Over the next few weeks, we'll be getting to know the 2025 Polestar 3 a little better. This is the third chapter of our long-term test of the EV.
See also: 2025 Polestar 3 Long-Term Test, Part 1: The Guinea Pig and His Mount
See also: 2025 Polestar 3 Long-Term Test, Part 2: From Theory to Practice
After an instructive ride between Montreal and Wendake (see last chapter), I was ready to start the return journey. The new Polestar 3 luxury SUV had been plugged into a Level 2 Flo charging station installed in the parking lot of the Hôtel-Musée Premières Nations. I had a range of 360 km (88 percent), the sun was shining, the stars were aligned.
Not quite.
Too old
When I tried to start her up, the 3 displayed the following message: "The car is not ready to drive. Try again in a few seconds."
For 15 minutes, I alternately placed the two “keys” I had (I'll come back to that) on the rubberized pad intended for waking up the car’s motor, but without success. Then I got a new message: “Electrical system failure. Make an appointment for maintenance.” No choice, I had to call someone. That someone was Timothée Girard, sales manager of the Polestar dealership in Laval, who, in turn, contacted a mobile team.
Incredible luck had it that Jérôme Toussaint himself, regional operations manager of Polestar Canada, came to my rescue. He was passing through Quebec City, where the Saillant Group had just opened the second Polestar outlet in La Belle Province. An hour after getting the SOS call, he was parked his black 3 next to my white 3.
I make much noise about experiencing with these long-term tests what a regular customer can experience over the months. Well I was served!
As it happened, on this day I was able test one of the important aspects of Polestar's after-sales service, which in essence is this: if Polestar representatives can get to you within a decent time and over a reasonable distance, they will. Otherwise, you will be asked to contact the nearest Volvo dealer. A kinship between brands that benefits owners, You will agree.
I also learned that Polestar will do everything humanly possible to give satisfaction. In fact, the young brand has no choice but to match, or even surpass, the customer service of an avowed rival like Tesla. Without impeccable service to support its products, who will bet on the North Star?
After checks and manipulations, Jérôme was able to start the elegant but stubborn SUV. He was also able to identify the culprit: the onboard software. It was already too old, and it had not benefited from the latest updates. To be more precise, when I started my test, the vehicle’s software was on version 1.1.3; a detour to Laval to update it (a matter of an hour and a half) upgraded it to version 1.2.3.
Not only did the updates fix bugs, but they added features. Like the exterior mirrors that now automatically defrosted. Like the improvements to the adaptability of the air suspension. And like the disappearance of the dispiriting messages I’d been getting.
That said, some of the innovations and upgrades can feel a bit like taking two steps back for every three steps forward.
For example, nowadays, some vehicles are ready to come to life as soon as you slip behind their wheel, the fob somewhere on your person. I expected such innovative technology from the 3, but I probably overestimated the obsession for caution that characterizes the Volvo universe since its patent for the modern seat belt in 1959 (a royalty-free patent so that all manufacturers could benefit from it, by the way).
In fact, the Polestar 3 forced me to place a “key” (the fob) on the pad located at the end of the center console at each startup. If I forgot to take it out of my pocket (and in winter, pockets, we have way too many...), the car refused to start.
Keys/fobs/cards
The first time I left the Laval dealership in its impressive white building, I found myself with two “keys” - the first a kind of credit card; the second, a small rectangle, also white, what we call a fob. If I couldn't keep them on me when starting, I thought it would be enough to have at least one or the other in my jeans to unlock the car as soon as I approached it. There again, the system continuously played tricks on me.
Most of the time, I had to pass and repass the card on the vehicle's flush handle - once, twice, three times! - before the handle deigned to lift. The rear door, meanwhile, denied me access to the spacious bench seat until I first touched the front one.
Once, the attractive central screen decided to replace the information with streaks worthy of a 60s TV – which disappeared, after a restart. Another time, I received a warning that tire pressure was too low. But too low by how much? And in which tire exactly? I had to check all four with my pressure gauge... and inflate them all!
In short, as I write these lines in March, we are at version 1.2.6 of the software and I know the job of Polestar’s engineers and programmers is not done.
Velvet
Notwithstanding the computer glitches - about which I had been duly warned by Polestar, I should add - I was blown away by the 3's suspension, a happy marriage of flexibility and firmness. And my confidence in turns only grew with the use of all-wheel drive, there thanks to the vehicle’s two electric motors.
For all that, my eldest son, a manual transmission disciple, of course found this kind of driving too sanitized. “Where are the sensations?” he regularly complains when he slips behind the wheel of an EV, even one capable of doing the 0-100 km/h in 4.7 seconds like this 517-hp Polestar 3.
I can understand him. The majority of modern cars have erased the rumbles and jolts that defined "muscle cars." Today, dynamism and performance are smooth, without roughness. This is even more true in the case of EVs.
But, I must confess, it suits me. I think it came with age: an unprecedented appreciation for fluid power, for soft explosions...
In the same way that I aspire today to ski down a slope with beautiful technique rather than torture the cartilage in my knees, I now appreciate that a car allows me to rush and slalom, if I feel like it, but in a controlled environment. Safe.
Exactly what you get from the Polestar 3 Long Range Dual motor with Performance Pack – which retails starting at $103,200, in case you’re wondering.
Just press its right pedal to be convinced. When you feel pinned to the back of your seat, when you hear the cosmic "woosh" that fills the cabin and, above all, when the other cars you’ve left behind seem frozen in place, you don't really need to consult a stopwatch. Your smile says volumes.
What's more, in unison with all this excitement (contained and controlled, yes), the Polestar 3's soundproofing qualities enrich the comfort of the rides. Although I drove with aggressive winter tires on often dry roads, their rattling and humming never disturbed the serenity on board.
We are undeniably in the realm of stylized, airy and sharp luxury.