First test drive: Polestar 4, the perfect combination of minimalism and quirky design, a stunning new electric car
Polestar will launch two new models in 2024: the Polestar 3 and the Polestar 4. Will they be able to compete with their German rivals?
I think a lot of different new EV products are hanging under a cloud. While some automakers may have tried, market saturation and a plethora of new options often mean that it's hard for an EV to stand out or feel truly different.
From a distance, the new Polestar 4 can be seen as a car in this category. Externally semi-crossover, one might think that it is similar not only to its predecessor, the Polestar 2, but also to more popular models such as the Tesla Model 3 and Y.
Recently, I test-drove the Polestar 4 at an international launch event in Madrid, Spain, and the facts are a little more complicated. No, I'm not just talking about the insensitive action of the rear windshield.
SUVs, coupes, sedans, hatchbacks – we don't care, the Polestar 4 is fantastic in our opinion.
Make me an expert right away: what do I need to know?
Like the Polestar 3 we test-drove in Spain, the Polestar 4 shows that Polestar intends to enter the premium segment and challenge more dazzling and ambitious high-end competitors. In fact, just like the 3, Polestar compares the new model to the Porsche – only this time it's the Macan (whose new electric version has just arrived in New Zealand).
Its silhouette, size, and performance on the road make the Polestar 4 difficult to classify. The brand calls it an SUV and the idea is that this is an "SUV coupe" similar to the Volkswagen ID.5 or the Skoda Enyaq Coupe. However, I'd prefer to classify it as a 4-door grand tourer. Photos don't really reflect their size. It's almost 2 mm longer and 200 mm wider than the Polestar 300, but only slightly taller.
At launch, some models had a tone-on-tone finish, while others had a black finish. The two options look very different on the road.
Dimensions, metrics and clever design and engineering skills are what make the Polestar 4 so appealing. As we wrote earlier, the 4 does not have a rear windshield. Because of this, Polestar's engineers were able to tweak the layout of the cabin – giving the 4 a low nose, more spacious rear seats than you might expect, and a coupe-like silhouette that looks less obtrusive than the aforementioned ID.5 and Enyaq.
What makes this test remarkable is that the Polestar 4 shares the same infrastructure. The car is produced in South Korea and China and uses Geely's new SEA architecture. The brand's efforts to make the layout of the Polestar 4 distinctive also make it look and feel very different from other models based on the same architecture.
There will be two Polestar 4 models in New Zealand: the $119,900 200kW/343Nm single-motor rear-wheel drive model and the $129,900 400kW/686Nm dual-motor all-wheel drive model (which we test-drove in Madrid). Both models are equipped with a 100kWh battery (11kWh less than the Polestar 3 and up to 200kW DC charging) and have a range of 620 km (rear-wheel drive) and 580 km (all-wheel drive) respectively. Local deliveries are expected to begin around September.
The Polestar 4 Series is simple. The single-motor has a range of more than 600 km, while the dual-motor all-wheel drive is faster and has a slightly shortened range.
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Let me get the point clear first; The Polestar 4 has a very nice look. This was certain when we first saw it in Auckland in March, and then even more so when we saw it on the beautiful paved roads of Valdeprados.
It's instantly recognisable as a Polestar with simple details, and perhaps a hint of Volvo. Photos and videos don't convey the excellent ratio of 4 so clearly. The sleek front end contrasts with a wider tail than you'd expect, giving it a surprisingly muscular, almost sloping look.
Just like the Polestar 3, the automaker positions the 4 as "an SUV on the inside and a sports car on the outside". But unlike the 3 – in appearance, it's still essentially an SUV, but with some clever tweaks and improvements – the 4 doesn't look like an SUV at all. This brings us to its interior......
The interior is as minimalist as the Tesla, but the overall build quality is superior.
inside
Polestar claims that with no rear window, designers and engineers can push the C-pillar back, stretching the interior enough to provide class-leading headroom and comfort for rear passengers, without completely ruining the Polestar 4's silhouette by being too small.
Once inside, I can safely say that the Polestar 4's wing seats are among the most spacious in an SUV coupe. The headroom is particularly impressive, and the amount of light transmitted is also very impressive. Despite the absence of glass, the rear space is not claustrophobic, thanks in part to the long panoramic sunroof. Shoulder-height trim wraps around and hides some strong ambient lighting. The rear seats recline independently, with wide armrests and a touchscreen display for temperature regulation. Polestar says it wants the rear space to create a business-class atmosphere, and to a large extent it has achieved that.
Even without the rear windshield, the rear seats feel surprisingly airy and open...... And it's very comfortable.
I would like to point out some complaints about space. In order to provide as much support as possible for the side rear seats, the fifth seat in the middle was sacrificed. While there's a lot of legroom, it's surprisingly shallow. So, if you're sitting with your feet flat on the floor, your knees will bend a lot.
Aside from the rear seats, the two cornerstones of the Polestar 4's cabin are its use of recyclable, low-emission materials and the extremely fine level of Polestar's investment in its infotainment software. In the case of the former, its custom knitted upholstery uses 100% recycled polyester, the carpet uses recycled plastic from fishing nets, and the door card is made from natural fiber polypropylene (NFPP). The list of recycled space-age textiles is endless, and – importantly – they look and feel of the right quality for a car that is designed to compete with the best in Germany.
Polestar's infotainment software is built on Android Automotive. It is expected that more automakers will move in this direction in the near future.
What we say about the Polestar 3's Android Automotive software also applies to the Polestar 4's use of the technology. Of course, there are some subtle differences between the two. The Polestar 4 features a 15.4-inch centre display in landscape orientation instead of portrait orientation, paired with a 10.2-inch driver's instrument cluster. Again, the number of physical buttons is small, and most of the functions are built into the screen.
Bold fonts and crisp animations make the intimidating number of menus less intimidating. Helpfully, a large number of features are quick to access via the steering wheel controls, which worked well during the short time we used 4. However, on the contrary, it also suffers from the same input recognition delay as 3. Hopefully, the brand will be able to address this issue before the model becomes available locally.
The Polestar 4 has a rather unique shape, somewhere between a crossover and a sedan, something that few other SUV coupes can do.
On the way
So let's tear the Band-Aid off. What is it like to drive a car without a rear windshield?
The Polestar 4 lacks direct rear visibility, but the roof-mounted 1920px x 1280px HD wide-angle Gentex camera makes up for it. The camera's field of view is projected onto the car's large 8.9-inch rearview mirror (which the driver can switch from the screen to the rearview mirror if the driver wants to see the rear passengers). Just like the digital mirrors we've seen on other cars like the Kia EV9, it's no surprise that a fully digital rear windshield also requires a bit of learning experience at first. Admittedly, studying in the heart of bustling Madrid may not be very helpful.
Still, once we get up to speed, the rearview camera seems to be up to the task. Of course, there are times when I tilt my head and try to observe the locals speeding past us on the highway from a better vantage point, only to find that the camera's perspective doesn't change. But other than that, the camera renders an impressive and very clear field of view. I would say that it feels more comfortable to use a digital mirror than to use a digital mirror. What isn't clear is how well the camera performs at night and in the rain, although Polestar assures that it does it in both cases.
Our departure tour takes us from the center of Madrid to the villages on the edge of the city.
Well, back to the actual driving aspect. Here, the Polestar 4 is very powerful. It's easy to forget that the design-focused Polestar used to be Volvo's motorsport-focused performance division. Its ability to create cars capable of conquering the apex has not disappeared. The Dual Motor 4 goes from corner to corner with little to no drama. Its low center of gravity, evenly weighted electric steering, powerful Brembo brakes, and a low, sports car-style driver's seat position make fast travel feel very natural.
Although this is the fastest Polestar car ever built (0-100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds), it is not necessarily positioned primarily as a performance flagship. Its adaptive coil shock absorbers are strong enough to perform on rough roads, but soft enough to be barely visible in town. Polestar revealed at the launch that it may be working on a faster car. In addition to adding an electric motor, one improvement that Polestar could deploy is to equip the 4 with the same mechanical torque vectoring dual clutch system as the fastest Polestar 3.
All in all, the Polestar 4 is a high-performance electric car that fits perfectly with the brand's ambitious plans to compete for a spot with the likes of Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. This sets a solid foundation for the upcoming Polestar 5 and 6, which will further enhance the brand's exclusivity.