2022 Polestar 3: New electric SUV teased again

December 3, 2021: A new, more revealing teaser image of the upcoming 2022 Polestar 3 electric SUV has been released today.

An Australian launch for the Polestar 3 is confirmed – in so much as Polestar has announced it will offer every model in every market it operates in – but timing is still to be revealed.

Unlike the exclusively China-built Polestar 2, the 3 will also be built in the US – at the company's Charleston, South Carolina plant. Where Australia-bound cars will originate is unclear, although China would seem likely.

Our coverage continues below.

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September 30: The new Polestar 3 will extend the Swedish EV maker's range upwards when it launches next year.

CEO Thomas Ingenlath told CAR magazine it would compete against cars like the Porsche Cayenne in the £65,000 ($121,500) price bracket with a footprint matching that of the next-generation Volvo XC90, its sister car.

"For a European car those are big dimensions, though in China that is not considered to be big," he said. "Shape-wise, it has nothing to do with the XC90. It’s sleeker, more aerodynamic. I don’t like the word 'sporty' but it’s a car with an incredible stance and power on the road and it’s clearly in that Cayenne-type SUV segment."

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Ingenlath promised that the new Polestar 3 would be "very aspirational" with a stylish, minimalist interior and a drivetrain that would deliver effortless performance, a cornerstone of the progressive EV brand.

He also said the new 3 would kickstart an era of sleeker SUVs. "The SUV market will change: it makes no sense to have high wind resistance on electric SUVs, aerodynamics will become more important," he added.

Ingenlath was talking as Polestar announced plans to float on the Nasdaq stock exchange, in a deal that values the Swedish firm at around $20 billion. The funding raised will help finance the next three models waiting in the wings (revealed below), as it aims to increase annual production ten-fold from 29,000 forecast for 2021 to 290,000 by 2025.

Polestar 3 electric SUV: what we know so far

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Polestar's next model has already been teased in an official hand-out photograph revealing its silhouette under a cloth. The company confirmed that the 3 SUV will be built at Volvo's factory in Ridgeville, South Carolina, with production starting in 2022. The plant was opened in 2018, with the current S60 saloon being the first model to roll off the production line there.

The Polestar 3 will use Volvo Car Group's new battery-electric platform "which has been designed from scratch for full electrification". This isn't the platform which currently underpins the Polestar 2, but it's understood that this new BEV architecture will also be the basis for the next-generation Volvo XC90.

Polestar has also confirmed that the new 3 will also use Google's Android Automotive OS, as expected, which will 'feature industry-leading connectivity features.'

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'Polestar 3 will be built in America, for our American customers,' said Ingenlath (above). 'From now on, the USA is no longer an export market but a home market.'

Given the decision to produce the 3 in the USA, Polestar has also announced it will market its cars through so-called 'Spaces' – retail areas much like dealerships, but in more urban environments – as it continues to ramp up its distribution network in more countries globally.

Earlier this year the Volvo spin-off announced the Polestar 2 line-up for 2021 – offering three powertrains for the EV with a driving range of 540km, which is due to land in Europe this month and on Australian shores by November when the brand officially launches here.

Stay tuned for more details on the 3 and whether the model, and its price point, will be confirmed for Australia.

A version of this story was originally published by CAR Magazine in the UK.