2026 Polestar 3 review: Australian first drive

"We're not a shouty brand," says Polestar Australia CEO Scott Maynard, acknowledging that in order to make a splash in Australia's overcrowded market, car companies need to get their elbows out a bit. The Polestar 3 is a case in point.

Its big sales year here was 2025, when it shifted 332 units. Compare that to the Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV, a car widely derided as a sales flop. The electric Merc sold 963 last year. Audi sold 535 Q6 e-trons, and I bet you're struggling to form a picture in your head of what that car even looks like.

Polestar has sold 36 examples of the Polestar 3 so far this year, but buyers may have held off ahead of this heavily refreshed model. Without wishing to issue too much by way of spoilers, customers would have been right to wait.

So does this new version see Polestar being a bit more strident about the car's qualities? Not really. But perhaps we can.

The big news is that the car now uses a slicker 800-volt electrical architecture, which slashes charging times. Whereas the old Polestar 3 could charge at a DC peak speed of 250kW, this one ups the ante to 350kW, in the dual-motor cars at least.

In real terms, that means a typical 10-80 per cent charge on the fly will take 22 minutes on a 350kW charger, which is more than 25 per cent quicker than before.

That's all well and good, but this isn't new tech. Upmarket Hyundai and Kia models have had it for years. The latest Xpeng G6 has recently updated from 800V to a 900V architecture. So in and of itself, it's not a reason to buy the Polestar 3. What it represents is a reason not to cross it off your list.

True to its habit of hiding its light under a Swedish bushel (perhaps a lingonberry), Polestar has comprehensively updated this car, though many of its target buyers might never notice.

The fundamentals first. Polestar still offers a three-variant range, but it has rejigged the line-up a bit. At the entry level is the Polestar 3 Rear Motor. Priced at $116,700 plus on-roads, this variant features a single rear-mounted electric motor producing 245kW, offers a 604km range, and rides on passive dampers and 20-inch alloy wheels.

The middle child is the Polestar 3 Dual Motor. This wasn't available for us to drive at the launch event, but costs $131,100 plus on-roads, packs a hefty 400kW wallop, 635km of WLTP-mandated range, and also sits on the passive dampers and 20s, but also offers the option of adaptive suspension for another $3200.

At the top of the range sits the rocketship Polestar 3 Performance. Compared with its predecessor, the updated model packs an extra 120kW, bringing total output to 500kW and torque to 870Nm. It'll zip to 100km/h in 3.9 seconds, cover 593km of range, and Polestar will ask $146,700 plus on-roads for the privilege.

That's around $21K less than the entry-level 350kW Porsche Cayenne Electric, so Porsche owners might want to avoid eye contact if a Polestar 3 Performance sidles up alongside at the lights.

Given that the EV market has matured beyond just straight-line-speed bragging rights, the Polestar 3 brings a host of other upgrades. New lithium-ion batteries from CATL boost efficiency by around 6 per cent, and the pack size for the dual-motor variants has actually dropped from 111kW in the old car to 106kW thanks to that efficiency saving. So you get a smaller battery that charges quicker and less weight to lug around. Win-win.

All versions get a more powerful rear motor. It's a little known fact that dual-motor versions of the old Polestar 3 reverted to front-drive when cruising, decoupling the rear motor. Not any longer. Because the permanent magnet synchronous rear motor is now the star, the front motor is the one that decouples at speed.

Polestar has revised the suspension with new anti-roll bars and updated the steering software.

Unless you're a proper Polestar spotter, you'd be hard-pushed to notice much in the way of exterior difference. The shape is still bold and sleek, with far more of a pointed beak and rake to its windscreen than the usual bluff-fronted SUV contenders in its class. New colours for this year include Storm (a dark grey metallic) and Krypton (a green metallic finish). Polestar has also tweaked the door text graphics.

The cabin has also come in for some attention, with the option of an electrochromic glass roof ($2800) and some different colour options for the upholstery. The Dune colour for the Bridge of Weir leather (a sandy tone) is lovely, but at $7200 it's not an option for everyone. It pairs with black ash deco dash inserts.

Polestar has also moved to up the value of the 3, with the previously optional Plus pack now included into the price. The includes a head-up display, interior noise cancellation, soft-close doors, a powered steering column and acoustic glass. It also packages the wonderful 25-speaker 1610-watt Bowers and Wilkins stereo system, so even the base Rear Motor version gets this audio delight.

The package includes Abbey Road Studios Mode, which features Intimate, Open, Energised and Expansive sound presets Bowers and Wilkins claims that "each preset draws on the sound of the control rooms and live spaces whilst taking inspiration from original EMI-era equipment used in recording, mixing and mastering to this day. All have been curated and designed by our expert engineers".

All I know is that it sounds ace, and it's fun to shuttle between the presets, listening to how they breathe life into your favourite tracks. Sometimes all a car needs is one absolutely must-have attribute that can get it across the line with buyers. The stereo in this car just might be that drawcard.

Let's jump into the entry-level Rear Motor first.

This one features seats finished in that unusual Bio-Attributed Micro-Tech fabric, which feels a bit like a neoprene wet suit. Apparently it's very sustainable because it replaces fossil-fuel materials with biological waste and recycled polyester. If you like neither this nor the leather, there's a wool option for $1200.

I like these seats, but I do notice that there's only a heating function and no cooling. That might get to me on a day that's a bit more balmy than this single-digit horror out on the wet and windswept plains north of Melbourne. It feels like Polestar weather, though; something out of a Scandi noir flick.

The suspension seems generally competent at mopping up the awful road surface. Up the pace a little and the acceleration feels crisp and purposeful. I'm not altogether sold on the steering software upgrade, as the front end doesn't really offer a tenacious bite, no matter which of the three steering settings you choose. It forces you to drive in a more old-school slow in, fast out sort of way, but perhaps that discipline is no bad thing in these conditions.

You sense the car's heft over rollers and through compressions. At 2315kg, it's no lightweight and B-road bumps will make you wish for more cultured rebound damping. Push hard through tighter corners, and you can feel that mass loading and threatening to overwhelm the sidewalls of the 285/45 R20 Michelin Pilot Sport EV tyres.

Back off and it all becomes far more civilised. There's a limit to this car's sporting chops. As long as you're not expecting to chuck it about like a VW Golf GTI, it's refined and comfortable.

Not as comfortable as the Performance, though. This comes with clever hydraulically linked adaptive suspension with air springs, and you'll feel that additional plushness the moment you hit a surface imperfection. That's despite the fact that it's riding on Pirelli P Zero tyres in a 265/40 R22 fitment up front and 295/35 R22 aft.

The firmer tyre sidewalls give the steering a bit more authority as you tip the Performance into corners, and you'll be able to accelerate out more cleanly thanks to the traction of the front motor. It's quick too, as you might expect from a vehicle with a power-to-weight ratio of 198kW/tonne. That's about on par with what we'd consider a serious performance sedan like a BMW M3 or an Alfa Romeo Guilia QV.

Yet while on test, the Polestar 3 Rear Motor returned an energy consumption figure of 14.4 kilowatt-hours per 100 kilometres. That included a decent stretch of freeway, where EVs are often not at their most efficient. That's a standout figure. The WLTP efficiency claim is 17.6kWh/100km, yet on test this big SUV was returning better energy efficiency than a Hyundai Kona Electric. Go figure.

It's worth noting that the peak DC charging rate for the Rear Motor variant is a little down on that of the dual-motor cars at 310kW (versus 350kW). The AC charge capacity is similar at 11kW.

I'm beginning to regret not having the Dual Motor variant to test. This with the optional adaptive suspension might be the sweet spot in the Polestar 3 range. The issue there is that it would then carry a sticker price of almost $135,000, so most buyers would be tempted to throw another $11K at the Performance variant and get that additional 100kW of grunt and the flagship's badge prestige to boot.

While I wait for the videographer to wring himself out, I have a play with the infotainment system. The portrait-oriented screen is based on the Android Automotive operating system, and while it's snappy and crisp to operate, I'm left wanting a more cohesive system design and navigation. Perhaps this short drive isn't allowing me to get the best of it, as I find myself dipping in and out of Android Auto, which defeats the point. We'll wait for a longer spell with the Polestar 3 to really get to grips with the system.

Accommodation inside the Polestar 3 is as good as ever. Despite a full glass roof fitted to the test cars, there's no issue for head room, front or rear. Jump into the back and there's a stack of leg room too, with your feet able to tuck under the seats in front. It feels spacious, and the view from the back out of the glass roof is lovely.

I'm left wondering whether it's all special enough, though. Budget EVs have hijacked this minimalist theme very successfully, and some of the touchpoints are great, but others, like the wood-look dash fillets, feel hollow and superficial to the touch. This is the Polestar 3's key impediment.

It has leant into the spare, minimalist vibe just as automotive trends are beginning to turn against it. Increasingly, there's a 'more is indeed more' approach to modern luxury, which leaves the Polestar 3 feeling a little out of step.

Beautiful buttons, tactile switches and other physical controls are notable by their absence in the Polestar 3, which is a shame, because they represent a way for manufacturers to differentiate themselves and for drivers to operate the car more safely without constant recourse to sub-menus on a screen. The 'iPad in a bathtub' interior aesthetic has worked in taking cost out of mass-market EVs, but has perhaps lost its lustre at the luxury end of the market.

That this Polestar 3 is a much improved car due to the latest round of updates is beyond question. It's quicker, more efficient, keener value, better to drive and charges way quicker. Whether that is enough to move the meter beyond this model's sales trickle is another issue altogether.

Personally, I'd love to see it succeed. I adore the company's approach to doing business, with its laudable environmental processes and beautiful designs. I may well be in a tiny minority, though. Polestar needs to chase big numbers; something that it hopes it'll achieve with the forthcoming Polestar 7 compact SUV, likely due at the end of next year.

It can't come soon enough. The Polestar 3, as lovely as it is, isn't going to swell the order bank as much as the company would probably like. But if you're bored of the usual suspects from Germany and want something stylish and achingly cool, it more than deserves a spot on your shortlist.

And these changes go so much deeper than the mere superficial. As the Swedes might say, 'Man ska inte döma hunden efter håren'. You shouldn't judge a dog by its fur.