There's pretty much everything that opens and shuts in the Polestar 3, but you may have difficulty in opening or shutting those things. That's because many of the major functions are menu driven form the centre screen. It's far from ideal.

The interior is very roomy, however, and features lots of natural light thanks to the huge panoramic glass roof panel. By placing the battery packs under the floor, the designers have been able to produce an interior with a flat floor which is great for legroom and rear-seat space.

The overall theme is that of a slick, classy boardroom, with recycled materials and high-end textures. It's well put together, too.

As well as a choice of sustainable and recycled trim materials, the Polestar 3 seats five people with no facility for a third row of seats in the rear. The front seats are heated, cooled and offer a massage function, and are styled to look like they're floating in the cabin. ISOFIX child restraints are fitted to the rear seat.

The Polestar 3 has a 0-100km/h time of 6.5 seconds for the Rear Motor, 4.7 seconds for the Dual Motor and a fleeting 3.9 seconds for the Performance. None of those figures feel exaggerated in the real world and acceleration remains a Polestar 3 high point.

There are two main layouts and three distinct performance levels in the Polestar 3. The first is the Rear Motor version which uses a single electric motor driving the rear wheels with 245kW of power available. The Dual Motor uses a motor on each axle for all-wheel drive, and offers up 400kW of power. The Performance variant uses the same motor layout, but with higher outputs for a total of 500kW of power.

The Polestar 3 has along list of standard features, including:

• 20-inch alloy wheels (22 inch on the Performance version) 
• Glass roof panel
• Active LED lighting
• Puddle lights
• Daytime running lights
• Soft-close doors
• Rain sensing wipers with heated blades (thank you Scandinavian winters)
• Kick-operated tailgate
• 10-way powered seats (12-way if you choose the Nappa leather option)
• Heated, cooled and massaging front seats
• Tri-zone climate-control (which uses a heat pump)
• Power-adjustable steering-column
• Wireless phone charging
• Wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity
• 60/40 split rear seat with a ski-port
• 9.0 inch driver’s screen
• 14.5 inch centre screen 
• Head-up display
• Digital radio and Bluetooth

Polestar offers various $1200 option packs for the 3, including a Pilot Pack (including parking assist), a Plus Pack (a head up display and improved stereo), Climate Pack (heated steering wheel and wiper blades) as well as a Nappa leather upgrade. The adaptive air suspension is also a $3200 option. Single options include stereo upgrades, privacy glass, electro-chromatic sunroof, alloy wheels, adaptive headlights and even a tow-bar. There are also two new extra-cost paint colours.

Polestar claims a range of 604km for the Rear Motor version (based on WLPT testing protocols) and 635km for the Dual Motor. That difference is a function of the 92kWh battery in the Rear Motor and the 106kWh battery in the Dual Motor.

The Performance version uses the same battery as the Dual Motor, but its smaller range (593km) is a function of the decision to prioritise acceleration over range for that variant.