You’ve got to hand it to Polestar; they’ve managed to gain an almost cult status among some, as the only EV some people would buy. Consider it similar to Tesla fanboys, but without the crazy.
I know some people that don’t own a Polestar, but when they travel for work and pick up a rental, a Polestar is their first choice. Why? Some of it’s down to marketing, and some of it’s down to design. Both the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 bring something fresh to the table, if only for sexy, distinctive looks.
Then appears the Polestar 4…with no back window. Many people were left scratching their heads, and probably still are. While Polestar is claiming that blocking the back window was in the name of “enhancing the interior space and the rearward view”, I liken this move to the Ford Mustang Mach-E. When that car was launched and Ford fans were reeling at the thought of a 5-door SUV EV carrying the Mustang name, I asked a contact at Ford, “why?”. His response was that people were saying “Mustang” over and over. There’s no such thing as bad press? In Ford’s view, certainly, and it worked, people are talking about the Mach-E.
So, with that in mind, is Polestar playing the same game? Before I picked up the Polestar 4, on talking to people about it, their first response was always, “is that the one with no back window?”. Make your own conclusions, but I wonder if the staff at the marketing department for Polestar are giving each other high-fives as we speak.
What We Like and Dislike About The 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor
What we like | What we don’t like |
Performance Design Interior Headlights Rear legroom Interior space Seat comfort, features, look and feel Interior mirror image quality Minimal tyre, road, or wind noise Infotainment system Sound system | Haptic steering wheel controls Bluetooth issues Glitches in our test car |
What’s In The 2024 Polestar 4 Range?
There are two models in New Zealand for the Polestar 4:
- Long Range Single Motor $119,990
- Long Range Dual Motor $134,990 (tested)
The single-motor model is rear-wheel drive, with a 200kW electric engine. The dual motor model has two of the same engine, so 400kW output total and of course, all-wheel drive. Torque in the single engine is 343Nm, 686Nm in the dual motor. To get to 100km/h, the single motor takes 7.1 seconds, while the dual motor dispenses with it in 3.8 seconds.
Range on a full charge is close, with the WLTP figure for the single motor at 620km, while it’s 590km for the dual motor. Both models are fitted with a 100kWh, 400-volt battery pack.
2024 Polestar 4 Colour Range
You get to pick from 6 colours for your Polestar 4:
- Snow
- Magnesium
- Electron
- Storm
- Space (black)
- Gold
A change of colour for your Polestar 4 does not incur extra cost – unless it’s Snow or Gold, which cost $1,000 extra.
Our Review Vehicle’s Optional Equipment
While the Pilot Pack and Plus Packs are standard on this model, our test car had a few extras fitted;
- Pro Pack – $4,000
- Body-coloured lower claddings – $2,000
- Animal Welfare Nappa leather in Zinc with Charcoal deco – $10,000
- 22” Pro alloy wheels – $0
- Rear privacy glass – $0
Including the optional equipment, our review car’s retail price is $150,990.
For a full list of specs and options available for the 2024 Polestar 4 head on over to Polestar New Zealand’s website.
How Does The 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor Compare To Its Competition?
All the models listed below are all-wheel drive.
Note the Audi Q6 is not available just yet, it’s arriving in early 2025,
Make/ Model | Battery Capacity kW-hr | Power/ Torque kW/Nm | 0-100km/h seconds | Range (WLTP), km | Boot Space, litres | Price |
Q6 Etron S Line quattro | 94.9 | 275/580 | 5.9 | 567 | 526 | $155,990 |
Kia EV6 GT | 77.4 | 430/740 | 3.5 | 424 | 480 | $139,990 |
Jaguar I‑PACE R‑DYNAMIC HSE | 90.0 | 400/694 | 4.8 | 470 | 656 | $139,000 |
Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor | 100 | 400/686 | 3.8 | 590 | 526 | $134,990 |
Tesla Model Y Performance | 75.0 | 393/660 | 3.7 | 514 | 854 | $86,990 |
Please note that DriveLife does its best to ensure the information above is correct at the time of publication, however, prices, specifications and models can change over time. Please bear that in mind when comparing models in the comparison table.
First Impressions Of The 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor
Well, I certainly didn’t expect the Polestar 4 to look that good in the flesh. A very attractive design from all sides, and a head-turner everywhere I went with the car. And this for a car finished in Storm (grey)? I see the Polestar is available in gold, and it looks stunning. I know, I know, gold isn’t for everyone – but check it out on the Polestar website and be prepared to be blown away.
The front looks brilliant, with those split headlights taking the design prize. The whole car looks quite futuristic, with my neighbour messaging me one day to ask what the “spaceship in the driveway” was.
And this is before we get around the back. While it seems extremely weird to not have a rear window, I soon got used to it, and admittedly, Polestar have done a great job of making it look almost normal. This is another part of the car that turned heads too, and multiple times at the supermarket I could see people walk past and then doing a double-take.
One thing I wasn’t prepared for was the size of the Polestar 4; while it sits between the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 in size (I can hear the Germans gnashing their teeth about that), it’s quite a large car. I struggle to call it an SUV since it’s a coupé design, but that’s what it is.
What’s The Interior Like In The 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor?
If the exterior catches your eye, the same will happen when you open the door of this car. It’s beautifully simple and luxurious, with stunning material choices used everywhere. Touchpoints from any seat are almost always a soft-touch fabric or material.
When you factor in the colours used, the Alcántara headlining and pillars, and it’s something that any passengers will be very impressed with.
On using the car on a daily basis, it’s not all roses, with a few minor niggles. The doors have no provision for a drink bottle, so mine ended up in the very high centre console. Not the end of the world, but it means something sticking up from the console and taking away from that feeling of space.
The rest of the interior is excellent. That high centre console has gallons of space underneath, as well as a deep rear-cubby with two USB-C ports (there are no other USB ports in the front). Rear legroom is massive, and since there’s no rear window, the clear roof goes further back over the rear passenger’s heads, giving them a feeling of more space as well as more actual headroom. Rear-seat passengers have access to their own digital panel (when the car is optioned with the Plus Pack) and this allows them easy access to change the AC settings in the rear of the car. Rear-seat passengers can also adjust some of the audio settings from their panel, and turn on the (optional) rear heated seats.
Behind the rear seats is an LED light strip you can turn off from the centre screen, and the rear seats are electrically reclining, operated by buttons on the rear armrest. They don’t recline very much, moving from between 27 and 34 degrees, but it’s something for extra comfort on a long trip.
All the seats are a highlight of the car, and again, something your passengers will be oohing and aahing over. They look expensive, and they feel expensive. The single-piece fronts are heated and cooled, as well as having a massaging feature – but note this is an option. The rear seats miss out on heating as standard (something we are seeing in more cars lately) but our test car was optioned with them.
The other highlight in the Polestar 4 is the huge 15.4” HD centre screen. It dominates the interior somewhat, but is very usable due to its size. We’ll talk more about the screen in the drive section.
The boot is generous at 526 litres. It’s a dual-layer setup, so you can drop the floor down if you need some more height. There is a 12-volt socket in the boot and a couple of side pockets with nets. There’s also a small frunk.
What’s The 2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor Like To Drive?
With a WLTP range of 590km, our 100% charged test car was showing a range of 418km on pick-up – perhaps it had been driven a little hard before being plugged in.
Like a Tesla (or Polestar 2), the Polestar 4 has no start/stop button – just get in and drive. Some don’t like this system, but I find it works brilliantly. Put it in Drive, and drive. After your drive, just put the car in Park and walk away – the car will turn itself off and lock the doors. Too easy.
The key for unlocking the Polestar 4 has no buttons on it, so just walking up to the car will see the door handles pop out from the body. Well, most of the time. More than once, the door handles would not pop out and pressing the button on the driver’s door handle would not make them pop out – but pressing the button on the rear door handle would always work. Not fun in the rain; it’s likely this is just a glitch on our test car.
The car also comes with a keycard, so you can place this against a certain spot on the B pillar and the car will unlock. You then place the keycard on the Qi wireless phone charger, and the car will be ready to drive off. It basically replaces the key, and can fit in your wallet. It does mean you can’t charge a cellphone while using the keycard. Later this year, the car will be updated so you can use a digital card; that means an app on your phone, so you don’t have to carry a key or keycard. One word of caution; if you have your phone on the Qi wireless charger, full-throttle acceleration in any drive mode will see your phone shooting backwards like a rocket, as the pad is more plastic than rubberised. You have been warned.
Adjusting the steering wheel and mirrors will see you using either the steering wheel controls, or going through the menus in the infotainment system. It’s not too difficult. The outside door mirrors are frameless, and look damn cool. I’m not sure if being frameless adds anything to functionality, but they are different and nice to look at.
The central mirror is an 8.9” screen of high resolution; the image shown on it is outstandingly clear. Not only that, but since the camera on the tailgate is under a cover, it’s never affected by rain and so the image is always perfect. At night, too, it’s enhanced to give a far better image than a ‘normal’ mirror ever could. Since the car has no back window, this does mean a blind spot when looking over your left shoulder when changing lanes. However, when you indicate left or right, the camera does a slight pan in that direction, giving you a little more view for your lane change or turn. If only the camera moved more, as it feels like it’s only 4 or 5 degrees of angle it moves and is hardly worthwhile.
I was surprised that although the car has cameras on the sides of the car to allow for its 360-degree camera, Polestar has not taken the opportunity to include some sort of lane-change camera, like we’ve seen on some Kia, Hyundai, and Honda cars. With no back window, this seemed like a no-brainer. Hopefully an update will come out to make this happen.
Otherwise, driving with ‘no back window’ is drama-free, and potential buyers should not think it will impact their driving at all. The only weird thing to get used to is that you can tilt the camera towards the driver as much as you want, and the image stays the same – and you do not see your own reflection. That feels very strange.
With 400kW (536hp) of power, even in Range mode, performance is excellent. You can select your desired drive mode from the left-hand steering wheel controls when you are not using adaptive cruise control. When using adaptive cruise control, the buttons alter your speed/distance to the car in front. You can also go into the infotainment system to change your drive mode. I spent most of my time in Range mode, as the performance in Range is by far good enough for New Zealand roads and speed limits. Any time, anywhere, hit that gas pedal and the car will launch itself forward.
Then, stick it in Performance mode and be prepared to be impressed. Even in pouring rain, full-throttle acceleration in Performance will see about a half-second of wheel spin, and then systems kick in and the car simply shoots forward at a hell of a rate of speed. The front end of the car can lift on full acceleration and feel a little floaty with it, but not uncontrollably so. Midrange acceleration in either mode is always enough for any conditions or situation.
Brake regeneration (regen) is controlled by one of the buttons on the left side of the steering wheel, or by going into the infotainment system. There are three settings for regen but weirdly, you can only select from two using the steering wheel controls – Off, or Standard. From the menu system, you can select Off, Low, or Standard. Off is essentially coasting, Low is, well, lower than Standard, while Standard allows true one-pedal driving. You may still need to use the brake if you need some quick braking, but that highest regen setting is excellent, and I used it most of the time.
While the left-hand side steering wheel controls do either adaptive cruise or drive mode/regen, the right-hand side controls the audio and allows you to adjust things like the mirrors, steering wheel adjustment or the heads-up display (HUD). There’s a ‘but’ coming; the Polestar 4 has haptic steering wheel controls, and they do not work well. I found myself pressing them too hard, or too little, let alone generally having to look down to see what ‘button’ I was pressing. Other times I would skip an audio track or adjust the volume, simply because my palm brushed against the haptic controls.
Another issue with our test car in particular was that the left-hand side haptic controls did not work reliably, and so adaptive cruise control (or regen/drive mode) was sometimes not available until the buttons decided to work again. Polestar New Zealand have confirmed this is a known issue with early production cars, and our test car is being updated to fix this issue.
The seat controls are at the base of the seat, and include 4-way electric lumbar adjust. The front seats are also heated and cooled (3 settings for each) and the steering wheel has 3 settings for heating as well. These are accessed via the infotainment screen, but thankfully Polestar has placed a shortcut button at the bottom of the screen. This shortcut also allows you to turn on seat massaging for either front seat, with different levels for your massage; Gentle, Standard, or Intense. Your massage options are Single Point, Lower Back, Upper Back, or Wave. Those who pooh-pooh seat massaging as an unnecessary item have probably never tried them. On a long trip, they are a very welcome feature.
Another shortcut at the base of the centre screen adjusts the car’s AC; this is done entirely through the menu system, including adjusting the angle of the car’s vents. You can put your finger on a vent on the centre screen, and then drag it wherever you want the air to go. You can also use voice commands to adjust the AC temperature, and this is much easier/safer.
I guess that leads into the infotainment system, which is outstanding. Other than the glitches we encountered like not being able to save home screen changes (discussed further on), the number of options is incredible. You can fine-tune almost any part of the car to your preference, and the changes are often in huge tiles, as you can see above. It makes it safer and simpler to change anything while on the move. Polestar have really nailed this side of using the car.
So, other than performance, what’s it like to drive the Polestar 4? Mostly very good; the car’s doors are frameless, and I love that – especially when the windows are down. Polestar has done some excellent work with the frameless doors, as there’s almost no wind noise from them at all, as can often happen. In fact, there’s almost no wind noise at any time inside the car, also road and tyre noise is pretty much non-existent. This makes travelling in the Polestar 4 a serene experience, regardless of it being an EV.
The ride can feel a little firm at times, but on the whole it’s very good. I mentioned the floaty aspect on full acceleration, and the car can also feel a little bouncy in the back end on bumpy corners, but it’s almost not worth mentioning. The Polestar 4 does have adjustable suspension (standard on the Long Range Dual Motor), so you can choose from Standard, Nimble, or Firm. There are subtle differences between each, but switching straight from Standard to Firm does see a reasonable change in the car’s handling.
You can also adjust the steering ‘feel’ of the car, choosing from Light, Standard, or Firm. Firm is still pretty light, so I used this setting for my entire time with the car.
During my week in the Polestar 4, I had a need to drive to Taupo and back, a distance of around 370km from where I started – and I had a range of 380km. I’m always up for a challenge, so the gauntlet was thrown down and I hit the road north.
This meant time to play with some of the car’s settings, and also to see how comfortable the seats were on a long trip. I changed the (included with Plus Pack) 14.7” heads-up display setting to Snow Mode, and this changed the text in the HUD from white to yellow, making it much easier to read overall. The HUD is pretty standard in its functionality, you’ll get your current speed, the posted speed limit, audio settings, SatNav directions, and warnings.
On the motorway, the Polestar 4 is fitted with a lane change assist function, but you’ll need to be very gentle with the steering wheel as a little too much pressure on the wheel will see the lane change assist turn off. If you try and overcome it, it will snap off, anyway. The car has Advanced Pilot Assist, which essentially means self steering, which is part of the auto lane change feature. However, the self-steering side of the car rides the centre line far too much for my liking, and I found I was always fighting the car for control. In the end, I used only the adaptive cruise control function, but left Advanced Pilot Assist turned off.
On that long drive, I made the most of the Harmon Kardon (HK) sound system. I must admit, it’s one of the best HK setups I have ever heard, with fantastic separation and range. Definitely a highlight of the car for me, but keep in mind that our car was optioned with the Nappa upgrade, meaning the high-end Harmon Kardon sound system that includes 16 speakers, with 4 front headrest speakers and is rated at 1,400 watts output.
I also had issues with the Bluetooth in our test car. More often than not, it would not connect to my phone automatically, and I’d have to go through the menus to manually connect it. On three occasions, it forgot my phone entirely, and I had to re-pair it with the car. One other thing is not a fault, but by design (I guess!); at times, after only driving for five minutes or so, a coffee cup would appear on the dashboard, telling me to have a break. This is easy enough to ignore, but any such warnings like this mutes the sound system. Very rarely would I get to hear a whole song through, as some warning would interrupt it. I did turn off the Driver Attention Monitoring when on that long drive, but it does turn itself back on again when you start the car the next time.
You might be seeing a pattern of things that didn’t work quite right in our test car, and there were others. For example, you can customise the home screen on the centre display by pressing the Edit button when parked, then dragging and dropping an app icon over the top of an existing one, and that’s it. Press the Save button and you are done. But this would only hold until the next time you started the car, and the Home screen would revert to its default.
While these glitches detracted from the car, it’s still an amazing drive. It’s planted on the road, and even in torrential rain on my trip to Taupo, the car always feels safe and secure.
Speaking of Taupo, I ended up driving 393km to get there, and still had 97km of range left, for a real-world range of 490km – a very respectable number for open-road driving. Charging from 19% to 80% at the 300kW ChargeNet charger in central Taupo took 27 minutes and cost $57. That time to charge meant I could grab a coffee and have a toilet break, and that was about all.
Heading back home the next day, I got a relatively clear run across the tight corners on the Desert Road (yes, a rare occurrence). The car did well; I had it set in Performance mode and with the suspension set to Firm. Again, I felt bumpy corners unsettling it a bit, and twice the back of the car stepped out on me, but it was drama free and I always felt in control. However, for the weight of this car, it still does very well on any windy road. I did notice a bit of a clunk at the rear of the car on this drive, when accelerating hard out of a tight bend.
Nighttime eventually arrived on the open road. That meant a light show, as the adaptive LED headlights on the Polestar 4 ‘dance’ more than any other adaptive LED headlights I’ve ever seen. They flick around almost constantly, looking for places to have high beam headlights on, regardless of other traffic. Once away from all other traffic with the lights on full high-beams, they are outstanding, with a broad and deep spread of light.
The seats too are excellent; on the 4.5-hour drive up or return, they felt fantastic – no doubt using the massaging on both drives helped too. The driving position in the Polestar 4 is superb; the whole seat/steering wheel/pedals setup is spot on.
While Polestar suggests that overall, the car should use 24kWh per 100km of driving, our result was much better than that at 20.4kWh/100km, with a total distance of 950km. For an EV weighing in at near-on 2.4 tons, that’s still only average when you compare it to say the Tesla Model Y at 16.4, but that car weighs in at “just” 1.9 tons. The BYD Seal Performance we tested recently managed 19.0 and, at 2.2 tons, is more comparable to the Polestar 4. It may cost near-on $200,000, but the Polestar 4’s result for energy economy is on par with the BMW i5 that gave us a real-world result of 21.6kWh/100km, and that car weighs almost the same.
READ ON TO SEE OUR SUMMARY OF THE 2024 POLESTAR 4 LONG RANGE DUAL MOTOR
2024 Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor – Specifications
Vehicle Type | Medium-sized battery-electric coupé SUV |
Starting Price | $134,990 |
Price as Tested | $150,990 |
Engine | Dual 200kW permanent magnet synchronous motors |
Power, Torque kW/Nm | 400/686 |
Transmission | Single speed |
Spare Wheel | Pump only |
Kerb Weight, Kg | 2,355 |
Length x Width x Height mm | 4,840×1,534×2,139 |
Boot Space / Cargo Capacity, Litres (seats up/seats down) | 526 (inc. 31 under floor) 1,536 Frunk: 15 |
Energy Economy, kWh/100km | Advertised Spec – Combined – 24.0 Real-World Test – Combined – 20.3 Low Usage: 6-10 / Medium Usage 11-19 / High Usage 19+ |
Towing Capacity Kg, unbraked/braked | 2,000 |
Turning circle metres | 11.6 Small: 6-10m / Medium 10-12m / Large 12m+ |
Warranty | 2-year warranty 8 years/160,000km battery warranty 12 years corrosion warranty 3 years Polestar Connect and Roadside Assistance |
Safety information | ANCAP Rating – not rated Rightcar.govt.nz – 5 Stars – QSN457 |
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