Polestar 3 - long-term review - Report No:2 2025
Cybercrime, as we all know, is the new ground zero for law enforcement. Villains take note: you don't need expensive kit or nerdy IT goons gone bad, you need me. I'm a one-man EMP device. Phones, laptops, smart TVs: you name it, I will fail to make them work. I'm a technology magician, only in reverse.
Also, it turns out, prone to running out of charge with nothing on it to indicate when this might happen. To keep it charged, you need to place the fob on the inductive charging pad on the centre console, and check the centre display for its SOC. Let it run flat and you won't be able to get into the car. I learnt this the hard way one evening.
Anyway, I'm now fully digitally keyed up and have a new App to fiddle with. But a convert? Not yet. A quick look on Polestar forums suggests that the card, fob and digital key all excite, shall we say, various levels of comment. The digital key uses Ultra Wideband tech for greater security and convenience, and if you keep the card about your person as back-up you should be all good. But you need to keep the fob charged, too. This is a weird interpretation of convenience, if you ask me. Especially as you can add OCD to my EMP functionality, except that you can hardly check that your car's locked if it automatically unlocks as you approach it. This is all ruinous for my mental health.
There have been a few other glitches, highlighting the pitfalls of software defined cars. The Polestar 3 has separate volume channels for phone and audio. When I finished a call and returned to a podcast, the system didn't hand back to the audio and wouldn't adjust. That was cured the next time I got in the car. Also temperamental was the manual control for the air con. That also mysteriously fixed itself.
All of which suggests that technology is great when it works. And a royal pain in the arse when it doesn't. Especially when the car itself is so good… Did I mention that the Polestar 3 is a car?
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Daily Mail
an hour ago
- Daily Mail
Mercedes unveils electric Shooting Brake with a range of 470 miles and expected price of £60,000
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'Whether it's a weekly shopping trip, a holiday with the whole family or a weekend trip with friends, it offers space for everything you need.' Here's five things you need to know about Mercedes' new stylish estate. 1. It has an enormous panoramic roof One of the highlights of the new CLA Shooting Brake is the vast panoramic roof which creates a generous and open feeling of space from the cabin to the stars above. To protect against solar radiation, the roof consists of heat-insulating laminated safety glass with a super-thin coating on the inside that in summer reflects infra-red rays to stop the interior heating up, and in winter reduces heat loss by reflecting the interior heat back into the cabin. This panoramic roof is available with a new optional function which can change the transparency of the glass in 10 to 20 milliseconds – less than the blink of an eye. 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'Additionally, some functions have been removed from the control panel for better clarity and usability, making the finger navigation pad for controlling the driver display significantly larger and thus easier to operate.' An optional Superscreen extends across the entire width of the interior. This comprises a 26-centimetre (10.25-inch) screen for the driver and a 35.6-centimetre (14-inch) central display located behind glass, while a separate 35.6-centimetre (14-inch) screen is optionally available for the front passenger for individual entertainment. For in-car gaming, the gaming controller can be used with the passenger display while driving. With the central display, this is only possible when the vehicle is parked. 5. Say hi to AI The fourth generation of Mercedes-Benz User Experience – or 'MBUX' - infotainment system integrates artificial intelligence (AI) from Microsoft and Google. It combines knowledge gathered from the Internet based on ChatGPT4o and Microsoft Bing Search. 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Auto Express
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Mercedes' latest EV has a monstrous range
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Times
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Such a level of subsidy on new EVs was last available between 2016 and 2018 when motorists switching to pure-electric cars could claim £4,500 towards the purchase. It was reduced to £3,500 in October 2018. Grants for private EV buyers were then gradually lowered before being scrapped altogether in 2022, when the Conservatives claimed they had 'successfully kickstarted the electric car market'. Just 15,474 pure-electric cars were registered in 2018, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). Last year the figure was 381,970, representing almost 20 per cent of the new car market. Despite the huge increase, the figures mask a big fall in consumer demand for EVs, with the registration figures buoyed by commercial fleet buyers. Private buyers accounted for 19.8 per cent of purchases of pure-electric cars. The decision to bring back grants is designed to help make Labour's plans to ban the sale of new pure-petrol and diesel cars in 2030 achievable. Its plans have already been watered down to allow the sale of plug-in hybrids, which can be powered by a petrol or diesel engine and battery, until 2035. The move will also help the industry meet the zero-emission vehicle mandate (ZEV), which stipulates the proportion of green vehicles manufacturers must sell. It is 28 per cent this year, rising to 80 per cent by 2030. Ginny Buckley, the chief executive of said sales to private buyers 'had stalled' in recent years. A survey of 11,000 UK drivers last November found that 76 per cent were put off by upfront EV costs. Range-anxiety — when motorists may worry about whether they will run out of charge during long journeys — has historically been a significant factor preventing people making the switch. There are now more than 82,000 public chargers and the Department for Transport has earmarked £63 million to bolster charging for motorists without driveways. Howard Cox, the founder of FairFuelUK, which has campaigned against the proposed 2030 ban, said: 'The government is hell bent on their net zero fantasy at all costs knowing full well that EVs are still not the majority of road users' desired first choice. So they are now to spend more of our taxpayers' cash on reducing the huge price of these rich man's toys.' His comments were rejected by Dan Caesar, the chief executive of Electric Vehicles UK, the trade body, who said nine out of ten people who switched to EVs never returned to conventional fuel. He said: 'The targeted incentive programme is a significant step forward in encouraging consumers to buy battery electric vehicles, and to make them more accessible. While battery-only EVs are much cheaper to buy and run than most realise, surveys show that cost misperceptions are the primary reason for hesitance. 'A generous grant, of this nature, gives a new group of interested buyers, who might have thought that going electric was beyond them, a gentle nudge into what is great tech.' Mike Hawes, the chief executive of the SMMT, said: 'Today's announcement of the return of government support for the purchase of electric vehicles is a clear signal to consumers that now is the time to switch. 'Rapid deployment and availability of this grant over the next few years will help provide the momentum that is essential to take the EV market from just one in four today, to four in five by the end of the decade.' Best for affordable fun: Fiat Grande Panda Price: From £21,035 OTR Quoted range: 199 miles* 0% APR? TBC (on sale this summer) Best for city slickers: Hyundai Inster 42kWh Price: From £23,505 OTR Quoted range: 203 miles* 0% APR? Yes, plus £1,000 deposit contribution Best for compact cool: Renault 5 E-Tech 150hp 52kWh Price: From £26,995 OTR Quoted range: 253 miles* 0% APR? Yes Best for families: Vauxhall Grandland Electric Price: From £36,455 OTR Quoted range: 318 miles* 0% APR? No Best for the masses: Ford Puma Gen-E Price: From £29,995 OTR Quoted range: 234 miles* 0% APR? Unclear Best for a comfy ride: Citroen ë-C4 Price: From £27,650 OTR Quoted range: 219 miles* 0% APR? No Best of (perceived) British: Mini Countryman E Price: From £33,005 OTR Quoted range: Up to 286 miles* 0% APR? Unclear * Combined WLTP lab test figure. Expect real world range to vary depending on conditions.
