The 544PS Polestar 4 is an electric SUV with no rear window

Polestar 4 prices and equipment

The Polestar 4 is available in 272PS (200kW) single motor configuration for £59,990, while the 544PS (400kW) dual-motor model starts at £66,990.

Even basic equipment is generous and includes kit like matrix LED headlights, a head-up display, Harman Kardon stereo, hands free boot opening and 22kW charging speeds that means you can charge the Polestar’s battery from 0-100 per cent at home in 5.5 hours.

From there you can choose from a series of packs including the Pilot Pack (£1,300), Pro Pack (£1,800) and dual-motor-only Performance Pack (£4,000).

Ticking the box for the Pilot Pack means the Polestar 4 can basically drive itself on the motorway and in queuing traffic. The Pro Pack, meanwhile, buys you a set of 21-inch wheels (an inch bigger than the basic rims) and Polestar’s signature gold-stripe seat belts.

Performance Pack models, meanwhile, get four-pot Brembo brakes, the larger 22-inch alloys needed to accommodate them and a specific suspension tune. In terms of visuals, the tyre dust caps, brake calipers and seatbelts are all finished in Swedish Gold.

Polestar has been slowly unfurling itself from parent company Volvo’s influence in recent years, and perhaps this is best represented by the look of Polestar’s machines. Line them up in a timeline, and the story of the brand’s march to independence becomes abundantly clear.

In 2018, the brand’s first standalone model – the Polestar 1 plug-in hybrid coupe – started life as a proposed Volvo S90 coupe, and wears little more than Polestar badging to differentiate it as such. The Polestar 2 also began life as a Volvo project, the 40.2 Concept, and again there’s clear influence from the mothership in the look and feel of the car. But now, things are all change. 

The Polestar 3 SUV prised the brand’s design language away from safe, tried and tested Volvo themes with a clean, modern look applied to an otherwise conventional electric SUV. But here’s the latest addition, the (you guessed it) Polestar 4, which, as evidenced by its lack of a rear window, leads this more independent Polestar ethos into a more radical direction. 

Polestar describes the 4 as an ‘electric performance SUV coupe’, and a new car designed to occupy a space between the slightly-lifted BMW 3 Series rivalling Polestar 2 and the iX-baiting 3. Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath describes it as a “fundamental new approach” to coupe-SUVs – a class of car often questioned for being a bit pointless. 

Plenty of cues from the Polestar Precept concept (that car comes next, badged 5 as a large electric saloon) are featured, but the elephant in the room is found at the rear of the car, where a rear screen is absent in favour of an extended coupe roofline. A full-length glass roof is available in its place. 

Rearward visibility is enabled by technology old and new. The Polestar 4 has traditional side mirrors, but the rear-view mirror is now camera-based, and broadcast through a high-definition screen. 

Alongside it, the interior is typical Scandinavian-cool. The 15.4-inch central display still runs Google’s Android Automotive software, though the rest of the cabin comes with added eco-kudos. New production techniques that bundle interior elements made from the same material mean a simpler recycling process at the end of the car’s life-cycle, while new interior materials include a ‘tailored nit textile’ that’s made from 100% recycled PET bottles. 

But catching our eye more is the claim that this is the fastest Polestar ever. The 4 will be available with a dual-motor powertrain developing 544PS (400kW), capable of 0-62mph in just 3.8 seconds. Long Range versions of the car will come with a sizable 102kWh battery packaged under the floor of the interior. The dual-motor car claims a range of up to 348 miles, though a single motor version with a 272PS (200kW) motor driving the rear axle will be capable of covering up to 373 miles. 200kW DC rapid charging is standard, too. 

Polestar plans to start manufacturing the 4 late in 2023, with China the first market to receive cars. But Europe and the UK won’t have to wait long, with a launch of the car here planned for 2024. Polestar has even gone so far as to tout a provisional price tag of £55,000 for the entry-level variant. Tempted?