Electric Dreams: the Cars of Polestar Day 2023
At Polestar Day, we learned a substantial amount about the dynamic electric carmaker's sustainability and design methodologies (where did that rear window go?). Now let's put it all together and look at all the cars they featured.
Liv Leigh
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An Electric Parade of Cars Awaited Me at Polestar Day 2023
I was fortunate enough to attend the Inaugural Polestar Day, where the automaker announced a ton of cool innovations and collaborations (see the related link below to read more!). They set the scene perfectly in a spacious and industrial airplane hangar at the Santa Monica airport and treated us to presentations both big and intimate, as well as a gorgeous view of their full electric vehicle lineup and test rides in their newest SUV additions, the Polestar 3 and 4. It felt super appropriate to slip into these futuristic rides as airplanes literally took off next to us as if to echo how Polestar is shooting for the future.
Related: Polestar Day: This Maverick Electric Carmaker Makes Bold Moves
The Polestar 3 is distinctive with its SUV stature. Photo: Liv Leigh
The Polestar 3 is Their First SUV
Kicking off the test rides, I first hopped into the Polestar 3. This performance electric SUV sports a sleek, aerodynamic design with smart, artistic cues that promote functionality without compromising its design style. You can see this in elements like their optimized airflow, flush door handles, frameless mirror housing (also found in other models) that allows for a 30% smaller mirror housing size and greater aerodynamic efficiency, and their minimalistic design in general.
Starting at $85,300, the Polestar 3 will be all-wheel drive and will have a range of up to 300 miles, a charging time of 30 minutes for 10 to 80%, and between 489 and 517 horsepower. Active air suspension will make for a smoother and more controlled ride, and it seemed pretty darn good over streets that looked bumpier than they felt. This will also allow you to choose between different suspension modes and even lower the vehicle for greater efficiency. The driver stated that the car still felt responsive and performance-oriented, though he stalwartly refused to break the speed limit, regardless of our goading, in jest, of course!
Related: Polestar 2: Bold and Beautiful Electric Moves
Polestar loves to label details on their vehicles proudly. Photo: Patrick Anderson
Materials Matter to Polestar…
The cabin felt particularly clean and open with creamy soft animal welfare-sourced Nappa leather and a subtle interior trimmed in black ash. In Polestar’s trademark blunt transparency, they even list the material details in prominent, proud display. Polestar’s focus on sustainability is evident, and their material options include bio-attributed MicroTech with aluminum trim, animal welfare-certified wool, bio-attributed vinyl with recycled textile backing, and natural fiber composite that decreases the material weight and reduces the need for plastic at the same time.
Related: The Designing Women at Polestar
The front cabin layout of the Polestar 3 is spacious and has a ton of leg room. Photo: Liv Leigh
And Leg Room Matters to Me
The thing that I was most excited about was how open the driver’s footwell was. As a right-leg amputee, I drive with my left leg crossed over, and that requires a more spacious footwell. The Polestar 2 has a tight little space with a big console that makes it difficult for me to drive. The Polestar 3, however, has a ton of room. Now this is, of course, a rather unique situation, but some of you may just prefer to have a bit more room anyway, so this is something to consider.
You can see the optimized airflow gap at the front of the hood and the LiDAR bump on top on the Polestar 3. Photo: Liv Leigh
An A/V Dream Behind the Wheel
Taking advantage of all this room, the Polestar 3 has a lovely large 14.5” center display with built-in Android Automotive and a digital instrument cluster that’s attached to the steering wheel. I love this feature since it makes the instrument cluster super easy to see regardless of your seat or steering wheel positioning. We weren’t able to test the 25-speaker Bowers and Wilkins 3D surround sound with Dolby Atmos in this pre-production model, but I can only imagine how awesome that’s going to sound. Imagine your favorite tunes cocooning you, with speakers embedded in the headrests for a fully immersive audio environment.
Polestar has taken their Advanced Driver Assistance (ADAS) technology in the 3 to the next level with preventative and protective tech. It’s built on Volvo’s 100 years of safety development and incorporates smart collaboration with LiDAR leader Luminar, whose technology can detect objects from up to 820 feet away.
The Polestar 4 brings a unique low to the ground SUV coupe design. Photo: Liv Leigh
The Polestar 4 is a Completely New SUV Coupé Design
After my very comfortable and rather luxurious ride in the Polestar 3, I slipped right into the Polestar 4, and this is where things get a little wacky.
Polestar prides itself on being a design-led brand, and they took this to heart by completely designing this SUV from the ground up and incorporating futuristic ideas from their creative Precept Concept Car. The goal is to create a streamlined, sleek, aerodynamic SUV without compromising on interior space. The way that they accomplished this is pretty innovative, if a bit controversial.
The lack of a rear window was pretty weird but the reclining seats were really comfortable. Photo: Liv Leigh
Polestar Got Rid of the Rear Window
That’s not all they did, but it’s certainly one of the more surprising design choices. To cocoon rear passengers in an immersive, intimate environment and still allow for a ton of headroom, the rear seats are lined with a dark trim that edges directly into the expansive glass roof. I jumped into the back for my test ride, and I was honestly a bit shocked at how comfortable it was.
The more affordable of the two new SUV’s, you would not expect the Polestar 4 to feel as luxurious as the 3, but it kinda does. The rear seats feature a powered-recline button, and as you press it and slide back, it allows you to sink into the experience and truly enjoy the beautiful view out of the roof. If you don’t care for the view, ask the driver to turn off the optional electrochromic function, and the roof will become smokily opaque. Polestar stated that they wanted to give rear passengers a unique experience, and they certainly have.
The driver demonstrated switching between digital display and rear view mirror to check on passengers. Photo: Liv Leigh
But You Can See Out the Back
To make up for the lack of a rear window, a roof-mounted camera shows a real-time, wide field of view on a high-definition screen on the rearview mirror, which can be deactivated if you need to see your rear passengers at any time. After checking out the digital rear-view both on the test drive and at their demonstration zone in the hangar, I can honestly see how the camera gives you a far greater field of view. At the same time, I can’t help but feel slightly anxious at the thought of not being able to turn around and see behind me. I feel like, in the future, this may seem like an antiquated idea, but perhaps, for some, it will take a little time to get used to.
The center console in the Polestar 4 is quite large but the driver footwell has limited space. Photo: Liv Leigh
So, What Other Innovations are they Bringing to the Polestar 4?
Not just designed for the rear passengers, the driver is going to have a ton of fun in the Polestar 4 too. It’s their fastest car to date, hitting 0-60mph in 3.7 seconds and having up to 544 horsepower. Keeping with their trend, thanks to their close collaboration with Google, the Polestar 4 also has built-in Android Automotive. You can simply navigate through the system with the 15.4-inch landscape-oriented screen. Unfortunately for me, the Polestar 4 is similar to the Polestar 2 in that the driver’s footwell is really closed in by the big center console. That may suit you really well, but if you’re like me and need more legroom for a unique situation, then this may pose a problem. A 10.2-inch instrument cluster perches on top of the steering wheel, like in the 3.
This Polestar 5 will be used for testing Storedot fast charging battery tech. Photo: Liv Leigh
Premium Collaborations
The Polestar 4 will launch with technology based on their collaboration with Mobileye, an advanced driver assistance company, and Luminar LiDAR. Mobileye SuperVision Advanced Driver Assistance System will be included from the start, and in later years, the Polestar 4 will become their first production car to feature Mobileye Chauffeur, a hands-off, eyes-off system with Luminar LiDAR. This layering of two top-tier safety systems intends to be a high-performing ADAS system with a future of autonomous driving embedded with numerous levels of safety.
A cheaper option than the Polestar 3, the 4 will only have a 12-speaker Harman Kardon sound system, so if you’re an audiophile, then you might be missing out. But the Polestar 4 felt more premium and cushy than I was expecting. With an estimated starting price of $60,000, the Polestar 4 should be arriving in the US at the end of 2024.
The Polestar 5 and 6 are exciting cars to come. Photo: Liv Leigh
The Future, Within the Future
While the 3 and the 4 were the stars of the show, holding court both outside in the test rides and on the first glistening podium as you first entered the huge hangar doors, the Polestar 5 and 6 perched beyond, the future vehicles to come.
The Polestar 5, based on their 2020 Precept Concept, was finally revealed with no camouflage, Like the Polestar 4, this sedan GT features a controversial missing rear window. We were not able to enter the vehicle, but the Precept sat nearby with doors open, looking extremely futuristic, so we can only hope that some of the interior design cues have been taken from the Concept like some of the exterior were. At one of their demonstration areas, Storedot demonstrated their Extreme Fast Charging (XFC) technology and spoke of their collaboration with Polestar and plans to bring this technology to the Polestar 5.
Polestar’s electric roadster looks incredible but clocks in at a cool $200,000 dollars. Photo: Liv Leigh
Who Wants a Convertible?
Beyond the Polestar 5, the Polestar 6 convertible sat enticingly, speaking of hours of spirited driving with nothing other than the sound of the wind in your hair and the occasional laugh of joy. (or was that just me?). This $200,000 electric roadster boasts a 0-60 mph in 3.1 seconds, a whopping 884 estimated horsepower, over 300 miles of range, and an 800-volt charging system which means that it’s got pretty much the fastest charging on the market… at least at the moment. This pricey powerhouse is so popular that there’s already a waitlist to have one built. The down payment is $25,000, so clearly, some people are extremely excited about this car.
A supercar concept, you may soon find the Polestar Synergy in Hot Wheels form. Photo: Liv Leigh
Emergent Innovation
Finally, we come to the Synergy. Staying true to a commitment to innovation, Polestar created an annual design contest to unite student and professional designers from all over the world in collaboration. Three designers and their entries took the top spot to be combined into the Synergy, which took physical form and center stage at Polestar Day 2023. A single-seat, electric fantasy supercar, the Synergy looked absolutely fierce. Though not to become a full-sized reality, this gorgeous vehicle will be immortalized in Hot Wheels form. It’s so cool to see Polestar investing in fledgling designers and empowering the next generation of automotive creators.
It was really exciting to see this lineup of future Polestar cars all in one place. It will be even more exciting to start seeing these cars hit the road, starting with the Polestar 3 and 4 next year.
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