VOLVO

EXCLUSIVE: More precise details of the new Polestar SUV released

Subordinated to Volvo Cars and its Chinese owners, Polestar has been committed to the development of premium electric vehicles, although its first model, with the unassuming serial number “1”, is a hybrid. The Polestar 2 electric car is more similar in layout to a raised liftback, so the manufacturer, gearing up for the Polestar 3's autumn debut, considers it its first full-fledged crossover. His appearance was revealed this week.

The company has pledged to bring the Polestar 3 to market early next year after its October debut, with US buyers being assembled at a facility in Southern California and all other markets served by a facility in China. In terms of proportions, the electric car really resembles classic crossovers, and the absence of long overhangs will certainly increase its cross-country geometric capability and urban maneuverability.

As the manufacturer points out, the crossover will initially be equipped with the Luminar lidar, which it considers the best sensor of its kind on the entire market. Keep in mind that optical radars (lidars) are used to determine the distance to obstacles and can be especially useful in conditions of limited visibility, when you cannot rely on the driver's vision or camera images. There are no details on the computing platform of the Polestar 3 on-board systems, only it is reported that the machine will be equipped with NVIDIA components.

The all-wheel drive version of the Polestar 3 will be the first to enter the market, which will receive an electric motor for each of the two axles, and the capacity of the standard traction battery must be sufficient for more than 600 km according to the conditional cycle. WLTP. It's rather strange that Polestar has also attached a video featuring a dark, stocky silhouette of some other electric car that looks like a four-door coupe in the crossover photo in Polestar's profile. Apparently, the presentation video was being prepared for a different model, or a different Polestar 3 design was approved from the start.

In particular, the concept sports not only cameras on skinny legs rather than rear-view mirrors, but also a characteristic thickening in the roof, which often hides the same lidar that assesses the situation around the car in terms of the presence of obstacles.

The design of the headlights, which, in Volvo tradition, use running lights in the shape of the so-called “Thor's hammer”. The false front grille of the radiator, due to the lack of need to be used for its intended purpose, placed in its lower layer the front camera and a series of specialized sensors that are involved in the operation of active driver assistance systems.

At the same time, in the photo of the press release on the front edge of the hood of the crossover, you can see aerodynamic elements similar to the so-called “fly dampers” installed by many car owners on cars. In this case, the function of the additional channels on the front edge of the hood is to form an airflow that minimizes aerodynamic drag.

The interior is distinguished by the silhouettes of only four seats with pronounced lateral support, and the headrests of the first row even have special “ears” for better fixation of the neck and head of the passenger and the driver. In short, given these discrepancies with the image of the Polestar 3 in static, you shouldn't rely too much on the impressions you receive.

Polestar separately notes that in the current semester it intends to enter the public stock market through Nasdaq. In the next three years, the brand is ready to launch a new model every year. By the end of next year, Polestar intends to cover the markets of 30 countries with its presence and, by the middle of the decade, the sales of cars of this brand are expected to increase to 290 thousand units per year, which represents ten times more than the 2021 results.

Image source: Polestar/Volvo

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