Polestar 4 2025 review

The Polestar EV family has expanded yet again – this time with what is perhaps the most important model in its line-up, a dedicated coupe-SUV called Polestar 4.

Measuring 4840mm long, with $78,500 to $88,350 starting prices embedded directly in the thick of the flagship mainstream mid-size EV market, as well as the premium-brand alternatives.

The Polestar 4’s mission is to introduce an elevated level of Scandinavian design to a category that’s currently lacking in interior pizazz, as well as its own distinctive point of difference.

We know from having driven versions of the car overseas back in May ’24 that the coupe-SUV already nails those two areas, offering cutting-edge cabin materials and technology, as well as a visual presence that is completely unique among its competitor set.

The Polestar 4’s overall length might be on par for the sector, but its vast 2999mm wheelbase, very broad 2008mm width, huge track dimensions (1703mm front, 1716mm rear), and relatively modest 1534mm height give it an interesting overall proportion – compounded by the fact that it doesn’t have a rear windscreen.

Instead, there’s a second-generation Gentex camera mounted at roof height, which displays its considerable field of vision in the interior rear-view mirror. It takes some getting used to, but it works brilliantly in tunnels.

Polestar says ditching the rear window allowed its designers to move the roof header rail from above the rear passenger’s heads to behind them, healing to create a lounge-like rear seat that decimates arguably every mid-size EV in existence.

Combined with ambient lighting embedded in the door trims and surrounding the rounded-square speaker grilles, it gives the rear seat a private, nightclub-like ambience – spoiled only by the thickness of the tombstone front seats when looking forward.

More importantly, though, how does the Polestar 4 perform on challenging Australian roads, specifically some of South Oz’s finest in the Adelaide Hills and beyond?

The Dual Motor Performance Pack pre-production cars we drove in Spain six months ago didn’t feature the full European suspension tune (a build error meant they were a mixture of Chinese-spec dampers with Euro-spec tyres and software), giving an unyieldingly brittle ride and remote steering feel.

But the real deal correct specification we tested on South Australian roads is vastly superior, with a newfound nuance in its handling balance, more connected steering, and a much less abrasive ride. That said, even in full Euro-spec, as fitted here, the Polestar 4 can’t match the dynamic suaveness and ride control of an Australian-tuned Kia EV6.

The Polestar 4 is still a fun car to drive, however. Of the two AWD models we drove (standard car on 20-inch wheels and sports-tuned Performance Pack on 22s), it’s the Performance version that we prefer.

Its revised suspension reduces the amount of vertical movement, and its all-round grip and cornering neutrality are deeply impressive.

The steering in its mid ‘Standard’ setting delivers consistent weighting and accurate placement, and the upgraded brakes (392mm vented front discs with four-piston Brembo calipers, and 364mm vented rear discs) combine strong retardation with an impressively natural feel.

If only the Polestar 4’s regenerative braking offered a more forceful accompaniment to that performance – it’s designed to be smooth but really should deliver more bite.

The Performance Pack’s upgraded tyre package (265/40R22 Pirelli P Zeros) on sexier wheels boosts traction, yet the Dual Motor’s acceleration is so strong that even with that expensive rubber, the front wheels still scrabble as the Polestar 4 lunges to 100km/h in a claimed 3.8sec, which is particularly admirable considering its 2355kg weight.

That’s what 400kW and 686Nm can do for performance. And yet Polestar quotes a WLTP range of up to 590km for the Dual Motor, which is impressive when you consider its pace. We’ll verify that range claim when we get a Polestar 4 in the Chasing Cars garage soon.

With exactly half the Dual Motor’s powertrain outputs (200kW and 343Nm), but with the same 100kWh battery, the Long Range rear-drive version is significantly slower (0-100km/h in a claimed 7.1sec), yet never feels lacking in grunt and usable pace.

Its punch is still ample, and the calibration of its performance is impressively finessed – just like the Dual Motor’s. The Polestar 4 might be built in China, but you can tell that the fine-tuning of its many electronic systems – both performance-related and its multitude of active-safety features – were all signed off by an experienced team of engineers in Europe.

The rear-drive Polestar 4 is also a bit sweeter to drive, with slightly more rear bias (52 percent), 125kg less overall weight, a crisper feel to its steering and general handling balance, and 620km of WLTP range.

But our test Polestar 4 rear-driver wouldn’t allow you to drive it briskly with the ESC Sport setting activated.

Instead, it felt like it was clamping down hard on the car and restricting acceleration … which Polestar’s Gothenburg-based engineers later informed us was a glitch in the calibration, linking ESC Sport to essentially a ‘Snow’ setting. This will be fixed imminently with an over-the-air software update.

What the rear-drive Polestar 4 on higher-profile 255/50R20 tyres fails to deliver is better ride quality.

With fixed-rate dampers instead of adaptive, there still seems to be too much vertical movement when reacting to large bumps. And while body control is impressive, it would be great if Polestar’s chassis engineers could come to Australia and back-to-back the car with a Kia EV6.

That said, few EVs in the mid-size SUV category ride well – including the Tesla Model Y and, in particular, the patchy Mustang Mach-E – so the Polestar 4’s often-mediocre ride is perhaps not such an issue.

What buyers will gravitate to is the Polestar 4’s best-in-class interior screen interfaces, offering beautiful clarity, intuitive operation and Polestar’s superb Unica 77 font.

They’ll probably also love the textural depth and warmth of the 4’s interior – in particular the sage-green/light-blue ‘Mist’ colour of the lower doors, dash and centre console, combined with the lovely patterning and feel of the TechKnit upholstery made entirely of recycled PET plastic bottles.

If only the door bins would take more than a 600ml PET plastic bottle…

As for the value credentials, if you price up a Polestar 4 Performance Pack, you need to first add an $8000 Plus Pack to the Dual Motor’s base $88,350 price, then the $7200 Performance Pack.

Pictured: the dual-motor Performance Pack

That lifts the sticker to a fairly significant $103,550 before on-road costs.

But the Plus Pack brings a huge amount of extra equipment – headlined by the Mist interior trim, Pixel LED adaptive headlights, excellent Harman Kardon audio, a head-up display, 22kW AC charging (0-100% in 5.5 hours), electrically reclinable rear seats, expanded interior illumination, hands-free tailgate, power steering column, the list goes on.

And the Performance Pack’s upgraded wheels, suspension, brakes, gold seatbelts and gold brake calipers/valve caps are worth it if dynamic driving is your bent.

But probably the best angle to approach the Polestar 4 from is base level.

Take a $78,500 rear-driver, which already gets Polestar’s extensive active-safety suite standard, as well as 20s, LED headlights, metallic paint, panoramic glass roof, electric heated front seats, electric tailgate, wireless charging and three years’ included servicing, and potentially add nothing aside from on-road costs – taking it to $85,824 drive-away in NSW.

That’s not an insignificant amount of money, but when you consider that a Subaru Solterra AWD Touring is $83,116 drive-away or that a Mustang Mach-E Premium is $87,941 drive-away – neither of which come even remotely close to the Polestar 4’s interior quality or dynamic sophistication – then this sporting Swedish EV really starts to look attractive.

And if we’re talking Model Y Long Range AWD, with 533km of WLTP range compared to the Polestar’s 620km and nothing like the Swede’s interior class, its $75,572 drive-away sticker is still within striking distance of the Polestar 4’s cost.

The no-brainer would be to follow the herd and buy a Tesla Model Y.

But the Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor offers a much more premium feel for not much more money, without the questionable ethics of the person in charge of the company. A direct comparison definitely awaits! But in the meantime, the Polestar 4 at least deserves inspection. It’s a good car and a likeable thing.