Australian exclusive: We drive Polestar’s make-or-break Tesla Model Y rival
Could this be the car to save Polestar? The Polestar 4 SUV-coupe rival for the Tesla Model Y, Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 must succeed if the Swedish EV maker is to pull through its toughest year yet.
- Polestar's best car yet
- Spacious, practical, classy, tech-savvy interior
- A crisp, capable and comfortable car to drive
- Some functions should have actual buttons, not be on the touchscreen
- Wind noise at highway speeds
- Charging speeds are okay but not future-proof
2024 Polestar 4
There's a fine line between innovation and irrelevant, and emerging Swedish EV brand Polestar seems determined to test that line.
For example, the Polestar 4 mid-size SUV launching in Australia in August has no rear window, despite being marketed as a practical SUV-coupe. Instead, Polestar has linked the rear-view mirror to a roof-mounted camera so drivers can see behind them.
This is not a gimmick, and I'll explain why in a moment. It's a huge gamble by Polestar, because firstly, digital mirrors have not been well received by critics or customers to date, digital wing mirrors in particular.
Polestar was the first to show a car without a back window with the Precept concept in 2020, and while a couple of Chinese brands have put this 'feature' into production faster than Polestar, none have tested the waters with European or Australian consumers yet.
Secondly, the Polestar 4 is the car that must turn around the company's fortunes after a particularly nasty 12 months – nasty even by Polestar's standards.
In the first seven years of its life (Polestar's EV reincarnation started in 2017) it's had to endure Covid, the semi-conductor shortage, an 85 per cent fall in its share price, an emerging and potentially severe EV market correction, desertion by its major shareholder and an unexpected round of public capital raising.
The Polestar 4 could be just the distraction – and just the tonic – the brand needs.
Polestar calls out the Porsche Macan EV as a rival for the new Polestar 4. That certainly gives us a big-time benchmark in size and performance, but not price, since the Macan starts some $50,000 above the Polestar at $133,700. Polestar 's perception with consumers would gain just as much by positioning itself as a more premium and more polished alternative to Tesla.
If we consider the Polestar 2 crossover hatch an upmarket rival for the Tesla Model 3, then the Polestar 4 is the same to the Tesla Model Y. Unlike Elon Musk's pair, however, the Polestar 2 and 4 share very little mechanically or structurally.
The Polestar 4 SUV is expected to arrive in local showrooms in August 2024. The range will consist of two variants: the Long Range Single Motor RWD and Long Range Dual Motor AWD.
Pricing starts at $81,500 plus on-road costs for the Long Range Single Motor model, and rises to $93,050 plus on-road costs for the Long Range Dual Motor variant.
This pricing structure is comparable to its Tesla Model Y rival, with the Long Range dual-motor variants starting at $78,400 plus on-road costs and order/delivery fees, and the range-topping Performance model at $91,400 plus on-road costs and order/delivery fees.
As standard, the Polestar 4 will be sold with the Pilot Pack in Australia, which adds semi-autonomous driving capabilities via the Pilot Assist system.
The Polestar 4 will also be built in a new factory in Korea, but Polestar is yet to determine whether this factory or the existing one in China will handle right-hand-drive versions.
We've got more on the pricing and equipment levels here.
Key details | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor |
Price | $81,500 plus on-road costs | $93,050 plus on-road cost |
Options | Paint - Metallic – $2275 - Premium – $2990 Plus Pack – $8000 Nappa leather upgrade – $7000 Pro Pack – $2500 Body-coloured exterior cladding – $1400 Electrochromic panoramic glass roof – $2700 21-inch Sport alloy wheels – $2500 Rear privacy glass – $700 Tailored knit upholstery – $1400 | Paint - Metallic – $2275 - Premium – $2990 Plus Pack – $8000 Nappa leather upgrade – $7000 Pro Pack – $2500 Performance Pack – $7200 Body-coloured exterior cladding – $1400 Electrochromic panoramic glass roof – $2700 21-inch Sport alloy wheels – $2500 Rear privacy glass – $700 Tailored knit upholstery – $1400 |
Rivals | Kia EV6 | Hyundai Ioniq 5 | Tesla Model Y |
Drive was one of just 16 media outlets from around the world – and the only Australian outlet – to attend an exclusive prototype test at the Volvo/Polestar proving ground outside of Gothenberg, Sweden in March, some five months ahead of the 4's global launch.
We drove – and were driven in – both the 200kW rear-wheel-drive and 400kW all-wheel-drive variants. What we learned during this very brief opportunity with Polestar's most important new model is that the vehicle will definitely bring attention to the Polestar brand… for the right reasons.
If the prototypes we drove are indicative of the production version, and they should be, then the Polestar 4 will be a credible and attractive alternative to the Tesla Model Y and other $75–$95K EVs like the Kia EV6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. Polestar has done a very good job designing, developing and engineering this car to deliver what EV buyers want and need.
Of course, Drive only drove the Polestar 4 at Polestar's proving ground, on the same roads that engineers used to tune its driving dynamics. So, if a Polestar were going to shine anywhere, it would surely be there.
Equally, imagine if we came away unimpressed after driving a vehicle on its home tarmac? What would that say?
The test roads Polestar made available to us included potholes, drain covers, undulations and freeway joins. They also had tightening corners, crests with turns, and other road geometries designed to highlight a car's strengths and weaknesses.
All up, I only spent about 40km behind the wheel of a single-motor RWD and dual-motor AWD Polestar 4, both pre-production prototypes. But, as first impressions go, it was enough.
Both cars hit the sweet spot in terms of the balance of comfort and dynamism. They also delivered on what I expect from Polestar.
I found the single-motor RWD variant to be the sweeter car to drive, whereas the dual-motor AWD variant (which also has three-mode active dampers) is most definitely the more dynamically rapid and capable.
I will get into why I prefer the RWD variant after we've gone over the exterior and interior headlines.
2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor | |
Seats | Five | Five |
Boot volume | 526L seats up 1536L seats folded | 526L seats up 1536L seats folded |
Length | 4840mm | 4840mm |
Width | 2139mm (with mirrors) | 2139mm (with mirrors) |
Height | 1534mm | 1534mm |
Wheelbase | 2999mm | 2999mm |
The Polestar 4 looks very much like a member of the Polestar family, with its 'Thor's Hammer' LED headlights, retractable doorhandles and chunky Polestar styling, so it will sit comfortably alongside the smaller Polestar 2 crossover hatch and larger Polestar 3 SUV in showrooms.
That naming convention may provoke confusion, however, because the order in price and size is 2, 4 and 3. I don't think Polestar cares, but some customers won't understand.
The Polestar 2 is 4.6m long by 1.48m tall and sits on a 2735mm wheelbase.
The Polestar 3 large SUV is 30cm longer and 13cm taller, and sits on a 25cm longer wheelbase.
The Polestar 4 mid-size SUV-coupe is 6cm shorter in length and 8cm shorter in height than the 3 but has a 3m wheelbase, the longest of the trio (2999mm to be exact, but come on).
All have four doors plus a rear hatch, and all have two rows of seating for five occupants.
They'll be joined by a Polestar 5 to rival the Porsche Taycan large sedan and a Polestar 6 two-door sports-luxury convertible in 2025 and 2026 respectively.
So it's clear that the 2, 4 and 3 will be the volume sellers if Polestar is to survive and succeed. The Polestar 4, because of its price and size, should grab the lion's share.
Polestar says one of the 4's headlines is its lack of a rear window. Although Polestar is considered to be a design-led company – and indeed its German CEO Thomas Ingenlath is a designer by trade rather than a sales or marketing professional, which is more typical for car companies in their early days – the decision to delete the rear window was practical as well as aesthetic.
SUV coupes, or coupes of any kind, are distinguished by a sharp falling roof line at the rear that gives a sporty fastback silhouette. But this robs the back seat of valuable head room. Polestar's solution was to do away with the rear window and move the roof's rear header rail further back, thus freeing up head room inside, but still allowing for that fastback shape.
From a practical point of view, it works a treat, and has led Polestar to add value in other ways, like the digital rear-view mirror, the electrically reclining back seats, and the 'business class' ambient lighting behind the occupants.
It all adds to an air of elegance and class in what has to be the biggest and roomiest back seat in its class. Head room is plentiful, as is leg room. Foot room is the one asterisk; it's snug if the front seat is lowered fully, becoming decent and then generous as the front seat is raised.
The back seat of the Polestar 4 RWD we sat in had two air vents and two USB-C charging ports. The higher-grade AWD variant has four air vents (two on the B-pillars and two on the centre console) plus a 5.7-inch touchscreen housing back seat climate controls above the two USB-C ports.
Both variants had an electrically reclining rear seatback for greater comfort at some cost to luggage capacity. That luggage capacity, by the way, is 526 litres if the adjustable floor is at the lower of two settings, and includes a built-in plastic-lined wet box under the floor.
At a glance | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor |
Warranty | Five years, unlimited km | Five years, unlimited km |
Service intervals | 24 months or 30,000km | 24 months or 30,000km |
The lack of a rear window doesn't make the rear seat feel claustrophobic because occupants have good vision out the side windows – and forward for that matter. There's also a massive panoramic sunroof standard on all models. An electrochromatic alternative, which can go from opaque to clear at the touch of a button, will cost $2700 in Australia.
Up front, the Polestar 4's cabin has a minimalist aesthetic largely due to the almost total lack of buttons. The only actual buttons are the door armrest-mounted window buttons and doorlock button.
Before we dive further into the (lack of) buttons, Polestar is debuting a new seat fabric called 3D-knit on the 4. 3D-knit is a weave made from 100 per cent recycled PET polyester. It's a robust material that creates a flexible and breathable seat covering, which does feel hard to the touch – as you'd expect of plastic – but expands and 'gives' just like a leather or fabric seat would.
Polestar is quick to point out that, by knitting its seat covers from this material, there is zero waste, unlike cowhide which must be cut to size.
For less adventurous customers, Polestar also offers a nappa leather seat cover, but again the company quickly points out that this is sourced from food industry waste rather than directly from the cows.
Regardless of which the customer chooses, ethical sourcing is a tenet of the Polestar brand, and the materials deliver on Polestar's premium ethos in look and feel. In fact, the interior's craftsmanship is one clear area where Polestar is head and shoulders above its main Muskian rival.
Now back to buttons and dials. There is one dial in the centre console for adjusting the volume, which also has a play-pause button on top. There are also buttons on the steering wheel's horizontal spokes for interacting with the digital instrument display and elements of the touchscreen. All other controls are through the centrally mounted 15.4-inch touchscreen.
Unlike in the Polestar 2 and 3 which favour a portrait orientation, the Polestar 4's tablet controller is mounted in landscape mode, and cannot be turned 90 degrees like in some other electric cars. The tablet runs a highly customised version of Android Automotive that is gorgeous to look at and brilliantly easy to use.
Chinese market cars cannot use Android anything, so they feature a proprietary Polestar software instead.
Polestar has clearly invested a lot of time, effort and money in making sure the Android Automotive implementation works intuitively while also having the depth and detail expected in a modern car.
It's through this tablet that the driver (and front seat passenger) interact with the satellite navigation, vehicle dynamics systems, climate control, media and smartphone mirroring. Virtual buttons to adjust the climate control are always accessible via the bottom of the screen, along with key submenus like 'car settings'.
Polestar's UX design gives each icon a large rectangular field of touch, which lights up in Polestar Orange when touched, meaning it's easy to hit the mark even on rough roads.
We do think there are controls that Polestar didn't need to confine to the tablet, like steering wheel and wing mirror adjustment. But given these items will generally be set once by each individual key-wielding driver and never again, it's not a massive issue.
What's more likely to be an inconvenience is diving into the tablet's menu system just to open the glovebox. But if owners need quick access, then this function (or any function) can be programmed into one of six home screen favourites.
I am glad that Polestar didn't follow Tesla by putting the transmission selector in the touchscreen. The Polestar 4's steering-wheel-mounted stalk does the job just fine.
Overall, I rate the Polestar's up there with my all-time favourite Jaguar Land Rover's Pivi Pro system. They are two excellent examples of infotainment UX done well and done to suit their brand.
Energy efficiency | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor |
Battery size | 100kWh (94kW useable) | 100kWh (94kW useable) |
Driving range claim (WLTP) | 610km | 580km |
One other physical button Polestar has retained is the 'start' button, which brings the electric drive systems online.
The Polestar 4 single-motor RWD is a heavy car by combustion engine standards, and at 2230kg it is some 200kg heaver than the Tesla Model Y RWD. But the 200kW and 343Nm electric motor gives the vehicle quickish acceleration that will be acceptable to buyers.
Of course, it is syrupy smooth in its power delivery – like all EVs are – and silent because Polestar hasn't embellished the vehicle with a fake driving soundtrack inside. The cabin is very quiet on the move, meaning inter-row conversations are possible even at a whisper. We did think the wind noise above 80km/h was louder than expected, but tyre noise from specially developed 21-inch Michelin tyres was minimal.
Polestar claims a 0–100km/h time of 7.1 seconds for the 200kW RWD variant, and a WLTP driving range of 610km. The vehicle comes with 11kW AC charging and 200kW DC charging capabilities for its 100kW electric battery.
The 400kW/686Nm AWD variant packs considerably more performance, and is very capable of getting the adrenaline pumping as it fires from 0–100km/h in 3.8 seconds. That's one-tenth slower than the 350kg lighter Model Y Performance, but that tenth is really not worth quibbling over. The 400kW Polestar 4 can also recharge at 22kW via AC.
The Polestar 4 AWD is fast, very fast, and it's an exciting car to drive, especially if a) it has the Performance Pack fitted and b) you mess with the damper and steering assist settings.
The Polestar 4 AWD we drove had the $7200 Performance Pack, which includes 22-inch Pirelli tyres, adjustable dampers and Brembo brakes. A quick giveaway for those inside the car are the gold seatbelts.
Polestar offers three modes for the dampers, Standard, Nimble and Firm, the latter two progressively sacrificing ride comfort for dynamic agility. It's worth pointing out that, even in Standard mode, the Polestar 4 has the dynamism to show you a good time through the twisties.
In Nimble and Firm modes, the ride becomes noticeably busier as the car's suspension reads the road rather that irons it out. This is a deliberate decision by the engineers to give the driver feedback on the road's surface – feedback and driving dynamics are key tenets of Polestar's brand positioning along with innovation and style.
The AWD is perhaps not as sweetly balanced as the RWD – the extra motor gives it 120kg more weight at the front, firstly, and secondly Polestar has resisted the temptation to limit the front motor to achieve a rear-drive bias. Both motors have identical 200kW/343Nm outputs.
Key details | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor | 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor |
Engine | Permanent magnetic motor | Two permanent magnetic motors |
Power | 200kW | 400kW |
Torque | 343Nm | 686Nm |
Drive type | Rear-wheel drive | All-wheel drive |
Power-to-weight ratio | 89.7kW/t | 169.9kW/t |
Weight | 2230kg | 2355kg |
Tow rating | 1500kg braked | 2000kg braked |
Turning circle | 11.64m | 11.64m |
The Polestar 4 is an involving car to drive, and if the dynamics we sampled at the proving ground translate to the real world, we suspect it's a more engaging and enjoyable car to drive than its Tesla rival.
The 4's weight disadvantage over the Tesla doesn't adversely impact dynamics, and nor does it make the Polestar more ponderous on turn-in. In fact, it's impressive just how sharply the Polestar bites initially, and how confidence-inspiring both the front and the rear feel up near their respective grip limits.
Our chauffeur for the first few passenger/sighting laps was Roger Wallgren, one of the Polestar 4's key development staff, and a decent pedaller. He delighted in showing us the RWD 4's malleability at both the front and the rear when the tyres reach their limits. Even more impressive, he encouraged me to do the same when my turn came to drive. You'd only do that if you trust the driver or the car, and five minutes earlier we'd never met.
The finesse and maturity with which the suspension has been tuned is key to the 4's confidence-inspiring agility. It never tries to hide its size or weight behind too-stiff springs or damping. It never tries to stay flatter than a pancake in corners like some high-tech luxury sports SUVs do (looking at you Lotus Eletre and Range Rover Sport SV). Instead, a little body roll is allowed – anything less would just feel unnatural and off-putting – with the desired effect of settling the car into the bend and making the driver feel the car's effort and energy.
Even in the passively damped RWD variant we drove, the vehicle exhibited both agility and the ability to absorb hits and undulations under pressure. The Performance Pack's adjustable dampers and stickier tyres elevate the vehicle's dynamic envelope, as you'd expect, but not at the cost of driver immersion.
The Polestar 4 has clearly been developed to be comfortable, capable and involving on real-world roads. The rear-driver is the sweeter car to drive at the limit, even though it's slower, and we'd dearly love to see Polestar heighten its potential by offering the Performance Pack on this variant sometime in the future.
That's a 'nice to have', though, and won't hold back the Polestar 4's chances of critical and consumer success in the short term.
Even though the test drive was short – and on Polestar's home tarmac – the signs are good that the Polestar 4 has what it takes to stand out in the prestige EV space. It also might just save the company.
Author's footnote: The vehicle ratings below are based on a short prototype drive at Polestar's Hällered Proving Ground in southern Sweden.