Polestar 4 Review & Prices

The Polestar 4 is an oddball electric SUV. It has a coupe body shape without being too rakish and compromised inside, it’s even more head-turning than the larger, posher Polestar 3 and - most importantly - it doesn’t have a back window. That lack of visibility is annoying to live with at times, no matter how many advantages it has.

You can think of the Polestar 4 as a minimalist and beautifully designed basement flat. For the vast majority of the time you’ll be totally enamoured with it, but when you remember that there’s a key window missing, it’s hard to forget - and you miss the natural light.

If you enjoy an SUV with windows on all four sides, look no further than the BMW iX3, Audi Q6 e-tron, BYD Sealion 7 and Peugeot E-3008. The Porsche Macan Electric and Tesla Model Y are two very different propositions to consider, too. They might vary in price, but the Polestar 4 occupies a middle ground between its more- and less-premium alternatives.

There’s no denying that the Polestar 4 is still a bold and largely successful piece of design. The classically-Polestar quadruple headlights look brilliant on the low, pointy nose, but the windowless rear quarter is a bit awkward from some angles.

Polestar 4: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 367-385 miles
Efficiency: 2.9-3.5 miles per kWh
Battery size: 94kWh
Max charge speed: 200kW
Charge time AC: 16h 45m, 0-100%, 7kW
Charge time DC: 30 mins, 10-80%, 200kW
Charge port location: Left rear
Power outputs: 272hp / 544hp

Still, the interior is so beautiful that you’ll forget all about the exterior styling once you sit in the wonderfully supportive seats. Opt for the light-coloured upholstery and the cabin feels even more spacious, because most of the surfaces are trimmed in very supple leatherette to match the seats.

The wide centre console and layered dashboard look sporty, but it’s the enormous infotainment display that really steals your attention. It features crisp, clear graphics, but the menu layout is annoying. It’s particularly noticeable because there aren’t any physical controls; everything is routed through the screen.

It may look fairly compact in photos, but the Polestar 4 is a large car. The biggest advantage to its size is the interior space, because no matter which seat you choose, the Polestar 4 has plenty of room for even the tallest of adults. The back seats aren’t as dark as you might think, either, thanks to a glass roof that stretches right back to your head.

Speaking of which, you’ll find 526 litres of cargo space in the Polestar 4’s boot, which isn’t quite as much as a Porsche Macan Electric but on par with the BMW iX3 and Audi Q6 e-tron. There’s even a handy little 15-litre front boot.

Range varies from 367 to 385 miles depending on which version you choose, though every Polestar 4 has a 94kWh battery.

You may feel cool behind the wheel of a Polestar 4, but you’ll also feel a lot of imperfections and bumps in the road surface. It just isn’t as comfortable as most alternatives in town, but it settles down on the motorway and it’s very composed on a twisty country lane. No matter the road, the rear-view camera takes some getting used to, but if you dislike the perspective change, you can always turn it off - van style.

Verdict

The Polestar 4 is a stylish, desirable SUV with a premium interior and plenty of space. It isn’t as fun as the Porsche Macan Electric, nor is it as good an all-rounder as a BMW iX3 or Tesla Model Y, but it’s worth considering as a left-field family SUV.

Check out the latest Polestar 4 deals on Carwow to see how much you can save. You can also get a fantastic price on a Polestar 4 lease as well as a used Polestar 4, or other used Polestar models. When it’s time to sell your current car, Carwow can help with that, too.

Polestar 4 prices start at just over £55,000, which makes it considerably more affordable than the cheapest Porsche Macan Electric. However, the latest BMW iX3 has a much longer range and isn’t a huge step up in price.

The Audi Q6 e-tron, in spite of being mechanically identical to the Porsche under the skin, is already priced quite close to the Polestar 4, but you will have to pay a little extra to get the Q6 Sportback version, which has sleeker styling more in line with that of the Polestar.

As a brand trying to establish itself in UK buyers’ minds (despite close Volvo links), its biggest problems come from the likes of the Hyundai Ioniq 5 and Kia EV6. Both have performance and ranges in a similar ballpark, but with strong brand recognition and much more affordable pricing. The Polestar does feel more expensive inside than those two at least, but the difference isn’t dramatic.

Polestar also has some expensive options and packs for the 4. Having full leather trim (sourced from Scottish cows) costs more than £3,000. That’s deliberately high, with Polestar saying it’s priced leather to that level so that people have to make a conscious decision to move away from the man-made recycled fabrics that come as standard. Upgrading the safety kit to the kinda-self-driving ‘Pilot Pack’ is a pricey option too, at £1,300.

The Polestar 4 can be a bit jiggly over rough surfaces in town, but it’s smooth and comfortable to drive over long distances

In town

The Polestar 4 is a bigger car than it looks, so if you live in a town with particularly narrow streets you might find it a touch intimidating to drive. Fortunately acceleration is swift but smooth, even in the dual-motor model, so there’s none of the jerkiness you sometimes get with EVs. There’s a one-pedal mode to make stop/start traffic less tiring, too.

You’ll notice pronounced edges in the road, like bad resurfacing or potholes, which can send a bit of a jolt through the car. This gives the Polestar 4 a hint of sporty character rather than pure luxury comfort. However, our test car was a dual-motor model with the performance pack, which includes the upgraded suspension and big wheels; a standard single-motor model should be a bit better sorted around town.

It’s urban driving where the lack of rear window is most noticeable too, and where it takes some getting used to. In place of the traditional mirror is a digital feed from a camera looking out from the back of the car. It’s difficult for your eyes to adjust to, because you go from looking far ahead to looking at a screen really close to your face, so a quick glance at what’s behind you isn’t quite so easy. Most people do get used to it, but it’s not for everyone - especially if you drive other cars with conventional mirrors regularly, as you never quite adjust.

On the motorway

There are fewer complaints about the suspension once you’re up to motorway speeds, because the Polestar 4 handles larger lumps and bumps really well. Coupled with the comfy seats, this is a great companion for long drives, even if there is a bit of wind noise to contend with. The dual-motor model has no trouble getting up to speed, and means swift overtakes require little pre-planning.

You get the Pilot Pack as standard, which includes adaptive cruise control to help maintain your speed and distance to the car in front, as well as keeping you centred in your lane. On top of this, when activated, you can use the indicator to signal a lane change and the car will do it for you using cameras and sensors to check it’s safe to do so.

On a twisty road

Twisty roads are a bit of a mixed bag, because the sporty edge to the suspension means that the Polestar 4 handles bends better than you might expect of a big, comfy EV. However, it never quite hides its weight, which can knock your confidence slightly – though there’s no denying that the dual-motor’s performance is fantastic. It positively catapults you out of corners.

If you’re after a properly sporty SUV then perhaps the Porsche Macan Electric is a bit better – it just has that classic Porsche rightness to the way it drives – but the Polestar 4 certainly doesn’t embarrass itself.

Loads of space for passengers, but the Porsche Macan Electric has a bigger boot

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. There's loads of space for passengers, though.

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 is the digital rear-view mirror, a necessity with no rear window.

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. It's not natural to adjust your vision to the screen quickly, though, so takes some getting used to.

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.

All that space means it's ideal for car seats too, with easy access ISOFIX points.

Those in the back 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 litres are situated under the floor - marginally more than the 520-litre BMW iX3, identical to the Audi Q6 e-tron, but less than the Porsche Macan Electric’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 good 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 is that absolutely everything is routed through the touchscreen. Not just the usual functions, such as navigation, or even the current trend of using 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 gets 385 miles in Polestar’s official testing, which drops to 367 miles for the Long Range Dual Motor, and a little less with the Performance Pack installed.

While the Audi Q6 e-tron Sportback, Porsche Macan Electric and BMW iX all have versions that can go 400 miles-plus, they're all much more expensive than the 4. Like for like they all have similar enough range figures.

However, the latest BMW iX3 comfortably bests the Polestar 4 with a 500-mile official range as standard, and with pricing only slightly above the big Swede.

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 30 minutes – that's not as quick as some alternatives, such as the Macan Electric's 270kW. However, the Polestar can also charge at up to 22kW AC, but that’s very rare to find in private homes - expect an empty-to-full home charging time of around 14 hours from a more usual 7.4kW supply.

Being an electric car means that the Polestar 4 benefits from the lowest rate of Benefit-in-Kind tax for company car users, and the lowest first-year tax for private buyers, though you will have to pay the expensive car supplement in years two to six.

Polestar 4 Euro NCAP Score (2025): 5/5

Adult occupant: 92%
Child occupant: 85%
Vulnerable road users: 81%
Safety assist: 79%

As you’d expect from a car that has strong links to Volvo (Polestar is effectively a Volvo spin-off brand) the Polestar 4 scored well on its Euro NCAP crash test, taking home the full five star rating. In the individual tests, it scored 92 per cent for adult occupant protection, 85 per cent for child occupants, 81 per cent for vulnerable road users (doubtless in large part to the 4’s low-set nose), and 79 per cent for its electronic safety systems.

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.