When we attend a large international launch, we are usually picked up by an event team at the airport; Maybe it's to make sure we don't get distracted and spend time shopping. Transportation to the venue is usually a standard shuttle, a regular van with seats, and sometimes a manufacturer's product.
Did you find something missing? The design USP of the Polestar 4 is... There is no rear window.
But that's not what we're here to see and drive. Because most brands like to wait until the event officially starts to reveal it with great fanfare and then shout "Great!" "Wait.
At the Polestar 4 EV launch event in Madrid, Barajas Airport prepared a batch of four vehicles. Therefore, our introduction to this car is the complete business class rear seat experience; And that's something that everybody has been talking about for a long time.
The 4 is an SUV coupe, but its design feature is the absence of a rear window. In this way, the rear roof beams with a low roofline can be moved back to make more room for rear passengers, who can enjoy individually adjustable rear seats and a fairly comfortable atmosphere, with a large panoramic glass roof still allowing plenty of light.
Rear passengers can enjoy individually adjustable Business Class seats.
It's a very special way to travel, and it's a bit strange to say that the idea that a sports coupe offers a rear-seat experience similar to a luxury sedan...... People at Polestar will love that. This company likes to think of itself as a conduit for highly original ideas, a disruptor. It says that the 4 has all the advantages of a coupe without any of the drawbacks.
Our introduction to this car is the full business class rear seat experience; And that's something that everybody has been talking about for a long time.
It's hard to talk about the Polestar 4 without talking about the Polestar 3 because the two cars are similar in size and launched almost at the same time.
Double-blade daytime running lights are the hallmark of the new Polestar; The actual headlights are hidden underneath.
If you want to dive into the specific differences between the two, here's the plot synopsis: The 3 is a large SUV designed to have a very wide range of features. The 4 is smaller in size on the surface, although the wheelbase of the two is almost the same (hence the ample rear seat space). But the 4 is lower, sleeker, and more sporty to drive: it's the fastest car Polestar has ever built, the suspension is coil springs instead of the 3's multifunctional air suspension, and the top-of-the-line twin-motor model comes with adaptive shock absorbers.
4 的主要竞争对手是保时捷 Macan Electric，但 Polestar 也将目光瞄准即将推出的奥迪 Q6 e-tron 甚至梅赛德斯-奔驰 EQC。
Ah, yes, there's one big difference. 4 may seem more exotic, but it's also a more affordable option. In New Zealand, the rear-wheel drive version starts at $119,990, which is $50,000 cheaper than the entry-level all-wheel drive 3. The car is equipped with a huge 100kWh battery with a peak power of 200kW and accelerates to 100 km/h in just 7.1 seconds. The cruising range is up to 620 km.
The badge is so...... Heritage brands. Polestar only has stickers.
All Kiwi 4s come standard with a full driver assistance Pilot Pack and Plus Pack (Harman Kardon audio, Pixel LED lights, rear screen, etc.); Both are available on the international market.
A one-dimensional, slightly surreal, high-resolution rear view takes a long time to get used to.
The dual-motor model doubles the output to 400kW and accelerates in almost half to just 3.8 seconds. Of course, the range will be slightly shortened, but it will still be 590 km; The front electronic axle can be disconnected while cruising for greater efficiency. At $129,990 for the dual-motor variant, it seems like a good deal, or for another $10,000, you can add a performance package that includes 22-inch alloy wheels (or 20-inch wheels for the standard 4 series), Polestar Engineered chassis tuning, Brembo brakes and all-importantly, Swedish gold accents.
With 400kW of electricity, this strange sight can often be seen by others.
Given the hero's status established by the 2 models' Performance Package, Polestar now also offers a similarly styled niche experience for the new 4 models, the $4,000 Pro Pack, which comes with special 21-inch wheels and gold striped harnesses.
4 的主要竞争对手是保时捷 Macan Electric，但 Polestar 也将目光瞄准即将推出的奥迪 Q6 e-tron 甚至梅赛德斯-奔驰 EQC。
The 4 doesn't have a SmartZone front sensor panel, which gives it a very different look than the 2 and 3.
The exterior styling of the 4 is completely different from that of the 3, which is all angular and integrated aerodynamics. The 4 is smooth teardrop shape with almost no additional features: no spoiler or winglets required. It doesn't have a SmartZone sensor panel on the front like the 2 and 3 because its driver assistance system is primarily camera-based, not radar. This makes it the most suitable model for the future expansion of the range of autonomous driving technology.
The interior atmosphere is also very different, but the basic design is very similar: a minimalist design, dominated by a large central screen. 4 The display is landscape, not portrait.
The Polestar 4 moved the infotainment system slightly from the 3; The landscape display has a new split-screen feature.
The operating system of 4 is superior to that of 3; The same superb use of graphics and colour, but the infotainment display is now arranged around a split screen, combining a dedicated map area (still adjustable) with the already familiar widget quadrants found in other models. Of course, the fully integrated Google operating system is still employed.
The 4's cockpit structure is softer than the 3's, and Polestar has developed some new materials. In the picture, you'll see an upholstery called Mist Tailored Knit, a new fabric made from 100% recycled PET bottles. The "soft tech" themed décor (also recycled) replaces the traditional wooden or metal panels with a translucent textile that is backlit on the door panels.
Trim options include custom knits, traceable leather, and "vegan leather" made with pine oil.
The lighting theme is an important part of the interior of 4. You can choose from a variety of planetary themes, and the infotainment system can even give you some interesting facts about the chosen world. If you think this is an excuse for Polestar to make heavy use of "Uranus" for fun in its demos and marketing materials, you're right.
In addition to all the shiny stuff, it's a sporty coupe, so the driving experience must be great. We only test-drove the dual-motor version in Spain, and that's another thing automakers often do at big media conferences: it's limited to the top-of-the-line products. Well played, well played.
The new 4 is the fastest car Polestar has ever built. See everything blurry?
This 400kW coupe is certainly incredibly fast, and since you're sitting in such a luxurious setting, it feels particularly surreal. Depending on the driving mode chosen, you can experience a sharp acceleration or a softer start, but it always feels fast.
After the launch, we heard rumours that the media car had misused the Chinese suspension setup, which was softer than New Zealand's European setup. If that's the case, then the 4 is still fairly well controlled on the admittedly flat roads of Madrid and its surroundings: it feels very sporty even on windy pavement, partly due to the very low driving position and the weight of the large battery mounted low and in the middle of the car.
Adaptive shock absorbers are standard on dual-motor models. From this point of view, it is almost normal.
It was time to make an appearance at the international launch as usual, and we were looking forward to testing it on New Zealand's narrow, rugged country roads to see if it could handle our rather unique driving environment. If the Eurospec 4 has enough control and compliance to handle the situation, it will be a great sporty electric car.
In everyday driving, the coupe is easy to drive in town, since it has an additional crossover/SUV ground clearance: 166 mm, which is practical, and nowhere near the air assist range of 3-202 mm.
The miniature camera can do more than just a rear window.
But let's start at the beginning: the back seat. The key to making the 4's unique rear-seat configuration work is the roof-mounted camera, which replaces the view out the rear window...... The rear window is not available.
Polestar claims that the camera has improved on it, with a wider field of view, clear access to information even in bad weather (it's located in a small hood on the rear of the roof), and improved visibility in tunnels or at night.
Deliveries of the first shipments in New Zealand will begin in September.
All of the above is confirmed by our driving, but like similar systems in other cars, this one-dimensional, slightly surreal, high-resolution view takes a long time to get used to. Gentex (the manufacturer of this camera and about 125 other cameras in different car models) looked into the issue and said that the adaptation time depends on the user; It can take anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
It's also interesting that Polestar has decided to keep the traditional glass mirrors instead of having cameras on them, as many EV manufacturers do. We're just paraphrasing it here, but the company argues that this approach is a bit of a gimmick, as the large mirrors don't really have aerodynamic disadvantages; It does not obstruct airflow.
It's a traditional mirror, but there's still one variation: when you adjust it, the whole installation (not just the glass) moves.
What's more, it's even more important to have a proper three-dimensional view in the rearview mirror so that the vehicle can be positioned more accurately while driving and parking. Polestar has thought about these things. It takes a lot of things into account.
Battery: 100kWh battery with single or dual electric motors
Power: 200kW (single) or 400kW (dual)
变速箱:单速,RWD 或 AWD
0-100KM/H： 7.1-3.8 秒
Cruising range: 590-620km (WLTP)
Price: AUD 119,990 to AUD 129,990.