Polestar 5 Review & Prices

The Polestar 5 is a seriously stylish EV saloon car. It features a premium, minimalist, spacious interior and it’s rapid in range-topping Performance guise, but there are a few questionable storage spaces - and the lack of a back window isn’t for everybody.

You can think of it as the ABBA Voyage of cars with its Swedish background, impressive British engineering, and high-tech Chinese components under the skin - making this a multi-national saloon car.

With its sleek design, high performance and overall poshness, the Polestar 5 is a direct alternative to cars such as the Porsche Taycan, Mercedes-AMG GT 4-door Electric and Audi e-tron GT. The Hyundai Ioniq 6 N is a cheaper yet more performance-focused option to consider.

None of the above are quite as handsome as the Polestar 5, that being said. With its quad headlights, razor-sharp lines, low nose, graceful silhouette and intricate taillight bar framing up the rear end, it’s one of the best looking cars on sale - full stop. The 22-inch wheels are particularly attractive, if expensive.

Polestar 5: electric range, battery and charging data

Range: 347 - 421 miles
Efficiency: 3.5mi/kWh (Dual motor), 2.9mi/kWh (Performance)
Battery size: 112kWh
Max charge speed: 350kW
Charge time AC: 14hrs 20mins, 0-100% (7.4kW), 11hrs, 0-100% (11kW)
Charge time DC: 22min, 10-80% (350kW)
Charge port location: Left side, front
Power output: 737hp, 871hp

The cabin is equally easy on the eye, but it isn’t quite as special inside as you might hope from a range-topping luxury saloon. That’s not to say it’s ugly or cheap, but it’s just a little too similar to the Polestar 3 SUV; a side-effect of the minimal designs across the Polestar range. Still, material quality is very high all around the cabin, while the 14.5-inch infotainment and 9.0-inch driver displays are very crisp.

Shame the software is a mixed bag, as the buttonless approach means you need to poke and prod through a few too many menus and sub-menus to adjust basic settings in the Polestar 5.

Otherwise, the seats are brilliantly comfortable both front and back. The low-set driving position feels suitably sporty, while the outermost rear seats are two individual, reclining buckets. You can even fit three adults in with ease on account of the offset middle seat, which doubles up as a control panel and arm rest.

The 365-litre boot puts the Polestar 5 down on the Taycan (407 litres) and AMG GT 4-Door (400 litres), but it’s quite tall and features a very handy partition and under-floor storage for shopping. The 60-litre front boot can fit a small suitcase, too.

A single battery option means a claimed range of 347 to 421 miles whether in Performance (former) or entry-level (latter) guise. We managed 307 miles in a range-topping car during real-world testing.

Around town the Polestar 5 is a comfortable and surprisingly easy way to get around, even with its large footprint. Forward visibility is good and the wide-angle rear-view camera is handy, but the 360-degree parking cameras show a distorted image. It’s very comfortable and quiet on the motorway, and though it’s very capable on a twisty road, a Porsche Taycan is a bit more fun.

Verdict

The Polestar 5 is a lovely choice of luxury, four-door electric car. It’s even more stylish than the Porsche Taycan while being more spacious inside, too, but it’s missing the Porsche’s fun factor and it feels a touch less special inside.

You can get a great price through Carwow’s Polestar 5 deals and Polestar 5 lease offers. You can also browse used Polestars from our network of trusted dealers, and when it’s time to sell your car, Carwow can help with that, too.

The Polestar 5 starts at just under £90,000 in entry-level Dual motor guise, roughly in line with the Porsche Taycan and almost £15,000 less than the Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door Electric.

That’s not to say the Dual motor is a sparsely-equipped slouch, because it has a mighty 737hp, four-wheel drive, 20-inch wheels, Brembo brakes and a lavishly-upholstered leatherette interior.

Performance models start at a noticeably more expensive £105,000, but for your bucks you get some extra bang to the tune of 871hp, adjustable suspension, 21-inch wheels, Bowers & Wilkins audio and plenty of gold accents both inside and out.

It’s comfortable and refined, but the Polestar 5’s wide turning circle requires some extra through at times

In town

The Polestar 5 may be a large saloon car, but by-and-large it’s a pleasant thing to thread around town. Even in its firmest setting on the adaptive suspension it does a good job of soaking up bumps and potholes, while the wide-angle rear-view camera makes up for the lack of a rear window.

A lack of four-wheel steering means the Polestar doesn’t feel as agile as a Taycan or Audi RS e-tron GT, but it’s easier to manoeuvre than you might think. Adjusting the side mirrors through the screen is a pain, though, and the surround-view parking camera’s image quality is poor.

On the motorway

Once you get out onto a motorway the Polestar 5 really is a delight. No matter which model you drive there’s prodigious acceleration all the way to the speed limit, while acoustic glass and generous insulation mean there’s almost no wind noise and only a touch of road noise from the enormous tyres - even with the 22-inch wheels fitted.

On a twisty road

The Polestar 5 is a sporty-looking thing with some serious on-paper performance, and fortunately it backs it up in the way it tackles a twisty back road. Buckets of grip from the wide tyres, rapid acceleration out of corners thanks to the mighty power output and the comfortable suspension give you lots of confidence when keeping pace up.

It’s not quite as sporty as a Porsche Taycan or Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, though, and while it’s fun to drive, the Polestar feels a bit more of a cruiser than it does an out-and-out sports car.

The Polestar 5 is practical for a car with such a dramatic shape, but some of the storage quirks inside are annoying

As standard the Polestar 5 comes with highly adjustable and wonderfully supportive Recaro seats, which are as handsome as they are practical. You won’t struggle to find a good driving position.

Large door bins, a generous centre console and a trio of phone pads means there’s plenty of space for large bottles and odds and ends, but the awkwardly-sized central cupholders have a habit of grabbing your drinks and refusing to let go. The lack of a passenger glovebox feels like an oversight, too.

Space in the back seats

You might expect a car with such a low roofline to lack rear seat space, but the back of the Polestar 5 is actually very accommodating. There’s easily more legroom and headroom (thanks to the glass roof) than in the back of a Taycan or Audi e-tron GT, while the reclining seats make it easy to get comfortable on a long journey. Solid under-thigh support also helps here.

A nifty trick: the large, padded centre console which includes a rear climate control panel, cupholders and a cubby actually folds up to reveal a slender third seat. That may not seem like much, but with the outer seats reclined there’s plenty of room for three adults to sit comfortably on account of their staggered shoulders.

Boot space

While the 365-litre boot is down on the alternatives on paper and the load space is an awkward shape, the Polestar 5’s boot is surprisingly useful in a few key ways.

You won’t fit anything particularly big or boxy in there, but the boot floor folds up and tucks into itself to create a partition for smaller items against the seat backs while revealing hooks above the underfloor storage on which to hang shopping bags. Absolutely brilliant, and there’s a 60-litre front boot to boot (geddit?) which can accommodate a few backpacks with ease.

Shame it’s such a faff to fold the seats down, requiring you to adjust them from inside the car, then reach all the way into the boot and push the bulkhead down separately.

The sleek, minimalist dashboard is topped by an overcomplicated infotainment system

Once you’re in the stylish, low set driver’s seat you’re in for a treat, because the Polestar 5’s interior is a very plush and well-appointed place to sit. For starters, material quality is superb (aside from the plasticky sun visors), whether you’ve opted for the standard-fit leatherette or shelled out an eye-watering £5,000 for leather instead.

At least that option includes electric reclining, heating, ventilation and massage in the back - even if it costs the same as a spa getaway.

It’s a shame the interior is so similar to the Polestar 3, because while there’s nothing inherently wrong with that, it doesn’t feel as special inside as a Porsche Taycan or Mercedes-AMG GT 4-Door. The simple dashboard is dominated by an enormous 14.5-inch touchscreen and a 9.0-inch driver display…and nothing else.

This is where the Polestar 5 is most divisive (we’re over its lack of a rear window at this point). While the minimalist cabin looks rather dashing and the Google-based software is quick and easy to use in some ways, the total reliance on that central touchscreen is jarring at times.

At least the steering buttons are intuitive to use, with their functions displayed on the screen ahead of you, minimising distractions on the move. The full-length glass sunroof means the cabin feels bright and airy, especially in a light upholstery.

There’s only one battery choice in the Polestar 5: a 112kWh unit that offers a claimed 421-mile range in the Dual motor variant, while the ultra-powerful Performance version drops that figure down to 347 miles on account of its more energy-sapping hardware between the wheels.

We managed to achieve 2.9mi/kWh in the Performance version during our testing on a variety of roads, which means 307 real-world miles to a full charge, or 88% of Polestar’s claim. That’s not bad, but a large chunk down on the 419 claimed miles the upcoming AMG GT 4-Door Electric can manage in 1,169hp trim.

A clever 800V, 350kW setup means the Polestar 5 can go from 10-80% in just 22 min on a powerful enough plug, but the large battery takes 11 hours to top up from empty with 11kW AC charging. This extends to 14 hours and 22 minutes on a more common 7.4kW plug.

Its starting price places the Polestar 5 well over the luxury EV tax threshold meaning extra payments from years two-to-six, but at least a full electric status means a low Benefit in Kind band for company car drivers.

The Polestar 5 has yet to be crash tested by safety experts Euro NCAP, but given its Polestar 2, 3 and 4 siblings all have five-star results in the most recent rounds of testing, it’s safe to expect the same from the swoopy saloon. There are a pair of ISOFIX points in the outermost rear seats, but not in the front passenger seat.

As standard the Polestar 5 comes with a suite of driver monitoring and assistance systems including adaptive cruise control, parking support, collision avoidance and a multitude of cameras to help safely manoeuvre the car in tight spaces.

Polestar is too niche to have featured in the latest Driver Power owner satisfaction survey, but its Volvo sister brand came 14th out of the 30 manufacturers entered into the mix. While that’s not a wholly representative result, it’s worth remembering that there are shared software features between the two brands.

There have also been numerous software glitches reported from owners and journalists alike across both manufacturers, which is something to bear in mind.

Polestar offers a European-standard three-year, 60,000-mile warranty with its cars, which puts the Polestar 5 in line with the Audi e-tron GT but behind the Porsche Taycan for its coverage period.