AUTO

Launch Alert: 2025 Polestar 3 – Bolder, Cheaper, Tech-Richer

March 24, 2024

The Polestar 3 is an EV SUV, the company’s third model and second all-electric option.
Polestar 3 SUV shipments are starting amid growing competition within the space and softening demand.
Responding to market changes, Polestar is lowering the car’s launch price by as much as 12% and making more features standard, like advanced driver assistance.

Like many EV peers, Polestar was riding high 18 months ago. Following the well-received hybrid Polestar 1, the Polestar 2 electric car found a product-market fit, shipping 100,000 EVs in just two and a half years. Then, the company announced plans for their first EV SUV, the 2025 Polestar 3.

With corporate confidence emboldened by ample Chinese capital, Volvo operational support, and strong initial traction, Polestar put a premium price on their mid-size SUV and even started dabbling in side projects, like EV motorcycles, with the CP1 concept.

The Polestar 3 starts shipping next quarter (Q2 2024) under a different set of circumstances. The mid-size EV SUV category is accumulating challengers as the world seeks to take on Tesla and their model Y, 2023’s best-selling vehicle on earth.

Additional serious challenges have piled on since the model’s announcement that underscore the critical stakes for Polestar’s third eponymous model:

Volvo is withdrawing its financial support for Polestar, selling its equity stake and forcing Polestar to rely on parent Geely for continued funding.
Polestar had disappointing 2023 vehicle delivery numbers that landed below their published forecasts.
Shipping of the Polestar 3 has been postponed by six months, now set for Q2 2024, diverging from initial statements in the October 2022 launch event.
The brand is facing aggressive price cuts from Tesla, their chief competitor, with the Model Y starting now at $36,490, including the refreshed $7,500 federal tax credit.

Polestar is countering these challenges with decisive moves to realign with market expectations and stimulate buyer interest:

Recalibrating pricing with the biggest reduction — 12% — to the base model.
Introducing two new trim levels and offering four variations of the Polestar 3, in order to cover a broader area when it comes to price and features.
Pricing the 2025 Polestar 3 at $74,800 to $86,300, with claimed driving ranges between 279 and 315 miles.
Standardizing more technology across all trims like the “Pilot Pack,” which includes their advanced driver assistance technologies.

Despite Polestar’s pricing pivot, its design ethos remains bold and striking. Buyers stand to benefit from premium style with humbler price tags.

Polestar 3 production is already underway in China. Following successful production test runs, manufacturing in South Carolina is on track to begin summer 2024.