Polestar 3 adding a rear-wheel-drive trim later this year

Polestar, recently divorced from the Volvo mothership, is working through some in-house teething issues at the same time as it navigates a new EV landscape with a small and not-exactly-inexpensive model range. Thanks to price cuts announced in March, the 2025 Polestar 3 Long Range Dual Motor with Pilot Pack will start at $74,800 after the $1,400 destination charge. That gets buyers an all-wheel-drive crossover making 489 horsepower and 620 pound-feet of torque, able to go an estimated 315 miles on a charge. The Pilot Pack adds Pilot Assist, Park Assist Pilot, Lane Change Assist and a head-up display. Australia's Drive reports that during a recent media launch, the automaker's global head of communications said a rear-wheel-drive 3 is on the way later this year for global markets.  

Naturally, company reps wouldn't say much about what's coming, so details will have to wait "a few months from now when the time comes to launch." The tech specs we've been entrusted with for now specify the same rear motor as in the Long Range Dual Motor trim, said e-motor making 241 hp. Polestar's also sticking with the 111-kWh battery pack in the dual-motor cars.

That should provide a nice bump in range over the version with two motors, but we'll need to see pricing before an assessment. Although the 3 is a little larger than a Tesla Model Y, the brand's luxury pricing puts it in a middle ground between Ford and Tesla competition below, and BMW and Mercedes competition above. The 3's new, lower pricing is $100 below that of an entry-level Rivian R1S, the Rivian a larger, three-row SUV.

So it seems unlikely the Polestar 3 RWD will get close to the MSRP of something like the Ford Mustang Mach-E that starts at about $50,000 in Premium trim with the extended range battery good for an estimated 320 miles, or the Tesla Model Y that starts at about $46,000 in Long Range RWD trim and gets an estimated 320 miles of range — both of those prices before any potential tax credits. That Rivian can get the credit as well.

There could be good news on that front for Polestar, though. The initial cars to reach dealer lots sometime this quarter are assembled in Chengdu, China, meaning buyers who want to purchase cannot claim the $7,500 federal tax credit. The only way to claim the credit is to lease the 3. The automaker says it plans on bringing production of the 3 to the U.S. "in the middle of 2024." We've read that early production tests at the Ridgeville, South Carolina, facility have been completed, so the timeline could hold, and anyone willing to wait a few months to purchase the Polestar could get some MSRP relief.  

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