The Polestar 4 is a strange car. The Swedish designers swear it is an SUV, but then they have eliminated all the typical SUV elements. And not only that: they have also thrown the rear window overboard. Shouldn’t they have focused on other things in Gothenburg?
1. What is striking about the Polestar 4 (2024)?
What is the Polestar 4 actually? An elegantly lined sedan, a five-door coupe? Not at all, they say in Sweden: the Polestar 4 is an SUV! After all, it stands on larger wheels and has a higher ground clearance than conventional EVs. The dark edges along the bottom of the bodywork emphasise the tough SUV character. You can see that for yourself, can’t you?
But Polestar has subsequently done its utmost to remove one of the most important SUV characteristics. Namely: the much-praised high seating position. The designers from Gothenburg wanted to keep the silhouette of the Polestar 4 as low and streamlined as possible, and have creatively taken the saw to the roof construction.
“Polestar shows that a rear window is not a life-threatening issue.”
Normally, there is a crossbar above the rear window, connecting both roof pillars. In order to still provide sufficient headroom in the rear with this crossbar, a higher roofline would be necessary than the Polestar designers had in mind. So they moved the crossbar back, and the roofline could be lowered. There was still one problem, however…
Namely: a good view to the rear. After that crossbar was moved, nothing was left of it. Polestar came up with a solution: why would they give the 4 a rear window?
With a camera on the roof and a small widescreen display in place of the rear-view mirror, the whole vision problem was solved in one fell swoop. What’s more: even with passengers on the back seat or luggage piled up to the roof, the camera system offers an unobstructed view of the traffic behind you.
2. What’s good about the Polestar 4?
When you first step into the Polestar 4, you slowly start to understand the way the Polestar designers think. Because despite the low silhouette of the car (and thanks to the low seating position), we have no complaints about the headroom. The large panoramic roof lets in a lot of light.
You only notice that the car has no rear window when you look back over your shoulder. In the dark, the bulkhead behind the rear seat is atmospherically illuminated. Incidentally, the rear seat can simply be folded down, and the luggage compartment (526 to 1536 litres) is accessible from the interior via a small removable hatch.
The view to the rear through the screen against the windshield, indeed offers an unobstructed view to the rear. Polestar shows that a rear window is indeed not a lifesaver – although you can no longer see a thing of what is happening in front of you, when a Polestar 4 is driving in front of you on the highway. We think the design of the 4 is very successful, despite the closed rear, the car certainly does not make a pompous impression.
What the Polestar 4 does very well is drive. For now, the car is available in two power variants, with a single (272 hp, 343 Nm) or a dual electric motor (544 hp, 686 Nm). Both versions have the same 100 kWh battery (net: 94 kWh), which charges at a top speed of 200 kW. For the single-motor version, Polestar gives a range of 620 kilometers, the dual-motor version comes 30 kilometers less far on a full battery according to the WLTP calculations.
With 272 hp, the Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor isn’t an absurdly fast car, but in reality, nobody is short of anything. You’ll reach 100 km/h in 7.1 seconds; great, right? With a single motor and rear-wheel drive, the Polestar 4 can tow a trailer of 1,500 kg, while the Dual Motor can tow 2,000 kg. If that’s a reason to opt for the more expensive and powerful four-wheel drive version, you’ll be gifted a 0-100 sprint in 3.8 seconds.
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On the road, the Polestar 4 is not at all reminiscent of an SUV. Although the centre of gravity is somewhat higher due to the extra ground clearance, you certainly do not have to avoid a dynamic driving style. The car steers extremely directly and the body remains nicely flat even in fast corners.
Optionally, you can upgrade the coil-sprung, adaptive-damper chassis of the dual-motor version by ordering the Performance package, with specially tuned shock absorbers, 22-inch wheels and Brembo brakes. Of course, the Polestar 4 already comes with a very comprehensive range of safety equipment as standard.
3. What could be improved on the Polestar 4 (2024)?
Okay, that camera system that replaces the rear window offers an unobstructed view to the rear. But you do notice that you look ‘backwards’ in a different way than with a regular mirror. For a clear view of the screen, you have to shift the focus of your eyes. From 100 meters or more in front of you, to about 25 centimeters to the screen.
A matter of getting used to, no doubt. But whether your eyes will also want to get used to the close-up screen when you wear glasses, we have yet to see. During our test drives with the Polestar 4, we only found a sharp image by turning our head far enough back that we had a sharp image through the multifocal part of our glasses. If you’re not careful, you’ll pull a neck muscle …
But that is the only criticism we can give the Polestar 4. The interior is beautifully finished, the central control and multimedia screen has many different functions, but is logically arranged so that you never have to search long for the desired pages within the control menu. The chance that you get lost in the system is zero.
4. When will the Polestar 4 come to the Netherlands and how much will it cost?
The first units of the Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor will grace the Dutch road network at the end of August. The price of this version is 64,800 euros. The version with two engines will take a month (or two) longer. Polestar charges an amount of 72,800 euros for this model.
As with all other Polestar models, there are 4 different option packages available. The Pilot Pack (1500 euros) consists of active lane change assistance and Pilot Assist, which keeps the car neatly between the lane markings up to 130 km/h, with automatic steering and speed corrections.
The Plus Pack (5,500 euros) includes a Harman Kardon Premium Sound audio system, a head-up display, illuminated interior accents, pixel LED headlights, an electrically operated tailgate, climate control with three temperature zones and seats that can be electrically adjusted in twelve directions.
The Pro Pack (2000 euros) consists of 21-inch wheels and seat belts with a golden yellow stripe. The aforementioned Performance Pack is only available on the Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor, in combination with the Plus package.
5. What do I think of the Polestar 4?
It is definitely an intriguing car, that Polestar 4. It drives incredibly well, and sticks its head above the SUV crowd by staying well below it with its unusual design. During test drives with the car, I did not become friends with that camera system for looking to the rear. As a farsighted glasses wearer with multifocal lenses, I never got the image to the rear properly focused, unless I tilted my head uncomfortably far back.
It’s a matter of getting your eyes used to the new situation, they say at Polestar. But whether that’s true, I can only judge during a longer test period. Despite the first bad experiences with that camera system, I’m already looking forward to the moment that I can receive the key to the Polestar 4 again!
Source: www.autoreview.nl
