Parent company Volvo is throwing safety out the window

Volvo used to be synonymous with road safety. Of course they still think so today, but the Volvo’s sibling, the Polestar 4, proves that safety is not a priority for parent company Geely.

Volvo was the first to provide its cars with tempered safety glass. The three point belt is a Volvo invention. By early 1959, these were standard on every model of the brand. The first rear-facing child seat, which is safer, also comes from Volvo. The Swedish brand has built a solid reputation over the years when it comes to safety.

Nowadays Volvo is part of China’s Geely. This led to the introduction of all kinds of Volvo related products. There’s a lot going on about Lynk&Co at the moment, but let’s take a look at Polestar. Unfortunately, this brand ignores the safety that Volvo stands for. Take a good look at the recently released Polestar 4, the big brother of the Polestar 2. See anything? Back there maybe? Correct: The Polestar 4 does not have a rear window.

Screen only

Like any modern car, the Polestar 4 is packed with cameras. These constantly monitor the environment of the vehicle. You can also call those pictures while driving. The Polestar 4 even has a real rearview mirror. Well, not really, because you can’t look through a rear window that doesn’t exist. Instead, the ‘mirror’ is a screen that shows the camera view of the trunk. Where cameras are just a tool in other cars, with the Polestar 4 you rely on them.

Polestar will of course claim that it is as safe as normal glass. However, this is not the case. You have become dependent on the program. Cameras and screens can fail, but regular glass cannot. That’s just a piece of reflective glass. All electronics are useful in time, as are all applications. Of on-air updates do not think that the screen suddenly no longer works or shows malfunctions, especially if the car is five, seven or ten years old.

There is no visibility

By itself, the screen as an interior mirror is not such a problem: more cars have it. However, with Polestar you depend. You don’t have much of a rear view, because you don’t have a rear window. That’s not safe because it means you can’t see behind you. One spot on your camera and everything behind the car falls out of sight.

Think about how many times you intentionally or unintentionally look out the back window of your car. When reversing, you must look through the side windows and the rear window. You can see that in one comment field. With the Polestar 4 you look left and right over your shoulder, but you have to look ahead at the screen to see what’s happening behind you. When parking, many drivers also rely on the direct view behind, and not on the screen.

More windows

At the same time, trucks are increasingly getting larger windows to improve outward visibility. Big cities like London only allow trucks downtown with larger windows. DAF, for example, therefore offers its trucks with an optional window on the door, under the side window, so that the best view outside it is. So it’s absolutely crazy that Polestar is replacing the windows with a camera. Especially as a sister brand of Volvo, which is considered a pioneer in the field of safety.

According to Polestar, the 4 does not have a rear window because the panoramic roof could be larger for a more spacious feeling in the interior. A nice interior is of course nice, but it’s a shame that Polestar sacrifices safety for this. The panoramic glass roof prevents you from seeing the cyclist behind you. Let’s hope that eliminating the rear window will not be a trend.