirrors with nice dimming lights which is actually quite
09:10beautiful. You don't get a sunglasses holder but you do get a big panoramic
09:16glass roof which is absolutely bloody massive and gives you a great view out
09:20but no shade. So look all those things you'll make up your own mind about and I
09:26think you'll make up your own mind as soon as you sit in this car whether it's
09:29going to be right for you or not. But in terms of storage, cup holders down here,
09:34covered center console bin there, big door pockets in the sides and down here
09:40you've also got another big storage caddy and a little tray there where you
09:45can store your phones as well. So all that is kind of neat and tidy and the
09:50interior design I think does have some wow factor to it but like I said the
09:55usability might just take a little bit of learning. Alright let's check out the
09:59backseat space. It is a large SUV and I'm a larger than average male and look
10:04there is plenty of space here for me to stretch out my legs. I've got lots of knee
10:09room ahead but the problem is that you are in a bit of a knees up position so
10:13it's maybe not as comfortable because it does have this high floor which means
10:18that adults in the back might find that it's not as comfortable as it could
10:22otherwise be. But it does have heaps of headroom as you can see lots and lots of
10:29space for someone my size and that beautiful view above as well. Speaking of
10:34the view let's have a look at this little birdie who's just popped up into
10:37the window here. Isn't he gorgeous? What's he doing? What are you doing? Anyway and I do
10:44like that there are plenty of great amenities in the back here but I just
10:47want to show you one thing first. So on the seats there's this little spiel
10:53about how efficiently sourced your material for your trim is. That's kind of
10:58cool. Yes you also get the yellow seat belts in the back, you get ambient lights
11:02in the back, you get these pockets in the doors, there's mat pockets on the seat
11:07backs as well and you also get ISOFIX points in the window seats, three top
11:12tethers, a flip down armrest with pop-out cup holders which is really really cool
11:16and of course you get the amenities you would expect for a family SUV at this
11:21price. Directional air vents, heated back seats so the window seats are heated
11:27which is pretty nifty and a climate controller there as well, USB-C ports too
11:31and it's all pretty nifty. There's no grab handles in the back though so that
11:36might be something you want to keep in mind but it does have one of the 25
11:40Bowers & Wilkins speakers up there and there's another one on the other side of
11:44course and there's plenty of little mentions of Bowers & Wilkins in case you're wondering.
11:48One there, one there, yep same on this door so yeah good branding there but
11:54it's also a bloody good sound system.
12:00As I said earlier there are two different versions available at launch.
12:04Both of them are hugely powerful so on your screen you'll see the power and
12:09torque figures for the long-range dual motor, the standard one, and then I'll
12:14show you the performance pack version. So yes that is an immense amount of power
12:20and torque and of course it is a really really fast car. Five seconds nought to
12:25a hundred for the standard one, 4.7 for the performance pack and yes it's also
12:30very very heavy. Imagine how much quicker it could be if it was lighter but you're
12:35looking at between two and a half, 2.7 tons so it is a massive vehicle in terms
12:40of the weight and speaking of weight it can also tow a little bit. You'll see the
12:44numbers on your screen now. Another great thing about it though is that you do get
12:49a frunk so there's extra storage underneath the bonnet so you can store
12:52your cables which I always like to see because it's a good use of space.
12:58This car has a big battery pack, 111 kilowatt hour capacity which is massive
13:04and it's a CATL sourced battery pack so cattle if you know what cattle is you'll
13:10know that that's one of the big battery suppliers and it's the NMC chemistry so
13:14it's not necessarily like those other cars in this segment that do have the
13:19LFP chemistry which is better for repeated high-level charging but it's
13:25still a bloody big battery and it offers plenty of EV driving range you'll see
13:29the figures on your screen now for both the long-range dual motor standard
13:34version and the performance pack model. Alright let's talk about charging so you
13:38do have a type 2 combination plug, AC at a maximum rate of 11 kilowatts which
13:43means you'll need three-phase power at home in order to do the full charge
13:47you'll see the charge time on your screen now as well and yeah it's got DC
13:51charging as well as you would expect so if you want to go on rapid charge you'll
13:55see how long it'll take to do that on your screen it's not necessarily the
13:59fastest but it is still pretty fast 250 kilowatt DC charging is quicker than
14:04plenty of the other rivals in the segment. Right let's go for a drive shall we?
14:12At this point in time I'm driving the standard one because the performance pack
14:15has yellow seatbelts this is just the regular version and honestly I don't
14:20think you need to spend extra to get into the performance pack it is a bit
14:24more money and sure you do get a bit more clout with having those yellow
14:28seatbelts and the different wheels and the Pirelli P Zero tires sure all of
14:33that as well as the added fastness makes it pretty appealing I'm sure but I don't
14:39think you really need to spend extra to get into that version because this other
14:45version the lesser version you might say is actually completely fine as it is I
14:50mean it doesn't necessarily tick my box when it comes to the drive experience it
14:54feels a bit big it feels a bit heavy and it does have a bit of a bouncy less
15:00than cushy ride and I know it is a two and a half ton SUV and yes it does have
15:06adaptive suspension so you can adjust the ride comfort but for me even in the
15:11most comfortable setting it's maybe not as cosseting as I was hoping it feels
15:16quite stiff quite rigid and that means that it maybe maybe isn't as comfy as
15:23you might hope I would fully advise that you go for a test drive on the roads
15:27that you will be driving this car on and make up your own mind for me I just
15:32don't love the ride quality or the ride comfort and also the steering is not my
15:39cup of tea either and I find that for a lot of dual motor electric vehicles when
15:45you've got a motor at the front axle and it has to do some of the work as well as
15:49helping you turn corners it means that you don't get the most pure drive
15:54experience that you could probably expect or want and hey that might be a
15:58good reason to wait for the rear-wheel drive single motor long-range version
16:03and if I was considering this car that's probably what I would do just to see
16:07what it was like to drive because I'm not saying this is bad to drive I'm just
16:11saying that I don't necessarily feel like it is as sharp a tool as some of
16:16the other cars in this segment for this kind of money and look that might not
16:21matter to you you might not be looking at this car because you want to go
16:24driving through the Tasmanian wilderness like I am.
16:27I almost hit a bird but I didn't because I'm driving through the wilderness and
16:32that would be irresponsible but it does have plenty of acceleration as I'm just
16:36about to show you as we go around this corner just drop down to 50 and yes
16:43let's give it a boot shall we
16:46yeah okay okay okay okay okay okay okay stop slow down back to the speed limit
16:57um yeah it is fast there's no doubt about that and I mean it should be it's
17:01got more than 800 Newton meters of torque even though it's a big heavy
17:04vehicle it does hustle and it does have plenty of grunt and like I said there
17:09are plenty of different modes that you can adjust through to make it basically
17:14tailored to your needs so if you want to you can hit the performance button down
17:19here and it will be even zippier than it was in that last little acceleration
17:24thing I did before but also you can quickly adjust the one pedal drive mode
17:28so if you do want it to be single pedal drive you can just hit that button down
17:32there and it will basically do the braking for you the regen brakes will
17:36come to a complete stop as I'm gonna do here it's a safe spot to do so so that
17:43was actually pretty quick to get down from a hundred k's an hour to zero like
17:46that so yes whoa okay and nought to a hundred is also really quick but yeah I
17:52think that the thing about it is that it does have a more honest brake pedal feel
17:56than some of the other cars that I've driven that are fully electric and that
18:00weigh this much I think that that is a really strong element to the handling
18:06characteristics of this car because you want to feel confident you want to feel
18:10like you are in control of a vehicle that weighs this much and is this large
18:14and for the most part I think that is possible but it is maybe not as as I
18:20said as precise a tool as some of the other vehicles in this class but it does
18:25have an overall general really likable aura to the way that it drives it just
18:29feels pretty comfy and you can sort of settle into it I just maybe wasn't
18:34expecting it to feel quite so heavy and I think that's what's actually just
18:38putting me off just a little bit yeah so it is a big vehicle it is pretty
18:45heavy and it does have a well kind of high WLTP rated efficiency figure you'll
18:52see the number for the standard version on your screen now the long-range dual
18:58motor and now I'll put up the performance pack version so yeah the
19:03Pirelli P Zero tires have an effect on the range it's a bit heavier and it also
19:08has an effect on the efficiency number and if you're wondering what I've seen
19:12over this test drive in Tasmania where I haven't been doing what might be best
19:16for the battery electric driving range not a whole lot of stop-start stuff not
19:21a whole lot of traffic and not calling those regen brakes into action as often
19:26as might otherwise help out the range number or the efficiency number well
19:31you'll see it on your screen now and I think that it's okay but it is like I
19:35said a heavy vehicle and it can't hide that so I mean it's not the most
19:39efficient and it's not the most thrilling to drive but it is a pretty
19:43nice drive experience on the whole
19:47there is no ANCAP or Euro ANCAP safety rating for this vehicle at the time I'm
19:51publishing this video but it does come comprehensively equipped with heaps of
19:56standard technology and safety equipment things like autonomous emergency braking
20:00with pedestrian and cyclist detection there's also lane keeping assistance
20:04which is a little bit annoying because you can't actually turn it completely
20:06off there's blind spot monitoring and rear cross-traffic alert you get parking
20:10sensors you get a great camera system all of that stuff makes it pretty easy
20:15to live with but like I said some of those little nannies just get in the way
20:20of the drive experience in my opinion you tell me what you think do you reckon
20:24safety tech is making good cars seem a little bit less good
20:30this car comes with a five-year unlimited kilometer warranty for the
20:34car itself and there's an eight-year warranty for the battery pack which
20:37guarantees up to 70% state of health for the battery at the end of that eight
20:43year period so if anything's wrong with the battery they'll replace it in that
20:47period so that's pretty good to know plus when it comes to maintenance we
20:51don't have to pay a cent there's free servicing available for a period of time
20:55after you purchase this car and the same goes for your roadside assistance too
20:59all that seems to stack up pretty well I guess the big question mark will
21:03actually just be resale value
21:07there's some things that are really great about the Polestar 3 and some
21:10things that personally just don't do it for me I'm not so sold on the drive
21:14experience doesn't quite feel as settled or as comfortable as I was hoping it
21:18would but I do appreciate the fact that this is a spacious family-friendly
21:23vehicle with lots of room on the inside heaps of tech and a fair bit of wow
21:27factor as well tell me what you think in the comments would you go for this or
21:30one of those alternatives or something else I'd love to hear from you if you
21:33haven't already please ring the bell to keep up to date with all of my reviews
21:36and I'll see you in the next one