How fast is the Polestar 3?

• 0-60 mph: 4.8 seconds; Performance Pack, 4.5 seconds

• Top speed: 130 mph 

• Range: 315 miles; Performance Pack, 279 miles

The Polestar 3 teams a 180-kw front and a 180-kw rear motor to a 111-kwh battery pack (107 kwh usable). Together, they put out 489 hp and 620 lb-ft of torque, though a $6,000 Performance Pack boosts output to 517 hp and 671 lb-ft. 

The rear motor disengages at cruising speeds for increased efficiency. Aside from a low hum of regulated noise, it’s silent and speedy.

The combination unlocks scorching performance for a vehicle that weighs anywhere from 5,696 to 5,886 pounds. It’s a hustler, and the Polestar 3 surges forward at any speed with the kind of urgency usually reserved for wedding-night goodbyes (or blind-date adieus). 

That makes stopping all the more important. Standard equipment includes 15.8-inch vented front brakes and 20-inch wheels with all-season tires; Performance Pack vehicles get 4-piston Brembo calipers painted gold, gold seatbelts, and 22-inch Pirelli P Zero tires. One-pedal driving is standard, but feels too gradual and progressive though it brings the SUV to a complete stop.

Drive modes flick between acceleration and range—as well as steering and suspension—but they’re buried in screen menus, with no convenient toggle to activate.

However, there’s little need to focus on how the Polestar 3 tackles a corner. In any drive mode, it’s incredibly agile and poised, and not just for its height and weight. A torque-vectoring, twin-clutch rear axle grants the Polestar 3 better agility at low speed and more stability at high speed, while a dual-chamber air suspension keeps its substantial weight in check and adaptive dampers change tack in response to road conditions. The result? The Polestar 3 feels supremely stable and confident when pushed beyond the usual family-SUV limits. Slewing through corners on EV-specific tires, with excellent light steering feedback, its air suspension does more than its fair share to sequester bumpy roads. With the suspension tuned to its firm setting, the poise remains, along with just enough compliance to erase the most pronounced pavement peaks.

An off-road mode raises the suspension nearly two inches from a standard ground clearance of 8.3 inches, and the self-leveling helps balance a max towing capacity of 3,500 pounds.