New Polestar 4 coupe SUV: prices, specs and that missing rear window

The all-electric SUV sector is right where the action is in the car market just now and the new Polestar 4 - a coupe-SUV that polestar expects to become its biggest-selling model is set to hit the UK market in spring 2024, priced from around £55,000.

The name could be the subject of some confusion. Following in the tyre tracks of the Polestar 1, 2 and 3, the Polestar 4 is actually destined to sit between the Polestar 2 and 3 in terms of size and price. It also incorporates some eyebrow-raising design features, Polestar design director Maximilian Missoni having referred to it as “the reinvention of the coupe-SUV”. 

The Polestar 4 will have to impress on an international scale too, especially with Polestar viewing itself as a ‘global company’ thanks to a grounding in Sweden, an engineering base in the UK and production facilities in China and South Korea  – not to mention a listing on the NASDAQ stock exchange in New York.

Polestar 4 price

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath – the former design director of Volvo – is very clear how his two new SUVs will cover the premium SUV market. “Polestar 3 will start at £79,000,” he tells us. “£55,000 is where Polestar 4 will start. It will be a very important part of our portfolio, enabling more people to experience Polestar.”

Design details

The Polestar 4 doesn’t use the the SPA2 platform like the new Polestar 3 and Volvo EX90. Under the skin, the 4 will sit on a platform from parent company Geely, called Sustainable Experience Architecture. The SEA platform has already been utilised by fellow Geely brand Zeeker, with its 001. While the SEA2 underpinnings for smaller cars features in the Zeekr X and Smart #1.

16

Missoni describes the 4 as “a complementary design to the Polestar 3”. With its lower nose, slimmer lights, flush glazing and retractable door handles, it’s another handsome effort, with clear influence taken from the Polestar Precept Concept car first revealed in 2020 that will directly spawn the Polestar 5 four-door coupe.

The design doesn’t come without some controversy however. The polarising point is the lack of a rear window. Instead, the car relies on cameras and mirrors to give a view to the back. “It allows more second-row headroom and a more dramatic rear,” Missoni told us.

How customers will react remains to be seen – Polestar hasn’t run any customer clinics to gauge reaction, with Ingenlath insistent that it’s not something Polestar does as part of its design process.

Interior and space

The benefit inside the 4 is clear, and we had the chance to sit in the back of the new car, where the lack of rear glass isn’t apparent; the view upwards and forwards thanks to the long glass roof is spectacular. Yet headroom is as good as the designers intended, with impressive knee room and decent boot space. Although the 4,839mm-long Polestar 4 is only around 200mm longer than the Polestar 2, the difference in the accommodation inside is vast.

Other than the rear view, the cabin is a triumph of design and quality. “It’s inspired by fashion,” Missoni told us, “using soft, cocooning, sustainable materials.”

Technology

Sitting ahead of the driver is a 10.2-inch instrument screen, with a landscape 15.4-inch Google-powered touchscreen in the centre. Over-the-air updates will keep the infotainment and drive systems fresh, too. Polestar will fit its latest safety systems to the 4, with 12 cameras, plus radar and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

16

The dash is minimalist, with Google’s voice control expected to take care of many functions. Clever use of textiles and lighting gives it an upmarket feel inside, with a wide variety of materials on offer, including a recycled knitted fabric produced with a textile college in Sweden. Polestar has said a sustainable alternative to leather should be found, although the 4 comes with ‘welfare-secured’ Nappa leather.

Autonomous driving technology

Polestar plans to debut a suite of high tech driver assistance systems in the Polestar 4 including self-driving technology supported by an advanced LiDAR sensor array from Luminar and a software platform from Mobileye. The LiDAR sensors on the car create a 3D map of its surroundings in real time and the aim is for it to enable full point-to-point autonomous driving on motorways, without the driver having to pay attention to the road ahead, and ‘eyes-on’ autonomous driving on other roads. All autonomous driving systems can only be used where local laws allow.

Power, battery and charging

Full technical details for the Polestar 4 have yet to be revealed, but the Geely SEA platform allows for rear or all-wheel drive, a long-range 102kWh battery and power outputs up to 537bhp and 686Nm from the dual motor versions. The target range is up to 350 miles. Fast charging at up to 200kW will be offered, plus bi-directional charging, which will let you power other electrical items from the vehicle. We expect a heat pump will be standard. 

This will be Polestar’s quickest production car so far, too, with a best 0-62mph time of 3.8 seconds, while we’re told that ride comfort – so far a Polestar foible – has been a bigger priority.

Lifecycle CO2 emissions

Polestar has taken a lead in publishing details of the whole-life environmental impact of its models and this life cycle assessment data is already out for the Polestar 4. The coupe SUV shows impressive reductions in emissions compared to the Polestar 2, despite the 4 being a larger car.

The Polestar 4 standard range, single motor model produces as little as 21 tonnes of CO2 across its manufacturing and use phases, with use running to 200,000km. The Polestar 4 long range, single motor and long range, dual motor models are slightly more carbon intensive, with 22 tonnes and 23 tonnes of CO2 generated respectively. By way of comparison, a petrol powered Volvo XC40 will emit 58 tonnes of CO2 over its lifecycle. 

For an alternative view, see our sister site DrivingElectric's coverage of the Polestar 4...