Self-confessed petrolhead Zoë Burn has long resisted the electric revolution – until a day behind the wheel of the all-new Polestar 3 starts to turn her thinking on its head…
There are two types of people in this world. Those who love EVs and those who flat out refuse to touch them. And until very recently, I fell into the latter category.
However, it all changed when I was invited to test drive the all new Polestar 3 at an event in Northumberland.
I’ve been a motorsport writer for the best part of 30 years – the internal combustion engine has been an integral part of my life and with my work mainly in motorcycle racing, where EV technology is still not conducive with the sport, EV machinery on the whole hasn’t interested me.
Add to this my concern of not being able to drive to far flung UK tracks like Brands Hatch without long charging stops and you can understand why I’d never considered trading in my ICE car.
But anyone who knows me knows the Polestar had already turned my head. The TV adverts caught my attention about a year ago and I had genuinely looked
twice at this car. I thought it was aesthetically stunning and I’d been curious to learn more.
So when the invite came to spend a day with the iconic brand test driving its machines around some of the north’s finest roads, I couldn’t refuse.
About Polestar
Polestar was born from a motorsport background in the 1990s, a Swedish outfit and Volvo’s official performance partner. Volvo acquired the brand in 2015
and two years later it was relaunched as a standalone premium EV manufacturer.
The Polestar 3 broke cover in 2022 as the marque’s first Sports Utility Vehicle
(SUV), launching with a dual-motor setup and the first car to feature centralised computing via an NVIDIA Drive core computer.
With the latest model (MY26) now ready to unleash on the public, Polestar wanted to find an area where journalists could drive on a variety of roads and stretch its legs in a more off-road environment – and chose Northumberland and County Durham.
The UK team spent a week at Matfen Hall to welcome journalists over five days and Luxe was lucky enough to be among the first to test the all new SUV on the
opening day.
Split into pairs, we were handed the controls to two models over the course of the day, which included around five hours of driving time, combined with a few
comfort breaks.
The experience
Leaving Matfen shortly after 8am, I took the wheel first. The Polestar team believe in giving writers the freedom to experience their machinery without
breathing down our necks, so had pre-loaded the route into the sat nav,
suggested places where drivers could swap and left us to it.
It’s 20 years since I drove an automatic and despite being a little heavy on the
brakes as I first pulled away, by the time I left Matfen I felt like I’d known the car forever.
I drive a CRV and you always know you’re muscling a large car around but with
Polestar 3 it seems effortless. For a spacious five-seater, it’s as easy to manoeuvre as a tiny hatchback.
Like all modern cars it has the usual driver aids like reversing cameras to make it foolproof but I didn’t need them.
The car is incredibly responsive and reacts instantly – it’s effortless to drive.
We headed to our first checkpoint, The Rose & Crown at Romaldskirk, taking in some of County Durham’s finest roads, passing Alston en route to the North Pennines – and it gave me plenty of opportunities to test the power.
The drive
Yes, this car can shift. Just light pressure on the throttle and suddenly you’re well over 70mph.
The Polestar 3 wants to move fast. It’s at its happiest once that dial hits 70 – it cruises happily at the top end with no vibrations, no bumps – it’s as smooth as it is at 30.
After coffee and morning scones at the Rose & Crown, we hit the roads again, driving to the Lord Crewe Arms in Blanchland.
Again, there were plenty of opportunities to stretch the car’s legs and stop for some photos before we found our way to our lunch stop and a delicious hot buffet.
Normally, I’d have hung around and cleared the table, but we just wanted to get back out.
We were given another vehicle for the afternoon. Unlike our white ‘Snow’ shade model from the morning, this one was ‘Storm’ and of a slightly lower spec.
We’re talking about the optional extras. Both were single rear motors and both handled and felt the same. The first one, fully specced as it was, would set you back £81,790 while the second would come in at a more reasonable £77,540.
The Polestar team were keen for us to test out the audio system which was identical in both cars, a multi-speaker system by Bowers & Wilkins which
streams using Tidal.
Arriving with a selection of options, the Abbey Road setting is an absolute winner it really sounds like you’re in a live concert hall. A fantastic extra which is
not remotely needed… yet brilliant.
The final verdict
The afternoon brought the chance to really test what the Polestar 3 could do in an off-road setting, as we were let loose on a closed road in the Kielder Forest.
It was gravel and pot holes galore, but this machine handled it with ease. In fact, given how many pot holes are on our roads at the moment, the way it handled them with very little discomfort is a reason in itself to seriously consider buying this car.
Sadly, the day ended all too soon and we had to hand the cars back. What had
I learnt? I’d learnt I wanted one. I’d checked the battery status – as we parked up it was sitting at 38 per cent, which, considering we’d really put it through its paces on a lot of stop-start roads, was not bad at all.
It’s fair to say that my head has been turned by more than just the aesthetics. The Polestar 3 has actually made me stop and rethink how I look at EVs – and it can only now be a matter of time before one is sitting outside my house permanently.
Visit Polestar Newcastle and experience it for yourself. Book your exclusive test drive today and feel the instant power, seamless technology and refined Scandinavian luxury that sets Polestar apart.
Call 0191 2154080 or email newcastle@polestar.com
