For those who only care about the road ahead, Polestar has your new battery-electric sport-utility vehicle. The fastback-styled Polestar 4 is not equipped with something that, until now, was considered an essential item since the dawn of closed cars: a rear window.
The all-electric 2025 Polestar 4 unveiled today at the Shanghai auto show lacks this conventional safety item. Then again, so are most delivery vans and for that matter, many 1970s custom vans.
Thankfully, since there’s no rear window, a rearview camera mirror is standard.
“By removing the rear window and pushing the rear header, which plays an integral safety role, further back, this means that rear occupants can now have a unique experience in our SUV coupe,” said Maximilian Missoni, head of Design at Polestar, introducing the new model at this week’s Shanghai auto show.
A window into Polestar’s thinking
The company goes onto to describe this as “a new kind of immersive rear occupant experience.” The jury is still out on whether the safety trade-off is worth indulging those in the rear seat. The novel styling affectation follows that of the Polestar Precept concept vehicle, which also lacked rear glass.
Meanwhile, designers did make the roof of glass, so you can, say, look at skyscrapers, trees and clouds, but you can’t see out of the rear because there’s no way to unless you’re in reverse and the federally mandated rear camera comes on. So, you can hear the truck bearing down on your rear bumper, but you can’t see it. But you will see the clouds above you. An electrochromic roof is optional.
A fresh design
As you might surmise, this isn’t a spinoff of the Polestar 2 or forthcoming Polestar 3, but a new platform that employs Geely’s Sustainable Experience Architecture that will be used for the upcoming Polestar 5.
“We have taken a fundamental new approach to SUV coupe design. Rather than simply modifying an existing SUV, giving it a faster roofline and as a result, compromising elements like rear headroom and comfort, we have designed Polestar 4 from the ground up as a new breed of SUV coupe that celebrates rear occupant comfort and experience,” said Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO.
The vehicle itself sits in the midsize class with a 190.5-inch length on a 118-inch wheelbase. It also measures 84.2 inches wide and 60.7 inches high.
The inside story
Interiors are trimmed with animal welfare-secured Nappa leather upholstery or a knit 100% recycled polyester. Door trim panels are finished with natural fiber polypropylene, which uses as much as 50% less virgin plastic, which also happens to weigh as much as 40% less. Carpets come from reclaimed fishing nets.
The Polestar 4 features a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster and a 15.4-inch horizontal touchscreen running Android Automotive OS and Snapdragon Cockpit. Google is built-in, providing occupants with access to Google Assistant, Google Maps and Google Play. A 12-speaker, 1,400-Watt Harman Kardon audio system is optional. Ordering the Nappa Package ups the speaker total to 16 with the addition of front headrest speakers and adds Apple CarPlay.
Power play
When it comes time to move, power comes from a 94-kWh battery pack and permanent magnet synchronous motors; either a single-motor, rear-wheel drive model or a dual-motor all-wheel drive model.
The long-range, dual-motor Polestar 4 generates 544 horsepower and 506 pound-feet of torque, and uses a clutch that disengages the front electric motor when not required. The long-range, single-motor trim provides 272 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque motor and a preliminary range of more than 300 miles. The company didn’t release any further information on other trim levels or horsepower.
Opting for the long-range, dual-motor model brings with it a performance mode that hones the vehicle’s responsiveness and continually powers both motors, or Range mode, which prioritizes efficiency, which shuts off the front motor. That said, other performance metrics weren’t released, such as how long it takes to recharge. The company did state that it can charged up to 200-kilowatt rate using a DC fast-charger and that a 22-kW onboard charger is included. Bi-directional charging is standard, allowing you to power devices using your Polestar 4.
Being that Polestar is a Chinese company, expect manufacturing to begin in Hangzhou Bay, China in November 2023 in a plant that exclusively uses renewable energy. Specific details on American-market models will come in 2024, when the vehicle is expected to launch with prices starting at $60.000.