Ranked #119 car in the UK · SUV (EV) · 4,190 units sold last year
The Polestar 3 (2023 on) is the brand's large electric SUV - sharing its platform with the Volvo EX90, with understated Scandinavian design, strong range and a premium, minimalist cabin. Quick and comfortable, it's pitched against the BMW iX and Mercedes EQE SUV. A well-made, calm long-distance electric SUV that favours quality and refinement over flash, and a serious used alternative in the premium electric class.
WLTP
The short version
Forecourt score
Value 8 · Reliability 34 · Insurance 12
The Polestar 3 loses value faster than most cars and is dearer to run than most. Its MOT-based reliability is good, 70 out of 100, ahead of 34% of the cars we track. On three-year value retention it ranks better than 8% of models.
The Forecourt score blends how this car ranks against the catalogue on value retention, reliability and insurance cost (weighted 40/40/20). Higher is better; running cost is not yet folded in.
Estimates are tuned to the version you choose.
Fuel
Electric
Power
489 ps
Drivetrain
AWD
Efficiency
3.2 mi/kWh
The volume Polestar 3. 489 PS dual motor, ~390 mi WLTP, 0-62 in 5.0s. Air suspension, rear-axle disconnect for efficiency cruising. The Range Rover Velar's EV rival.
Tidy and well looked-after for its age — the typical car.
Remembered as you browse other cars.
Optional — fills in the exact year and ULEZ status for your specific car. The registration isn’t stored.
Estimated market value
How we got this number — click for the breakdown, or to challenge it.£40,650
Range £33,300 – £48,550
medium confidence
How a 2023-registration Polestar 3 loses value over time.
Based on the 2023 car with 23,400 miles you entered above — worth about £40,650 today — here is the cost of owning it for the next 5 years, at roughly 7,800 miles a year.
5-year total
£21,117
Per year
£4,223
All-in per mile
£0.54
Fuel per mile
7.7p
Best age to buy — around 4 years
A 4-year-old example loses roughly £6,400 a year — under half the £17,150 a one-year-old sheds. The steepest drop is behind it.
Uses current UK pump and home-charging prices (DESNZ weekly), typical-driver insurance and manufacturer service intervals. "Fuel per mile" is just the energy input — so an EV at ~9p and a diesel at ~22p make running-cost comparison direct. A guide; your own costs will vary.
Where this car ranks against the 340 vehicles in our index — higher is better.
Percentile rank across our full index. A measure is shown only where the data spreads meaningfully across the index.
How the available versions compare on price, running cost, and the headaches each tends to develop.
Premium electric SUV. Class-leading 438mi WLTP on Single Motor RWD. Cross-shop BMW iX, Audi Q6 e-tron, Mercedes EQE SUV. Sister to Volvo EX90 (same SPA2 platform). 5-seat only (no 7-seat — EX90 has 7-seat option).
Watch for
Fuel/energy costs based on this week’s UK averages (w/c 22/06/2026) · Petrol 153.3p/L, Diesel 172.5p/L, Electricity 27.0p/kWh · DESNZ
Group 33 of 50 (upper-mid — pricier to insure) · Comprehensive · 3 years NCB
Indicative annual comprehensive premiums for this car, by driver age band and risk profile. Pick the combination closest to your circumstances.
Estimated annual premium · typical, age 33-39
£1,468/ year
Roughly £122 per month
Typical
Average UK driver — 3 years NCB, average postcode, no recent claims.| Age band | Lower risk | Typical | Higher risk |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age 17-25 | £3,347 | £4,184 | £5,439 |
| Age 26-32 | £1,747 | £2,055 | £2,507 |
| Age 33-39Selected | £1,292 | £1,468 | £1,732 |
| Age 40-49 | £1,097 | £1,218 | £1,413 |
| Age 50+ | £978 | £1,086 | £1,282 |
How we estimate this
Indicative annual comprehensive premium estimates. The 'Typical' figure represents an average UK driver in each age band; Lower and Higher risk show the realistic spread driven by factors UK insurers legitimately price on (postcode, occupation, claims history, NCB, voluntary excess, modifications). Based on 10,000 miles/yr, £250 voluntary excess, and the no-claims bonus selected above. Always get individual quotes before buying.
Adjust the annual mileage to match how you'll actually use the car. Insurance is what you selected above (age 33-39, typical risk, 3 yrs NCB).
Routine service
£290
Annual main-dealer service
Major service
£280
Every 2 years, annualised
Road tax
£195
Standard rate, post year-one
Electricity
£658
3.5 mi/kWh, 27p blended
Insurance
£1,468
Age 33-39, group 36
Clean-air zones
✓ ULEZ compliantBased on London ULEZ standards — Birmingham, Bath, Bristol, Sheffield, Glasgow and other UK clean-air zones generally follow the same rules.
Excludes depreciation and unscheduled repairs (see next section).
What out-of-warranty repairs typically run, by mileage band. Your selected mileage is highlighted.
0-30k miles
£120
per year · low risk
30-60k miles
£360
per year · low risk
60-100k miles
£780
per year · medium risk
100k+ miles
£1,350
per year · high risk
215/65 R17 · 235/55 R18 · 235/50 R19
What a full set of four will cost you (including fit and balance), and which brand each tier of buyer should pick. A typical set lasts about 24,000 miles.
Budget
£400
set of 4, fitted · £85 per tyre
Mid-range
£580
set of 4, fitted · £130 per tyre
Premium
£840
set of 4, fitted · £195 per tyre
Factory options ranked by how much of their original cost they recover at resale. Anything above 70% return tends to make money back; below 40% is paying for your own enjoyment.
| Option | New cost | Added used value | Return |
|---|---|---|---|
Tow bar (factory-fit) Niche, but the buyers who want one will pay for it. | £650 | £450 | 69% |
Parking sensors & reversing camera Near-expected now — its absence costs more than its presence returns. | £500 | £300 | 60% |
Heat pump Genuinely useful in winter; buyers increasingly look for it. | £1,000 | £450 | 45% |
Heated seats / cold-weather pack | £450 | £200 | 44% |
Adaptive / matrix LED headlights | £900 | £400 | 44% |
Faster on-board AC charger | £800 | £300 | 38% |
Metallic or premium paint Almost universal — an unusual colour is the bigger resale risk. | £600 | £200 | 33% |
Panoramic / opening roof | £1,100 | £350 | 32% |
Advanced driver-assistance pack | £1,500 | £450 | 30% |
Larger alloy wheels | £700 | £200 | 29% |
Premium sound system | £800 | £200 | 25% |
Drawn from owner reports and warranty data. Filtered for relevance to 23,400 miles.
Watch now
Failure typically happens around your current mileage.
Upcoming
A known weak point — but you haven't reached its usual mileage yet.
Already due
Past its usual failure mileage. Either already fixed, or about to.
General wear item — not a model-specific fault.
General wear item — not a model-specific fault.
General wear item — not a model-specific fault.
General wear item — not a model-specific fault.
"Parts low/medium/high" indicates how easy the replacement part is to source — discontinued or specialist parts mean longer workshop time and bigger bills.
Euro NCAP's independent crash-test rating for the Polestar 3, from its 2025 assessment.
The passenger compartment of the Polestar 3 remained stable in the frontal offset test.
Independent crash-test data from Euro NCAP. Star ratings reflect the test protocol of the year shown — newer protocols are stricter, so a 5-star from 2024 represents a higher bar than a 5-star from 2014.
How this model fares at its MOT as it ages — from 2,955 real DVSA test records.
Longevity
Not enough older examples yet to gauge longevity.
Good
No usable MOT data — estimated score.
MOT outlook
Insufficient MOT history at this car's reference age — too few tests to compute a reliable percentile.
Safety recalls
Manufacturers occasionally issue safety recalls to fix a fault free of charge. You can check whether the Polestar 3, or your exact vehicle, has any outstanding recalls on the official DVSA service.
Check on GOV.UKOpens the Driver & Vehicle Standards Agency recall checker. Choose the make, model and year of manufacture — no registration needed.
A general indicator from UK 2025 theft data and this car’s characteristics — not a prediction for any one vehicle.
Whole-car theft
Higher
Desirable SUVs like this are relay-theft targets — keyless entry can be exploited from the driveway in under a minute.
Parts theft
Lower
As an electric car it has no catalytic converter, so the most common parts-theft vector doesn't apply.
Worth doing
Whether driving a Polestar 3 into a UK clean-air zone will cost you anything. Rules use the same Euro standard across most zones — petrol from 2006 and diesel from 2015 onwards are exempt; pure electric is always exempt.
| City | Area | Daily charge | Likely outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| London | All of Greater London (within the M25) | £12.50 | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
| Birmingham | Inside the A4540 Middleway | £8.00 | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
| Bristol | City centre and part of the Portway | £9.00 | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
| Glasgow | City centre | — | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
| Edinburgh | City centre | — | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
| Aberdeen | City centre | — | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
| Dundee | City centre | — | Likely exempt Battery-electric — exempt everywhere. |
Model-level guidance only. To check a specific registration, use the official gov.uk clean-air zone checker. Zone charges and boundaries are set by local councils and change over time.
Winter range estimates assume ~5°C ambient with cabin heating; figures from manufacturer cold-weather testing where available, otherwise derived as a fraction of WLTP. DC times are manufacturer-claimed 10–80% on the headline charger; real-world sessions on UK rapids can be slower. Charging cost is a full battery at the home/blended electricity rate; public rapid charging costs more.
UK charging network
As of 2026-04-01, the UK has 119,080 publicly available EV chargers, up 12.6% on the prior year (13,281 added in 2025). 23% of those are rapid (50 kW+) or ultra-rapid (150 kW+), so the network can support both home and on-route charging.
3-8 kW
50%
Standard
8-50 kW
27%
Standard plus
50-150 kW
12%
Rapid
150 kW+
11%
Ultra-rapid
Source: Department for Transport / Zapmap · Released 2026-05-21 · DfT statistics
How well-supported Polestar is across the UK — a practical read on how easy servicing, parts and warranty work will be to find.
Franchised UK dealers
~18
Limited network
Direct-sale EV
Network size relative to the UK's largest (Polestar is 0.4% of all franchised outlets)
A limited network — you may need to travel for main-dealer servicing, though independent specialists can often help.
For context, the UK has roughly 4,500 franchised car-dealer outlets in total, plus about 15,500 independent garages.
Approximate figures, curated from public UK industry sources (NFDA, Car Dealer Magazine). Franchised networks shrink year on year — these indicate network size, not an exact count.
Length
4,600 mm
Width
1,880 mm
Height
1,650 mm
Kerb weight
2,100 kg
Boot
500–1,600 L
Battery
64 kWh
Common questions
Same underpinnings
Volvo's large-car platform introduced with the second-generation XC90 in 2014. Underpins the 60- and 90-series cars. Different badges, often substantially different residuals, but broadly the same mechanicals and repair cost profile.
Volvo Scalable Product Architecture · Volvo Cars
Common questions
Answers are generated from this car's Forecourt data — DVSA MOT records, DfT licensing statistics and our valuation model — and update with the weekly data refresh.