It’s exciting times at Polestar with sales figures growing at a rapid pace, new models on the horizon and even a concept car that would draw in the crowds at any supercar stand.
We were given the opportunity to visit the Swedish carmaker’s UK headquarters in Bicester to have a look at the all-new Polestar 3 SUV, walk around the jaw-dropping Synergy concept car and catch up with Jonathan Goodman, head of Polestar UK and Ireland.
First up, the Polestar Synergy electric fantasy supercar. Polestar runs a design contest annually with the chance the winner’s idea will be brought to life and each year there is a different theme. So, for example, last year the theme was Progress and the winning team from Finland designed a treehouse.
This year, the theme was Performance and it is the first time a car has won the title with the Polestar Synergy combining three designs from three students to take the honours from a field of 600-plus entrants.
After shortlisting 10 designs, the judging panel selected two exterior winners, Devashish Deshmukh and Swapnil Desai, and one interior winner, Yingxiang Li, which is a first for the competition. The Polestar Synergy is the product of more than six months of collaboration between the winners and the Polestar Design team in Gothenburg to turn three distinct dreams into one cohesive reality.
The Polestar Synergy is a fully scaled fantasy supercar that takes inspiration from the hammerhead shark for its front-end styling and features a single-seat floating interior design.
At just 1.07 metres tall and 4.56 metres long, the car exhibits proportions and details not yet seen from the brand to create a stunning supercar silhouette, proving electric supercars can be as exciting as internal combustion supercars.
Maximillian Missoni, Polestar’s Head of Design, said: “This year, the story is as much about collaboration as performance. I’m proud that the team were able to guide and support the winners to realising their dream as a full-scale model. It’s not often student designers receive such exposure at the start of their career, something the Polestar Design Community on Instagram does so well, amplified this year by the 1:1 scale model and its planned tour of Polestar locations around the world.”
But back to reality and the Polestar 3 which will be arriving in the UK in 2024 and is described as “the SUV for the electric age”. Despite its practicality, Polestar 3 is most definitely a performance-focused vehicle.
At launch, there will be the Dual Motor Long Range version costing £79,900 and, with 483bhp, it will be able to complete the 0-62mph sprint in just 4.9 seconds and onto a top speed of 130mph with a driving range between charges of up to 379 miles under WLTP testing.
Take a step up to the range-topping Performance Pack model and you gain extra power with 510bhp on tap, a 0-62mph time of 4.6 seconds and driving range of 347 miles.
Head of Polestar UK and Ireland, Jonathan Goodman, said: “This is the first Polestar model to be designed purely as a Polestar from day one and we are really excited to bring it to the UK market as SUVs are so popular here.
“It’s incredibly stylish with all the performance expected from a Polestar and loads of room inside. That’s why we call it the SUV for the electric age.”
Despite no test drives taking place yet, there are already plenty of pre-orders for Polestar 3 and deliveries are expected in May or June next year. And, similarly to Polestar 2, there will be Single Motor versions to follow that will be less expensive.
Jonathan also reflected on Polestar’s sales success, saying: “”It’s been a very exciting year for us. In fact we have enjoyed good growth over the last three years with the sale of 800 cars in 2020; 4,000 in 2021; 7,500 in 2022 and 11,000 this year up until November.
“This has been based solely on Polestar 2, but now we have Polestar 3 and 4 coming which are both SUVs so it’s a very exciting time for us.
“Starting from zero, we now have 22,000 Polestars on the UK roads so we are becoming far more visible as a brand and we are confident the sales growth will continue.”
So it is indeed exciting times ahead for Polestar, but imagine if that Polestar Synergy concept could truly be brought to life in full working order – now that really would be something.