The Swedish car brand Polestar is now on its fourth model, which also has 4 as its model name. Those of you who have followed me know that I test drove both Polish 1 and 2. Model 3 I have not test driven yet but will of course do as soon as I have the opportunity so you can read about it here. 

I pick up Polestar 4 out in Akalla and at Upplandsmotor. That's where you pick up the press cars from Polestar and Volvo, among others. I get a quick briefing from John Ericsson who is in charge of media at Polestar. He's not actually out at Upplandsmotor but was in for a change. I know John for a long time as he previously worked as a journalist at the magazine Auto Motor & Sport for which I worked as a photographer for a long time. So the review of Polestar 4 by John was both pleasant and informative. 

What John showed me straight away was how to turn off the warning for exceeding the speed limit on the road you are driving on, as well as the warning when you cross the centre line without flashing. Both of these two warnings are now standard on all new cars and they start automatically on restart. To me, this is incredibly annoying. Why they exist is of course a good thing for some and perhaps inattentive drivers. But if you are an experienced car driver, as I consider myself to be, it becomes quite annoying in the long run. Car manufacturers get worse scores in Euro NCAP if they do not have this feature and the reason why they are there. Luckily, as I said, you can switch it off, but you have to do it every time you start the car. So I'm glad John is showing me how. 

When I start the car and drive off, I am struck by the next thing that the Polestar 4 has been criticised for. From the outside, if you look quickly, it looks like there is a rear window on the car. But when you look closer, you see that it is not a window but just a sheet of metal but with the joints around it just like a window has. If you then sit in the car, you quickly see that there is no real rear-view mirror inside the car. There is something that first looks like a rear-view mirror but which is a screen. There is a camera on top of the roof at the back. It then shows an image on the screen inside the car. I consider myself to have good vision and relatively keen eyes. But refocusing from looking at the front of the car and the road to looking at a screen that close takes a little longer. This makes it quite uncomfortable to look at the screen inside the car. I mentioned in my article with the Lotus Emeya and that it has electronic rear view mirrors on the sides and how uncomfortable I find that, the Polestar 4 really takes this even further. Because quite honestly, there is something that looks like a rear window and there is space behind the headrests in the back seat. Why not just have a window there and a regular rear-view mirror? But as other car brands have a feature with a camera that you can decide how you want to see what is behind the car. Either with a regular rear view mirror or camera view displayed in a screen where the mirror sits. So a very stupid feature in my opinion. 

Otherwise, the Polestar 4 is a really nice car. It is really comfortable to drive and actually looks very nice. When it comes to space, there is actually one thing that is positive about the Polestar 4 not having a rear window. It has been possible to design the body and especially the rear roof crash bar differently. The rear crash bar could be placed further back and in return provide more space. But whether it is worth what you lose as a driver when the car lacks a traditional rear-view mirror, I leave unsaid. But I can't deny that the environment in the back seat is really good. 

Polestar 4 is built on the same platform as Zeekr 001 which you could read about here on carscollection.com. The platform is called SEA, which stands for Sustainable Experience Architecture and was developed by the Chinese Geely Group. However, the chassis department is located in Torslanda outside Gothenburg. A lot of time has been spent here, which has led to a really soft and finely tuned steering feel. Just as I wrote in the article about the Zeekr 001, the Polestar 4 is also a very pleasant car to drive. It is stable and, like most electric cars, nimble when you press down on the throttle. 3.8 seconds is the sprint from 0 to 100 kilometres per hour. That's fast, really fast actually for a family car compared to the eighties classic Ferrari Testarossa you could read about here which did 0 to 100 in 5.8 seconds. So the Polestar 4 is two seconds faster than the Ferrari Testarossa! 

The version I have borrowed is a Polestar 4 Long range Dual engine with Performance package. If you choose the Polestar 4 Long range Single engine you have instead of 544 horsepower only 272 horses. 0 to 100 kilometres per hour goes instead of 3.8 seconds in the Polestar 4 Long range Dual engine with Performance package I borrowed in 7.1 seconds. So a pretty big difference. 

When it comes to travelling, the Polestar 4 is actually very quiet. A minimal noise from the exterior rear-view mirrors, but otherwise it is very pleasant to drive or ride in the Polestar 4. Of course, I have tried to sit in all seats while travelling. So my perception and experience of the Polestar 4 is really good. With the exception of the rear-view mirror but I can live with that. A fun and new feature is when you come to an intersection, a picture of the car appears on the screen that looks like it was taken from the air. With the help of the cameras around the car, you can then see other cars and what is happening around the car. You can choose which angle you want to see the car from. Really cool if you ask me as a photographer. 

Polestar 4 Long range Dual engine with Performance

Price: 760 000 SEK

Engine: Electric. Front electric motor, maximum power 272 hp (200 kW). Rear electric motor, maximum power 272 hp (200 kW).

Max system power 544 hp (400 kW)

Total torque 686 Nm. Battery 100 kWh of which 94 kWh usable

Transmission: Front and rear engines, four-wheel drive. Reduction gearbox.

Top speed: 200 km/h

0-100 km/h: 3.8 seconds

Range: 580 km

Battery size (gross): 102 kWh. 22 kW/402 kW AC/DC charging power. Heat pump.

Weight: 2 490 kg

Dimensions (length/width/height): 5140/2120/1460 mm