The Polestar 3 will get a rear-wheel-drive version later this year
By ForGeeks The range should be longer than the twin-engine Polestar 3 — 315 miles (500 kilometers), and the cost is lower.
The range should be longer than the twin-engine Polestar 3 — 315 miles (500 kilometers), and the cost is lower.
Polestar, which recently split from parent company Volvo, is addressing some internal issues while targeting the new EV landscape with a small and not exactly cheap lineup. Thanks to a price cut announced in March, the 2025 twin-engine Polestar 3 Long Range with Pilot Pack will start at $74,800 after a $1,400 delivery fee. For that, buyers will get an all-wheel-drive crossover with 489 horsepower and 620 lb-ft of torque, capable of driving approximately 315 miles on a single charge. The Pilot Pack adds Pilot Assist, Park Assist Pilot, Lane Change Assist and a windshield display. Australian publication Drive reports that during a recent media presentation, the automaker’s global head of communications said the rear-wheel-drive Polestar 3 will be available in global markets later this year.
The Polestar 3 is expected to be available later this year.
Naturally, company representatives didn’t say much about what exactly will be unveiled, so details will have to wait «a few months when launch time comes». The specs we’ve been given so far list the same rear-mounted engine as the Long Range Dual Motor version, with the e-motor producing 241 hp. Polestar is also using a 111 kWh battery pack for the dual-motor cars.
The Long Range Dual Motor version of the Long Range also uses a 111 kWh battery pack.
This should provide a good range gain over the dual-motor version, but we need to see prices before we can make an assessment. While the 3 is slightly larger than the Tesla Model Y, the brand’s luxury pricing puts it in the middle ground between rivals Ford and Tesla at the bottom and rivals BMW and Mercedes at the top. The new, lower price of the 3 is $100 less than the entry-level Rivian R1S, Rivian’s larger three-row SUV.
The 3’s new, lower price is $100 less than the entry-level Rivian R1S, Rivian’s larger three-row SUV.
So it seems unlikely that the Polestar 3 RWD will approach the MSRP of a car like the Ford Mustang Mach-E, which starts at about $50,000 in Premium trim with a 320-mile extended-range battery, or the Tesla Model Y, which starts at about $46,000 in Long Range RWD trim and has 320 miles of range — both of those prices are before potential tax credits. The Rivian can get the credit, too.
On that front, however, Polestar may have some good news. The first cars to arrive at dealers this quarter will be assembled in Chengdu, China, which means buyers who want one won’t be able to claim the $7,500 federal tax credit. The only way to get the benefit — lease the 3. The automaker says it plans to begin production of the 3 in the U.S. «in mid-2024». We’ve read that early production testing at the plant in Ridgeville, South Carolina, has already been completed, so that timeline could be met, and anyone willing to wait a few months to buy a Polestar could get some relief on the MSRP.
