The unveiling ceremony of Polestar 3 held at Copenhagen last week was quite spectacular, with more than 900 people attending it. Company CEO Thomas Ingenlath and chief designer Maximilian Missoni gave a 45-minute speech, detailing all the outstanding features and the most impressive tidbits.
During the press conference, the most exciting part was undoubtedly that Ingenlath compared the lidar system of Polestar 3 with the " bullet time " effect in the " matrix " series of movies. It said that lidar can save passengers' lives, just like the slow motion in the movie saving Neo .
Starting from mid-next year, Polestar 3 consumers will be able to order the addition of a lidar sensor kit from Luminar, which Polestar believes is the best long-distance lidar on the market. In addition to 16 ultrasonic sensors , 8 cameras, 5 radar arrays and 2 Nvidia Drive computers, lidar will also prepare for the final autonomous driving of Polestar 3. As a standard configuration, the Polestar 3 is equipped with a Level 2 Liberation Two-Hand Driving feature, and also has a long list of active safety features.
When a notebook drawing of the iconic bullet time series of The Matrix appears on the screen behind me, Ingenlath said that in order to understand what happens when security systems exert their magic, people must slow down time to milliseconds. "Neo's reaction speed of the bullet flew from Smith agent is what saved his life, and it is the same in the car." According to the introduction, it takes 180 milliseconds to blink, but a typical car accident may happen within 100 milliseconds. The largest airbags in the Polestar 3 are 10, which can be fully inflated and then deflated in 30 milliseconds, while the new inner airbag takes only 8 milliseconds to inflate. At the same time, the laser in the lidar sensor can scan hundreds of meters ahead and work at the speed of light. It is reported that it can transmit hundreds of thousands of laser pulses per second.
Polestar 3's top view shows a large number of sensors and cameras
Although bullet time is not the first time it has appeared in The Matrix, it is perfected and widely recognized in the epic trilogy of Wachowski sisters . By using complex devices composed of dozens of cameras and state-of-the-art CGI effects, the characters enter slow motion to avoid bullets and fists while looking completely smooth. This effect is still used frequently to this day, especially in the latest sequel to the series.
Polestar 3 is available for ordering now and will be delivered for the first time in the U.S. by the end of 2023. It starts at $85,300 in its first model year, but it is not known how much the lidar package will add. Volvo will have the same lidar setup as standard for its upcoming electric EX90 SUV, which will debut in November.
