Polestar, the premium electric vehicle manufacturer owned by Geely and Volvo Cars, has officially unveiled its first SUV in China, the Polestar 3. The launch comes with a significant price reduction of about RMB 200,000 yuan ($29,080) from the model’s global debut last year. The long-range dual-motor model will now start at RMB 698,000, and the long-range dual-motor with performance pack will start at RMB 798,000.
The Polestar 3 is the company’s first all-electric model that will be produced in both China and the US. The vehicle will be on display at the Shanghai auto show next month, with expected delivery dates for both versions in the fourth quarter of this year. Production will begin at Polestar’s plant in Chengdu, Sichuan province, in the middle of this year, and in Ridgeville, South Carolina, by mid-2024. The US plant will serve as the main supply location for North America and other markets, with deliveries expected to begin in mid-2024.
See also: Most expensive version of the Polestar 3 electric SUV costs $100,770
Polestar’s co-founders, Volvo and Geely, established the company in 2017, and its first product, the Polestar 1, was available only in limited quantities and has been discontinued. The Polestar 2, the brand’s first real production model on sale, began deliveries in 2020 and is only produced at a plant in Taizhou, Zhejiang province, in eastern China.
Despite the Polestar 3’s strong performance and configuration, its prices in China appear to be high compared to similar models on the market. The previous starting price of RMB 880,000 was almost twice the NIO ES7’s starting price of RMB 468,000. However, the Polestar 3 has a slightly slower 0-100 km/h sprint time of 4.7 seconds for the performance version and 5 seconds for the long-range version, while both versions of the NIO ES7 have a 0-100 km/h sprint time of 3.9 seconds.
