Polestar 4 Review & Prices

After ages with just the Polestar 2 hatchback on sale, the electric offshoot of Volvo is launching new models with a vengeance. The Polestar 4 will go on sale shortly after the Polestar 3 SUV,  and is likely to wet your whistle if you were considering buying a Tesla Model Y, Kia EV6 GT or the new electric Porsche Macan.

With 12 cameras dotted around the outside, interior lighting inspired by the planets and a Google operating system, it’s a real tech-fest on wheels. Think of it like the latest smartphone from a less well-known brand, packed with new features - some of which may stick, and some which may not.

The most striking feature of the Polestar 4 can be seen (or rather, not seen) around the rear. Polestar has completely dispensed with the rear window. The advantage of this is that it can move the structure of the roof further back, allowing for a dramatic swooping silhouette while retaining enough headroom inside for adults. The disadvantage - well, obviously you lose your view rearwards, with the car’s interior mirror displaying a camera feed rather than a reflection.

Other stylish features on the exterior include a light-up Polestar logo that welcomes you to the car when you unlock it, flush-fitting pop-out door handles and dark cladding around the lower portion of the car that gives it a bit more of an SUV flavour.

Being based on the similar underpinnings to the Polestar 3 means you’re unlikely to be wanting for much more power or range. While some larger models - such as the Tesla Model X or BMW iX - can go further and faster, a range of up to 376 miles on the Long Range model and acceleration from 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds on the Performance AWD car is nonetheless impressive.

Inside, you’ll find Polestar’s typical minimalist styling. The dashboard is dominated by a huge 15.4-inch infotainment screen, which is just a little bigger than the one on the Tesla Model Y. But unlike the Tesla, you also get a driver information display and a very sophisticated head-up display, so you can choose to have just the bare necessities or information overload.

Rear seat passengers aren’t forgotten about either. The unique roof arrangement means that there’s plenty of headroom, despite the car’s low-slung appearance, with a huge glass roof that actually extends beyond the rear passengers’ heads. 

We haven’t yet driven the Polestar 4, but we’ll update this review as soon as we do. In the meantime, check out our reviews of other Polestar models and the best deals available, or look up some used Polestars to buy through Carwow. And don’t forget that when the time comes, you can sell your old car through Carwow’s network of trusted dealers.

The Polestar 4 range kicks off at just under £60,000, a good chunk cheaper than the newly announced electric Porsche Macan. However, for the same money you can have a fully-loaded Tesla Model Y Performance.

The dual-motor model adds around £7,000 to the list price, while the Performance Pack is an additional £4,000 on top of that. All UK models will get the ‘Plus’ pack as standard, however, which makes the Polestar 4 extremely well-equipped.

Loads of space for passengers, but boot trails most competitors

The Polestar 4’s expansive front seats have tons of adjustment, so it’s easy for you to find a comfortable driving position no matter your height. Basic seat adjustments are done through switches on the side of the seat base, as normal - but the steering wheel, the mirrors and other dimensions such as the lumbar support all take place through the touchscreen and so should be done before you set off. It’s annoying that you can’t easily do it on the fly if you forget. Even opening the glovebox requires opening up a touchscreen menu.

Storage up front is nothing groundbreaking. The glovebox and door bins are an okay size, as are the cupholders. Just underneath the touchscreen, you also get a wireless phone charging pad, which covers most of the phone’s screen so you won’t be too tempted by notifications.

The seats are very comfortable, and are heated - if you opt for the upgrade to sustainably-sourced Nappa leather, you also get seat ventilation and massage functions, which are a nice extra. The most difficult thing to get used to will be the digital rear-view mirror, a necessity with no rear window.

This isn’t a new innovation, as it’s been available on Land Rover models and some others for a few years now. The camera is set above where the rear window would be, in the shark-fin aerial, and so you get a slightly different view than you might be expecting. However, it’s very wide-angle, and the display is clear and bright. When we get to drive the Polestar 4 we’ll report back on what it’s like to live with.

Space in the back seats

There’s loads of room in the back seats, despite the sloping roofline. If you recline the seat all the way back you will find your hair rubbing on the roof. Keep it in a more normal upright position, though, and even very tall passengers will find they have plenty of headroom.

They’ll also enjoy a screen in the centre with heating and media controls, plus USB-C ports to power gadgets.

Boot space

There’s 526 litres of space in the Polestar 4’s boot, of which 30 are situated under the floor - more than the 480-litre Kia EV6 GT, but less than the Porsche Macan EV’s 540 litres or the Tesla Model Y’s cavernous 854-litre space. The sloping roof does limit how much you can carry overall, but the rear seats do fold down almost flat if you need to transport larger items. And there’s no need to worry about smashing the rear window on a protruding furniture leg!

A small fabric-covered divider piece sits just behind the rear seats, cutting the boot off entirely from the passenger compartment - but you can unclip this if you desire. If you do want to travel with pets, for example, you’ll want to do this so that Rover isn’t in a totally dark and airless box. There’s a dedicated place to stow it under the boot floor.

The Polestar 4 has an additional 15 litres of space in the ‘frunk’, which is just about enough room to fit your charging cables but nothing much else.

Stylishly minimalist but some crucial functions are tucked away in touchscreen menus

The Polestar 4’s interior is a light, airy place to sit - especially with one of the lighter-coloured upholstery schemes. The huge panoramic sunroof floods the interior with light, too.

Build quality is very high and there are interesting materials dotted everywhere, such as the 3D ‘knit’ texture on the seats and doors. This is made to order, rather than being cut out of larger panels of material - saving waste. Ethically-sourced Nappa leather is also an option, though you can keep the interior fully animal-free if you prefer.

The interior ambience is lifted even further by all-round accent lighting. And you don’t get a load of boring colour schemes to choose from - here, they’re all inspired by different planets, and present you with some fun facts about the celestial body of your choice when you select it. 

The huge touchscreen infotainment system - 15.4 inches on the diagonal - runs Google’s Android Automotive operating system. This means it’s extremely slick, responding instantly to the touch. It also means you get Google maps baked-in for navigation, and other Google apps available to download for navigation or entertainment. You can run Apple CarPlay or Android Auto, if you prefer.

The main criticism we have is that absolutely everything is routed through the touchscreen. Not just the usual functions, such as navigation, or even the current trend which is to use the touchscreen for climate controls. In the Polestar 4, you also use it for functions such as adjusting the mirrors, turning on the rear foglight or even opening the glovebox.

Not only is this potentially unsafe to operate on the move, it’s also a steep learning curve and places key functions a couple of menu presses away.

With a huge 100kWh battery pack, the Polestar 4 claims excellent range figures. The Long Range Single Motor model is aiming for 376 miles on the official tests - they’re yet to be finalised. That drops to 360 miles for the Long Range Dual Motor, and a little less with the Performance Pack installed.

While a BMW iX can return up to 382 miles, that’s only in models much more expensive than the 4. The Tesla Model Y, meanwhile, has a maximum range of 331 miles.

Charge speeds of up to 200kW DC - from a suitably powerful public charger - mean the Polestar 4 can be topped up from 10-80% in just 30 minutes. It can also charge at up to 22kW AC, but that’s very rare to find in private homes - expect an empty-full home charging time of around 14 hours from a more usual 7.4kW supply.

We’ll let you know just how far the Polestar 4 manages on a charge in the real world once we’ve driven it. What’s certain, though, is that it will have low Benefit-in-Kind tax for company car users by virtue of being an electric car - not to mention free road tax and exemption from London’s Congestion Charge until 2025.

Euro NCAP hasn’t crash tested the Polestar 4 yet, but you probably shouldn’t worry that it will do poorly. Polestar is an offshoot of Volvo - one of the safest car brands out there - and so tends to perform extremely well in crash tests.

Twelve cameras and a radar sensor dotted around the vehicle give it the usual gamut of lane-keeping, autonomous emergency braking and partial self-driving aids, while a head-up display should mean you don’t have to take your eyes off the road too often.

It’s too early to make a judgement on the Polestar 4’s reliability, but there shouldn’t be too much to worry about on this front. Polestar, and parent company Volvo, tend to perform relatively well for reliability and dependability - even better in electric cars which have far fewer moving parts to worry about.

Polestar’s warranty is about average among premium brands - you get three years and 60,000 miles of cover, plus a separate eight-year/100,000 mile warranty for the battery pack. Toyota, Lexus and Kia all offer much longer.