Polestar 4 review: a premium EV with stellar performance

October 11, 2024 Matt Allan

Is there more to Polestar’s performance-focused new model than that weird rear window?

Polestar has been in an odd position for the last few years. After announcing itself with the radical hybrid Polestar 1 coupe, it quickly followed up with the all-electric 2 saloon and then… nothing.

For four years, the Polestar 2 has existed as the brand’s only car, with the promise of more models to come. Well now, finally, those other models have begun to arrive.

We’ve got the Polestar 3, which is the brand’s large, luxurious rival to the Porsche Cayenne and BMW iX.

And we’ve got the Polestar 4 – a large but much more performance-focused SUV-coupe which is a closer rival to the new Macan and Audi Q6 e-tron.

Design, interior and technology

Polestar calls the 4 an SUV-coupe but that’s to almost do it a disservice. At 4.8 metres long, it has a similar footprint to a Volvo XC60 and our test car was fitted with outrageous 22-inch wheels, yet it hides its size well and you’d never guess it was rolling on bigger wheels than a Range Rover. It has more of a large saloon or fastback look to it than any sort of SUV.

The front has a more sloping, pinched look than the smaller Polestar 2 but there’s a degree of familiarity in the Thor’s hammer headlights, although these are now split rather than being a single unit. From the sloping bonnet, the shallow-angled windscreen flows into the elongated roofline, which ends, famously, not in another pane of glass but a solid panel.

This lack of rear window doesn’t look as odd as it sounds thanks to the standard panoramic sunroof that stretches right back to the edge of the tailgate and some clever use of different coloured panels.

It’s also not as strange as you’d expect inside. That massive roof means that the cabin never feels dark, even in the reclining rear seats. Polestar’s argument is that the sleek design would have resulted in a largely useless letterbox-style rear window anyway, so it might as well save weight and create more space by getting rid of it entirely.

The solution to the lack of rear visibility is a high-definition rear camera and screen in place of a rear-view mirror. On the move in daytime this works pretty well and gives a wider rearward view than most mirrors in modern cars. Personally, I coped fine with the digital image but I have spoken to others who find the lack of depth in the image nausea-inducing.

The camera is just one example of the 4’s high-tech interior approach. At the heart of the cabin is a 14.7-inch touchscreen from which virtually everything is controlled. This is a sharp, responsive setup that features big shortcut buttons and a ‘no-scroll’ approach to menus. Most functions are pretty quickly accessible but there’s still too much messing about in menus. Everything from the air conditioning to the wing mirrors are adjusted via the screen and unmarked steering wheel buttons, which just feels unnecessary. And changing any single drive element, such as suspension or steering, needs at least two screen presses. If you want to adjust all of them, it needs at least five button presses. Not ideal if you want a quick swap between drive modes.

If the screen is overly complicated, the rest of the interior is brilliantly simple. The 4 continues Polestar’s winning recipe of fuss-free design and top-grade materials. A few simple lines define the shape of the cabin and there’s a wealth of light-coloured sustainable materials, from the textured dashboard to the seat fabric, which is made from recycled plastic but looks and feels wonderful.

If the pale woven fabric isn’t for you, there’s the option of Nappa leather from Bridge of Weir. Whichever trim you opt for, the Polestar looks and feels incredibly special, blending sophistication and space with impressive refinement.

Battery, motor and performance

Polestar proudly proclaims that the 4 is its fastest model yet. That is if you opt for the range-topping all-wheel-drive version with the Performance Pack, and that’s the one I’ve spent most time in.

It’s certainly fast. A hefty 536bhp and all-wheel drive mean it can go from rest to 62mph in 3.7 seconds. What’s interesting is that rather than the brutal gut-punch you often get with such pace, the Polestar delivers it like an unstoppable tidal surge pushing you forward. Of course, you can stop it – courtesy of four-piston Brembo brakes – but there’s a feeling this big beast could run on seamlessly to its 124mph top speed and beyond.

The fluid feel carries through to how it handles. Performance pack cars get a bespoke Polestar Engineered chassis setup and unique tuning for the active ZF dampers. There are three firmness settings for the ride and three steering weights, each firmer and heavier than the last but with a measured progression that feels natural.

The result is a composed and consistent drive that still engages. It’s completely flat through corners, turning with just the right speed and aggression without being jerky, and rides astonishingly well for something on 22-inch wheels. There’s none of the lurching, leaning or harshness you associate with quick SUVs, and although you never feel like you’re working hard, you do feel suitably involved.

You can have the AWD model without the performance pack, which means you lose the chassis and suspension tweaks and the Brembos but keep the same power output. I haven’t driven that variant, so can’t say how those changes affect the drive, but I have spent some time with the single-motor version.

The 268bhp rear-drive one is the long-range champ of the line-up – managing 385 miles per charge – but feels less convincing. It’s still perfectly pleasant to drive but without the grunt of the two motors or the clever adaptive chassis features, it feels a little too similar to any number of other 250(ish)bhp EVs.

Regardless of spec, all Polestar 4s come with a 94kWh battery and are capable of 200kW charging. As mentioned, that’s good for 385 miles in the single-motor version, while twin motor cars offer up to 367 miles.

Price and specification

There are only two ‘specifications’ in the Polestar 4 line-up and they are simply to do with the number of motors. The rear-driven version starts at £59,990 while the AWD model comes in at £65,990. Adding the Performance Pack will cost you another £4,000.

Doing so is the only way to get the tuned chassis, 22-inch alloys and cosmetic touches like gold brake callipers, valve caps and seatbelts. However, every current version of the 4 automatically gets the Plus Pack, which includes a 12-speaker Harman Kadron sound system, pixel LED lights, powered tailgate, three-zone climate control, heated reclining rear seats and a 14.3-inch head-up display. That’s on top of the electrically adjustable heated front seats, LED lights, connected infotainment and surround-view cameras that come as standard along with a heat pump and swathe of advanced driver assistance systems.

Beyond that you can spend thousands on individual options such as fancier paint, bigger wheels or different interior finishes.

Verdict

Polestar positioned itself as a premium performance brand, and the Polestar 4 feels like it nails that brief.

The slick exterior styling and effortlessly cool interior exude a subtle high-end feel that’s allied to a muscular, engaging feel on the road – as long as you opt for the twin-motor model.

The single motor version is less successful and every car is blighted by a user interface that’s trying too hard to be clever and ends up simply frustrating. But overall the Polestar 4 proves the brand is now much more than a one-trick pony.