Polestar 3: I Loved Driving It. But This Missing Feature Ruined It For Me
polestar’s Polestar 3 arrived as a 2025 Polestar 3 Dual Motor with the Performance Pack loaned to a reviewer who drove it first in Jackson Hole, Wyoming. The cabin’s Scandinavian minimalism and taut steering impressed immediately, but simple, missing controls — most notably music volume and track skip on the steering wheel — turned a near-perfect drive into a persistent irritation.
Why does the Polestar 3 feel like a design success?
The Polestar 3’s aesthetic and materials are repeatedly singled out for restraint and refinement. The interior pairs a 14. 5-inch infotainment display with a flowing glass canopy and upholstery choices that include Nappa leather, animal welfare-certified wool and a recycled leather alternative called MicroTech. The result is a calm, minimalist cabin that rewards longer drives; reviewers describe the car as elegant, with suspension and steering tuned for poise.
Environmental choices are woven into that design story. The vehicle is presented as tailpipe-emissions-free and built with lifecycle impacts in mind: certain manufacturing sites use renewable energy, blockchain is used for traceability on some materials, and more than 85% of the Polestar 3 is said to be recyclable. In practical terms, the powertrain performance is matched by usable range — the model can reach up to 394 miles and supports a fast charge from 10% to 80% in 22 minutes — and digital tools, including an integrated co-pilot with Google Assistant and a charging app that catalogs public points in large numbers for drivers in key markets.
Why are drivers frustrated by polestar’s software and missing controls?
The single-most tangible frustration on the launch drive was the steering wheel: eight of the 12 buttons are unused most of the time, and essential tasks like adjusting music volume or skipping tracks cannot be performed from the wheel. Those functions were labeled “Coming Soon” at launch and expected as over-the-air updates. Eighteen months later, only one of the promised features remained unresolved, and the basic volume control remained absent from the production car experienced by the reviewer.
That gap matters because the Polestar 3 and its mechanical twin, the Volvo EX90, were introduced as early examples of European-developed software-defined vehicles. The SDV pitch centers on a manufacturer-owned software stack that enables higher update cadence, deeper system integration and the ability to update controls and features over-the-air. The promise is not only slicker interfaces but lower wiring complexity and a faster path to improvement. A reviewer captured the frustration bluntly: “Eight of the 12 buttons on the steering wheel are completely useless 99% of the time. ” A small software mapping would seem to restore much of that utility: a reviewer summarized the simple desired logic in plain terms — if a volume-up button is pressed, the volume should increase.
What responses and fixes are in motion?
Polestar has acknowledged the missing steering-wheel functions and has scheduled the addition of the control an over-the-air update in connection with the launch of a refreshed 2027 Polestar 3. That pledge is the clearest remedy available: it leans on the SDV model’s core advantage, the ability to push new functionality to cars already in customers’ hands. Elsewhere, the company is advancing elements of its environmental strategy in production and materials traceability to match the vehicle’s design claims.
At the same time, the SDV transition is widely framed as a major industry shift, arguably larger than the transition to electric drivetrains. That context helps explain both the enthusiasm for what the Polestar 3 represents and the impatience when software conveniences — the very features that should be most easily delivered by an SDV — lag behind.
Returning to the opening scene on a mountain road near Jackson Hole, the Polestar 3 still feels like a rare thing: a luxury electric SUV that combines careful design, strong mechanics and an explicit environmental conscience. Yet that same car also shows how the promise of software-defined vehicles becomes tangible only when small, everyday features work exactly when drivers expect them to. The hope is practical: that an update will restore the steering-wheel functions and let the Polestar 3’s strengths speak without qualification; until then, the ride remains both impressive and incomplete.
