Hot on the heels of the Polestar 3 – which you can order now but probably won’t get until Christmas – the Swedish manufacturer has announced the Polestar 4, which the company says “transforms the aerodynamics of a coupé and the space of an SUV into a new breed of SUV coupé”. Just don’t tell Lotus it’s a new idea. Or Skoda. Or Jaguar. Or, indeed, Polestar’s sibling, Volvo, which has been making the C40 Recharge for a while now.
Anyway, back to the script. “With Polestar 4 we have taken a fundamental new approach to SUV coupé design,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. “Rather than simply modifying an existing SUV, giving it a faster roofline and as a result, compromising elements like rear headroom and comfort, we have designed Polestar 4 from the ground up as a new breed of SUV coupé that celebrates rear occupant comfort and experience.”
Where does SUV finish and coupé start? It’s a moveable feast. But the new Polestar 4 isn’t a million miles away from the Jaguar i-Pace in terms of its shape, although with an estimated launch price of £55,000 upwards it’s a fair bit cheaper.
Polestar 4 spec
Let’s dive into the spec. The Polestar 4 is 4,839mm long and 2,139mm wide, with a kerb weight of 2,232-2,351 kg depending on spec. You’ll be able to buy single motor (rear wheel drive) and dual motor versions, and both will use the same 102kWh battery, which with a drag coefficient of 0.269 Cd Polestar says will give the car a WLTP range of 350 miles for the dual motor – a disconnect clutch allows the car to disengage the front electric motor when not needed, to maximise range and efficiency – and 372 miles for the single. Good numbers. 200kW charging is supported where available, allowing you to go from 5-80% in 32 minutes.
Practicality-wise, the boot is 500 litres, rising to 1,536 litres with the back seats down. There’s a 15-litre frunk too. The single motor Polestar 4 has a towing rating of 1,500kg, rising to 2,000kg for the dual motor, and you can put 75kg on the roof too.
If you’re looking for speed rather than range then the dual motor is the spec to go for. It can supply 686Nm of torque to the wheels giving a 0-62mph time of 3.8 seconds. With the single motor that goes out to 7.4 seconds. Speed is limited to 124mph in the dual motor and 112mph in the single.
The Polestar 4 doesn’t have a rear window, as such. Instead there’s a roof-mounted camera which sends a feed to a high-definition screen. Polestar says that this allows for a far wider field of view, and it also does away with that tricky rear wiper without the issues associated with removing it. The glass roof extends to the back of the rear seats; as standard it’s just see-through glass, but there’s an optional electrochromic roof that allows you to make it opaque at the touch of a button.
Internally Polestar is committed to using as much low-carbon material as possible. A mono-material approach is used for interior materials, where all layers of certain components are produced from the same base material. This allows them to be recycled more effectively and efficiently by eliminating the need for incompatible materials to be separated before recycling.
The tailored knit upholstery, made from 100% recycled polyester, is a new technique for the automotive industry. The material and the design have been created in collaboration with the Swedish School of Textiles (Borås Textilhögskolan). It is made to fit, producing no offcuts and reduced overall waste. Carpets are made using recycled PET plastic and reclaimed fishing nets, meaning 50% less virgin plastic and also a 40% weight saving. MicroTech, first introduced in Polestar 3, is a bio-vinyl that replaces crude oil with pine oil in its construction.
Polestar 4 tech
Tech-wise there’s plenty going on. There’s a 10.2-inch driver display which includes speed, battery and range information. It can pair with the various car sensors to show other road users, current driving assistance functions and navigation information. To reduce distraction, a head-up display with 14.7-inch projection area in front of the driver relays key information to the windscreen. There’s a snow mode for the HUD, which switches the text colour from white to yellow, improving visibility in snowy environments. Which will be useful for the one day a year it snows in Surrey.
Polestar remains committed to Android, with the Android Automotive OS running the car’s interface. Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Play are all built in, as well as Apple CarPlay. A Harman Kardon audio system is available as an option with 12 speakers and 1,400-Watt channel-hybrid amplifier. An additional two headrest speakers are added to each front seat with the optional Nappa Pack.
There’s a total of twelve cameras, one radar and twelve ultrasonic sensors fitted to the Polestar 4 as standard. This includes a driver camera, which monitors the driver’s eyes and head movements and works in combination with hands-on detection in the steering wheel to help avoid incidents related to fatigue or incapacitation. If you’re worried, it doesn’t actually record you. The optional Pilot Pack includes enhanced Pilot Assist with lane change assistance, initiated by the driver tapping the indicator stalk in the desired direction.
Polestar 4 pricing and availability
Polestar 4 will launch in China first, with production planned to begin in November 2023 at the Geely-owned production facility in Hangzhou, which operates on 100% renewable electricity. A full-scale launch for other markets, including in Europe, North America and Asia Pacific, is planned for early 2024, and full details will be released then. Indicative launch pricing is from £55,000.
