After a couple of years of discovering its footing and easing away teething issues, Polestar appears to be powering ahead full-steam forward. It launched its first SUV, the Polestar 3, final October, and now it has rapidly adopted up with a second. The Polestar 4 is a smaller, sportier SUV that mixes coupe-inspired styling and efficiency ambitions with SUV area and luxury. Not solely does the Polestar design group drop the roofline into extra of a coupe-like profile, it squeezes out the rear window solely, making a cleaner look and distinctive rear seating space.
The Chinese language market loves VIP-style rear seats, so possibly it isn’t so stunning to see Polestar eliminate the rear window in a bid to create a extra non-public environment within the rear of its newest electrical automobile. Polestar guarantees rear passengers will probably be “cocooned” in an “immersive” and “intimate” surroundings full with reclining seats. Hopefully they will be ok with that as the motive force crashes into the construction behind the automobile whereas navigating the educational curve concerned in specializing in the dangling digital rear-view, slightly than by the rear window.
After all, whereas it does unnecessarily complicate the essential “eyeballs + massive, glass panel” method that is been doing OK for about so long as the auto itself, Polestar would not go away drivers completely rear-blind. The rear-view digital camera peeking out from the sting of the curvy glass roof feeds to the high-definition display screen hung up rather than a easy rear-view mirror. The corporate even guarantees a “far wider discipline of view than what could be skilled in most fashionable vehicles.”
Polestar
And if the motive force needs to make use of the rear-view like a mirror – say, to regulate an toddler within the rear seat – she or he can swap the digital camera feed off and achieve this … which simply additional helps the concept the windowless rear-end is pretentious tech/design for tech/design’s sake. No want to repair or complicate what’s already working, when you ask us.
That mentioned, Polestar elaborates that the brand new body-color rear-end therapy permits it to increase the full-length glass roof over prime the rear passengers’ heads, including to the distinctive rear-seat atmosphere. Additional, the electrochromic design of the roof lets occupants swap between opaque and clear, personalizing the atmosphere a contact extra. There’s additionally a photo voltaic system-inspired adjustable inside lighting system so as to add yet one more layer of environment.
The winddow-free rear stems from the 2020 Principle idea, which has served as a free blueprint for Polestar’s current design transition. That idea additionally previewed the Polestar 4’s break up Thor’s hammer entrance lighting design, flush door handles and rear blade lighting, to not point out serving to affect its coupe-inspired form.
Polestar
“With Polestar 4, we now have taken a elementary new strategy to SUV coupe design,” defined Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath. “Relatively than merely modifying an present SUV, giving it a quicker roofline and because of this, compromising parts like rear headroom and luxury, we now have designed Polestar 4 from the bottom up as a brand new breed of SUV coupe that celebrates rear occupant consolation and expertise.”
When it comes to electrical powertrain tuning, the 191-in (484-cm) Polestar 4 is all about efficiency. Polestar takes care to notice that the brand new mannequin is its quickest manufacturing automobile but, promising a 0-62 mph (100 km/h) time of three.8 seconds. That point ties to the 536-hp (400-kW) dual-motor mannequin, however the humbler 268-hp single-motor model nonetheless guarantees a pointy, sporty trip with rear-wheel-drive orientation.
Polestar
The only-motor RWD 4 will get essentially the most vary – when outfitted with the 102-kWh long-range battery pack possibility, Polestar expects it to go 373 miles (600 km, WLTP) earlier than requiring a cost. The 348-mile (560-km) long-range dual-motor variant would not lose an excessive amount of touring autonomy, owed partly to a decoupling characteristic that lets it disconnect the entrance motor and commute alongside extra effectively as an RWD.
All Polestar 4 variants will come outfitted with 200-kW DC fast-charging and 22-kW AC charging capabilities, full with a motorized charging door. Bidirectional charing with vehicle-to-load functionality will permit the automobile to energy exterior gadgets.
The Polestar 4 additionally comes loaded with the complete boat of contemporary tech, delivered to the fingertips by way of a 15.4-in contact widescreen powered by Snapdragon Cockpit Platform and neatly built-in with Google by way of Android Automotive. That infotainment system is additional supported by a ten.2-in digital instrument panel and 14.7-in head-up show projection with snow-friendly yellow textual content possibility.
Polestar
Assistive and security tech comes powered by a normal suite of 12 cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and one radar, and consists of the Mobileye’s SuperVision Superior Driver Help System. A regular warmth pump lets the automobile repurpose ambient warmth in preconditioning the cabin and battery.
The Polestar 4 made its debut on the Auto Shanghai 2023 motor present that kicked off this week and can launch first in China, with manufacturing deliberate to start at Geely’s Hangzhou Bay plant in November. North American, European and Asia-Pacific market launches are deliberate for early 2024, and costs will begin at US$60,000.
Supply: Polestar
