First Drive of the Polestar 3 (In Spain)
The Polestar 3 is a big Swedish electric SUV that somehow manages to look like a sleek crossover rather than the almost-five-metre-long, 2.6-tonne beast it actually is. On paper it’s a serious machine: a 111 kWh battery, up to 628 km of range, and a dual-motor setup that’ll shove this luxury lounge to 100 km/h in about five seconds—or 4.7 seconds with the Performance Pack, which is frankly ridiculous for something the size of a small holiday cottage. But being a Polestar, it’s not just about speed. The thing is packed with tech: a 14.5-inch Android-powered infotainment system, a 25-speaker Bowers & Wilkins sound system, advanced sensor and camera arrays (with optional LiDAR), and even bi-directional charging, meaning the car can power your house or feed electricity back to the grid.
Inside, it’s all very Scandinavian—minimalist, slightly moody colour choices, and lots of “mindful materials” like recycled plastics, responsibly sourced wool, and flax composites, which technically makes the cabin mostly recycled stuff… or as I like to call it, premium rubbish. Out on the road though, the Polestar 3 genuinely impresses. Air suspension gives it that magic-carpet ride on the motorway, while proper torque vectoring tries its best to make this hefty SUV dance through corners like something half its weight. You can still feel the mass if you push it—physics is a stubborn thing—but the overall impression is of a seriously polished luxury EV that can tow 2.2 tonnes, haul the family, and still feel a bit special behind the wheel. In short, it’s big, clever, extremely expensive… and surprisingly good fun, even if I did spend half the drive getting lost in a Spanish village like a confused tourist looking for tapas.
