Polestar 4: Tesla Model Y challenger hits the market this year [Update]

Update: ‘Positioning,’ ‘Design,’ and ‘Growing retail footprint’ sections updated.

Swedish high-performance electrified carmaker Polestar has laid out a robust plan to become a significant player in the luxury EV space. The company has unveiled a Porsche Macan Electric rival – the Polestar 4. Here’s everything we know about the premium sport SUV, positioned in the D Segment.

Name

Polestar has plenty to do in this early stage of establishing itself as a global brand. It doesn’t intend to add creating a new nomenclature to the list. The company is using a number based on the position in the line-up for the name of the model that it plans to launch after the 3. Soon after the 4, Polestar will drive in the 5 and 6 models.

Having witnessed too many painful naming processes in the car industry and given the risk of infringing someone’s trademark, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath is happy with the company’s uncomplicated nomenclature. That’s what he said while discussing the brand’s future with TechCrunch at the Quail during the 2022 Monterey Car Week.

Positioning

The Polestar 4 could become the brand’s key volume achiever as it would compete in a segment popular in the brand’s central markets such as the U.S., China, and the UK. In the words of Polestar, the 4 is a “premium sport SUV” that costs similar to the Porsche Macan.

During Polestar’s Q1 2023 earnings conference call on May 11, 2023, Ingenlath said the Polestar 4 does not directly compete with the Tesla Model Y. It is much closer to the Porsche Macan in terms of pricing than it is to the Tesla Model Y. He said that people shouldn’t mistake it as a Tesla Model Y rival.

The Polestar 4 will be a sporty SUV coupe, more compact than Polestar 3, with high-volume potential. It will aim to bring the driving dynamics and minimalist style of Polestar to a market segment that we believe will continue to grow.

Statement from Polestar in its Annual Review 2021

Design

The Polestar 4 is an SUV coupe with a minimalist design, sporty styling, and a powerful stance. At the front, the 4’s got a low and steeply sloping hood, a closed nose section, a large A-shaped air intake, and split headlights with dual blade DRLs.

From the sides, the 4 looks hunkered down and has an athletic stance. The fast-sloping roofline and the muscular shoulders give it a great road presence. It has a sleek greenhouse that gets even slimmer towards the rear. Flush glazing with frameless windows and retractable door handles contribute to the model’s aerodynamic efficiency, which should reduce energy consumption and help improve range. Things are the most interesting at the rear, though, not the sides as in the case of most SUV coupes.

The 4 has a drag coefficient of 0.27 C_d, which isn’t very impressive. The Mercedes EQE SUV, even though it’s not an SUV-coupe and has bigger dimensions, has a lower drag coefficient of 0.25 C_d. More aerodynamic efficiency could’ve led to a better range, but Polestar doesn’t want to emphasize on energy consumption so much that it compromises the character of its vehicles.

The 4 features a flattish tail section that is sharp, wide, and minimalist. The stubby rear fascia goes well with the fast-sloping roofline and the sleek greenhouse, giving the vehicle a sporty and dynamic character, and differentiating it clearly from other Polestars. The 4’s full-width tail light is similar to the 5’s, but it has a much shorter vertical section on the outer ends.

The highlight of the exterior is a closed rear deck. You read it right—there’s no back glass on the 4! The SUV coupe has a glass roof, and Polestar says it was able to stretch that beyond the rear occupant’s heads because it eliminated the back glass. The flattish rear deck in body color, even though odd, apparently looks stunning in person.

At the Financial Times’ Future of the Car 2023 conference, Ingenlath said he’d sacrifice efficiency to a certain extent if required to give an EV some kind of quality in the character, Autocar reported on May 10, 2023. The brand boss emphasizes that achieving an extra one or two kilometers of range from the battery is not as critical as ensuring that the electric vehicle embodies the brand’s distinctive character and aligns with its identity.

Interior

The interior of the Polestar 4 is low-profile and to the point, which gives it the typical Scandinavian, minimalist vibes. The dashboard is a sleek, concaved panel housing a 10.2-inch digital instrument cluster, a tablet-like 15.4-inch central touchscreen, and hidden air vents. A bridge-type center console houses a rotary dial to control the infotainment system, and there’s plenty of storage space beneath it, as there’s no transmission tunnel hump in this SUV coupe.

Solar system-inspired ambient light line illuminates the color and material combinations in a subtle way. Ventilated massage front seats and multi-angle reclining rear seats ensure the occupants travel in supreme comfort. Audiophiles will love the fact that the front seats include headrest speakers.

The IRVM is a digital unit that shows the live feed of roof-mounted rear cameras by default but can be used to see rear occupants when needed. Polestar was able to extend the panoramic roof beyond normal and improve comfort for rear occupants as a result. Moreover, the camera-based rearview mirror is a better solution from a safety perspective than a traditional rearview mirror at night. If you ask us, the 4, despite being an SUV coupe, offers a good amount of headroom in the back, even for tall passengers. The legroom, thanks to a long wheelbase, is truly impressive.

Sustainable interiors

Polestar isn’t ditching leather yet, but vegan interior materials are available optionally. One example is tailored knit textile, which consists of 100 percent recycled PET. Another option is MicroTech, a bio-attributed vinyl that features a recycled textile backing and replaces crude oil with pine oil in its construction. From the display at Auto Shanghai 2023, we can confidently say the alternative materials elevate the premium feel of the interior. Sustainability measures don’t end at the upholstery, though.

The inlay carpets are made of recycled PET and floor carpets are made using ECONYL, which includes reclaimed fishing nets. Moreover, Polestar has used NFPP (natural fiber polypropylene) in specific door trim panels. The company says this leads to up to 50% less virgin plastic and a weight saving of up to 40%.

Safety

The Polestar 4 has 12 cameras, including a driver monitoring unit, a radar, and 12 ultrasonic sensors as standard. The electric SUV coupe has nine airbags to protect the occupants in case all its active safety measures fail to prevent an accident. The head-up display, projects information on an area of 14.7 inches, has a “snow mode” function that changes the text color from white to yellow to give the driver better visibility in snowy environments.

Specifications

The Polestar 4 measures 191 inches in length, 82 inches in width (incl. mirrors), and 61 inches in height, and it has a wheelbase of 118 inches. There’s 17.7 cu. ft. of luggage space in the cabin, expandable to 52.3 cu. ft. by folding down the rear seats. Plus, a frunk gives an additional storage space of 15 liters (0.5 cu. ft.). The 4 is tow-rated, capable of trailering 3,500 lbs.

The Polestar 4 sits on Geely Holding’s SEA platform and has a CATL-sourced 94 kWh (net) lithium-ion NMC battery pack consisting of 110 prismatic cells. Customers will be able to purchase it in a RWD variant and an AWD variant. The latter uses semi-active dampers for more comfort.

The RWD variant has one rear motor that produces 200 kW (272 hp) and 343 Nm (253 lb.-ft.) of torque, while the AWD variant has two motors, offering 400 kW (544 hp) of combined power and 686 Nm (506 lb.-ft.) of combined torque. The former can accelerate from 0 to 62 mph in 7.4 seconds, while the latter can accomplish the same in just 3.8 seconds. Their top speeds are 180 km/h (112 mph) and 200 km/h (124 mph), respectively.

Polestar expects EPA to give the 4 a rating of up to 300 miles in the RWD variant and up to 270 miles in the AWD variant. The maximum AC charging input of the 4 is 22 kW, and at that rate, topping up the battery pack from 0 to 100% SoC takes just 5.5 hours. The peak DC charging power is 200 kW. A 5-80% DC fast-charging session takes 32 minutes.

Aspect	Polestar 4 Specification
Length	191 in.
Width (incl. mirrors)	82 in.
Height	61 in.
Wheelbase	118 in.
Ground Clearance	6.5 in.
Turning Circle	38.1 ft.
Drag Coefficient	0.269 Cd
Cargo Space (Rear Seats Up/Rear Seats Folded)	17.7 cu. ft./52.3 cu. ft.
Front Trunk Space	15 liters (0.5 cu. ft.)
Towing Capacity	3,500 lbs.
Tongue Weight Limit	350 lbs.
Max. Roof Load	165 lbs.
Drivetrain Layout	RWD/AWD
System Power	200 kW (272 hp)/400 kW (544 hp)
System Torque	343 Nm (253 lb.-ft.)/686 Nm (506 lb.-ft.)
0-62 MPH Acceleration Time	7.4 seconds/3.8 seconds
Top Speed	180 km/h (112 mph)/200 km/h (124 mph)
Battery Pack	94 kWh (net) lithium-ion NMC
Charging Capacity	22 kW (AC)/200 kW (DC)
Charging Time	5.5 hours (AC | 0-100%)/32 minutes (DC | 5-80%)
Targeted EPA-est. Range	Up to 300 miles/Up to 270 miles

Production

Though Volvo Car Group plans to make the Polestar 3 in the U.S., it has no intentions of manufacturing the Polestar 4 anywhere other than in China. The company has finalized the Hangzhou Bay factory that Geely owns and operates as its production site. Based on jobs per hour according to Geely practices, Polestar estimates this facility can roll out 240,000 vehicles annually. The electric SUV coupe will enter production in November 2023.

Release date

Polestar plans to launch the 4 in the U.S. in 2024, and it states USD 60,000 as the indicative base price for the new EV. The company will release the final prices when it opens orders.

In Australia, Gizmodo Australia expects the launch to take place at the end of 2024. That could be the case in many other markets that are not as bullish on electrification as China, Western European countries, and the U.S., which would get supply prioritized.

The phased launch is also connected to the production ramp-up. The company expects to sell 6,000 units of the SUV coupe in 2023, 43,000 units in 2024, and 79,000 units in 2025. The Polestar 5 will join the lineup in 2024, followed by the Polestar 6 in 2026.

Growing retail footprint

During Polestar’s Q1 2023 earnings conference call, Ingenlath said the company is present in 27 markets. The company entered eight new markets in 2022: Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Portugal in Europe, Hong Kong in Asia-Pacific, and the UAE, Israel, and Kuwait in the Middle East. It aims to be present in 30 markets by the end of 2023.

Our business will continue to gain momentum through the year as we start producing Polestar 3 – and with Polestar 4 in the starting blocks.

Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar’s CEO, on March 2, 2023

In addition to individual customers, Polestar will target fleet operators with the Polestar 4. In an interview with Bloomberg in June 2022, Ingenlath said that the company’s deal of supplying 65,000 EVs to Hertz over the next five years will include the mid-size SUV coupe. Polestar started delivering these EVs in June 2022, starting with the Polestar 2. Hertz’s fleet of Polestar EVs will include the Polestar 3 and Polestar 5 as part of this deal.

TopElectricSUV says

With a sporty exterior, a minimalist and high-tech interior, and high performance, the Polestar 4 is a formidable mid-size SUV coupe. Unlike the Tesla Model Y, it does not have seven seats, nor does it have a 3.5-second acceleration time from 0-60 mph, but it should offer a similar range and more robust build quality.

Polestar 4 FAQs

Featured Image Source: Polestar