Great performance and range – but no rear window

The Polestar 4 offers plenty of power, but no rear window. Will the unusual concept work? Polestar allowed a few laps with the latest model on its test track in Sweden. Test drive, range, price.

• Rear-wheel drive with 200 kW or all-wheel drive with 400 kW

• Battery with 100 kWh energy

• About 600 kilometers away

Special: Polestar Concept

With consistency and passion – that’s how Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath describes how Volvo’s old tuner went on to develop its latest model, which goes by the name “Polestar 4”. In the fall of 2023, the Swedes of China – Polestar is owned almost 80 percent by the Geely Group, 18 percent is still owned by Volvo – showed this. Fully electric SUV Coupé in public section D.

Me Summer 2024 the first cars should be sold at a price from 61,900 euros can be seen on the streets of Germany. What potential customers can expect is quite impressive: 4.80 meters long, 2.14 meters wide, but only 1.5 meters long car with no rear window.

What is missing? Rear window!

Chief designer Maximilian Missoni: “We just continued on this path continuously.” When drawing an SUV coupé, the rear window is always in question. Next to Coupe-Line To be able to hold it, the window has to be placed very flat and this will definitely lose its functionality. So Polestar decided to ditch the view altogether and use the camera to direct the view to the rear.

Photo gallery: The Polestar 4

Wisely, it stays that way a standard interior mirror as a monitor with HD artificial eye. Once you get used to it, this works very well in fog or at night, the camera is better than the human eye. In the next stage of expansion, as the representatives of the seller explained at the presentation of the model, cameras with the quality of night vision equipment will also be possible.

However, drivers first have to come to terms with the fact that they can’t even check their lipstick or shave in the rearview mirror, and for those sitting in the back it’s strange at first not being able to see the driver in the car. “glass”.

Strong chassis, good cornering

Compared to the “real” model of the sister SUV Polestar 3, the smooth lines with short overhangs of the body make the fourth real. sports appearance. To be able to fulfill the sporting expectations given by the design on the road, Polestar’s developers put a lot of brain power into the chassis. Successfully, as the first round on the test track show.

Joakim Rydholm’s team produced a 2.2 ton car a Very balanced driving behavior education. Compared to the Polestar 3, the setup is sharper, but not obnoxious despite the 255/45 tires on 21-inch rims.

To die operation it excels with high precision and provides the driver with direct feedback on road conditions. This outstanding performance is mainly due to the new SEA platform (Sustainable Experience Architecture), which is used for the first time in the Polestar 4. Three meter wheel allowed. It will also carry the revised, larger Polestar 5 and 6 models.

Great performance, lots of variety

The engine is obviously up to the needs of the chassis sports. Polestar offers the car with one or two electric motors gems 200 kW/272 PS afford. A version with a motor on the rear axle provides A rate of 343 Nm and accelerate the car to 100 km / h in 6.8 seconds. With two engines, the output increases to 400 kW / 544 hp, both axles are driven and the Polestar 4 reaches the mark of 100 km / h after 3.8 seconds.

The turbines are powered by a lithium-ion battery Standard capacity of 100 kWhwhich is located on the floor of the car between the axles.

High level The load capacity is 200 kWIf used, the battery will be charged from 10 to 80 percent in 30 minutes. The use of WLTP With one engine it is between 17.7 and 18.1 kW/h per 100 km, and with two engines it is 18.6 to 21 kWh. Polestar specifies the maximum range as 610 or 580 km.

Scandinavian chic interior

The interior design of the Polestar 4 is all about sustainability. All plastics used are 100 percent recycled, optional leather covers come from certified organic companies, mainly in the UK. The interior design looks crisp and clean, the seats are of selected quality and the rear passengers especially benefit from this. lots of space – first you get used to the fact that there is no window behind the headboards, but a black wall.

Unfortunately, the rear seat can only be folded in a 60:40 ratio; The trunk not huge at 526 to 1536 liters, but enough.

As befits a modern electric car, the music in the Polestar 4 also plays on a large, tablet-shaped central display in environmental design. All other data and communication devices in the vehicle can also be controlled and managed there. Fortunately, Polestar has not done without a small display above the steering wheel, nor a head-up display.

As with Volvo, voice control and navigation are handled using the popular Google app. For an additional charge there is Harman KardonSound system with full sound from twelve speakers. If you want, you can also order boxes attached to the front headers. Wireless Apple CarPlay for Smartphone connectivity it manifests itself.

Polestar 4: Price from 62,000 euros

In terms of price, the Polestar 4 is positioned above the Polestar 2, but below the Polestar 3. The reason for this may be that the Polestar 4 is a design from the Chinese parent company Geely, while the Polestar 3 is based on the Volvo platform. Because of Geely’s high standards, the economies of scale of cost reduction are likely to be higher.

Polestar 4 is however it is not a cheap house: It costs at least 61,900 euros with the engine, at least 69,900 euros as all-wheel drive. Plus there is various equipment packages with nice names like “Pilot”, “Plus” or “Performance”, which raises the price a little above the 80,000 euro mark. However, Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath is confident that around 150,000 people around the world each year will be as enthusiastic about a sporty, well-designed and attractive car as his latest car.

Polestar 4: technical data and price

Here you will find many more driving reports and car tests.

Text: Thomas Uhrig/SP-X