Polestar 3 review - Interior & comfort

The Polestar 3’s interior is a fairly minimalist affair which carries over some similarities with the Polestar 2. It feels more premium than that car, though, and in a way that’s a lot more understated than the interior of a BMW iX. The Polestar 3 feels very well built and high quality, with a soft headlining and faux leather upholstery which feels more cushioned. There’s also the option of Nappa leather for a little more luxury. 

The Bowers and Wilkins audio system features noise-cancelling technology and 25 speakers, with a 1,610-watt amplifier for incredibly good sound. Helped by the excellent refinement of the Polestar’s interior, it boasts impressive clarity and you can link it to a Tidal streaming audio account to enjoy it at its best.

Is the Polestar 3’s infotainment and navigation system easy to use?

As a general rule, we like Polestar’s Google-based infotainment system because it feels intuitive to use and feels as familiar to use as a smartphone. The software is displayed on a large 14.5-inch touchscreen and there’s a nine-inch digital driver’s display with brilliant resolution, too. The problem is, we think too many of the car’s functions are accessed via the infotainment system, such as climate control, driving modes and more, making it more difficult than it ought to be to access simple functions while on the move.

At least the brand has included the functionality of customisable shortcuts on the home screen, and the Google voice assistant works well and will be familiar if you use an Android phone.

Where there are physical buttons, they’re not particularly good to use anyway. The ones mounted on the steering wheel are unfortunately not backlit and don’t have any markings to show what they do, so will be hard to use at night. There’s also a rotary dial on the centre console to move through menus on the touchscreen, but it’s not very responsive which made it dissatisfying to use. Then there are the electric window switches – there are just two physical switches and a touch-sensitive button you can use to toggle between the front and rear windows, but it doesn’t work well and just feels frustrating.

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Is the Polestar 3 well equipped?

Considering what the Polestar 3 goes up against, it feels well equipped. All cars get that 14.5-inch infotainment screen and nine-inch driver’s display, heated front seats, three-zone climate control, a Bowers and Wilkins audio system with Dolby Atmos surround sound, an airy panoramic roof, a comprehensive suite of safety tech including adaptive cruise control, lane keep and departure warning and a heat pump to keep the battery running at optimum temperatures in the winter.

What options should you choose on the Polestar 3?

While likely to change, the Polestar 3 is only available in ‘Launch Edition’ so far and its main options are split into packs. There’s the Nappa leather pack, which not only brings luxurious Nappa leather upholstery, but also a massaging seat function with five settings. The Plus pack brings a power-adjustable steering column, heated steering wheel and a system that improves the air quality. The Performance Pack will appeal if you want the extra power, and also brings 22-inch alloys, some more aggressive exterior touches, Performance Pack badging on the interior plus ‘Swedish Gold’ ambient interior lighting and seatbelts.