Back in May when I was in Spain for the Polestar 5 first drive, everyone I talked to from the Swedish automaker’s design, product planning and PR teams was excited about the upcoming “SUV” version of the Polestar 4, which would be actually pretty wagon-like and really well suited for the U.S. market. The 4 had initially been revealed as a fastback coupe-crossover without a rear window, and that was a bit too radical for some, so Polestar was developing a new body style with more cargo space.
Now the Polestar 4 SUV has been revealed, just weeks after the brand announced it was pulling out of the U.S. entirely. Well, sh*t. Still, we have enough Canadians and Europeans who read this little blog, and any American car enthusiast worth their salt has an interest in things they don’t get, so let’s dig in. The SUV will be offered alongside the regular 4, which is now renamed as the Polestar 4 Coupe. Yes, the names are silly. But this new Polestar 4 SUV really does look great, I think, and captures the spirit of other practical Swedes we love so much.
A wagon but not
The reason I say the Polestar 4 SUV is wagon-y or wagon-like instead of just calling it a wagon (which so many crossovers really are), is because it has the exact same footprint as the 4 Coupe. Most people would say that a wagon has a lot of extra length added behind the rear seats and particularly behind the rear wheels, but the SUV’s wheelbase and overall length are the same as the Coupe. The SUV is almost an inch taller in height, with a much taller and boxier tailgate that, yes, has a real rear window with a spoiler and integrated wiper sitting above it.
Polestar
I love how the 4 Coupe looks, and I think this looks really good too. It seems like the two cars may even share their rear doors and side windows, so it’s really just the rear quarter windows and D-pillar that are different. The roof rails can hold a dynamic load of up to 220 pounds. Polestar designed a new five-spoke wheel that’s pretty sick, and there are now eight colors, including new shades Aurora and Ozone that are “bright silver green” and “bright silver purple,” respectively.
More headroom and cargo space
The interior is pretty much the same as the 4 Coupe, at least for the front passengers. It’s got the same dashboard design and infotainment setup, with the option for Tailored Knit upholstery and Bridge of Weir Nappa leather. Polestar tuned the optional 12-speaker Harman Kardon sound system specifically for the SUV, and the touchscreen system has more functionality and streamlined menus.
Polestar
People in the back seat have almost an inch more headroom than in the Coupe, Polestar says, and the panoramic sunroof is even bigger, stretching back to the tailgate and now having an available electrochromic finish. With the rear seats up the more squared-off cargo area has 3.4 cubic feet more cargo space the Coupe; if measured just to the rear seatbacks, the SUV has 1.1 cubes more. Both body styles have the same 0.5-cubic-foot frunk.
Even though the SUV has a rear window, customers will be able to option on a digital rear-view mirror, because yes, they are actually good and useful.
It’s a bit cheaper than the Coupe
The Polestar 4 SUV shares its powertrain options with its Coupe sibling. The single-motor rear-wheel-drive base model has 272 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque, while the dual-motor all-wheel-drive versions pump that up to 544 hp and 506 lb-ft. Polestar says the RWD SUV has up to 391 miles of WLTP range while the AWD one has up to 373 miles, both of which are about a half-dozen miles more than their Coupe counterparts. Sadly Polestar didn’t upgrade the 4 to an 800-volt architecture like it did with the 3, as the 4 SUV’s 100-kWh battery pack can only be fast-charged at up to 200 kW.
New to all the Polestar 4s is vehicle-to-load functionality, and the SUV has a new Camping mode that “provides seamless access to entertainment, ambient lighting and vehicle controls from both front and rear displays, supported by V2L power, USB-C connectivity and the 12V outlet.” You can get the Performance package on the SUV as well, adding 22-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero tires, Brembo brakes with Swedish Gold calipers, new active damper tuning and other gold accents.
In all the other lovely countries that still get the Polestar brand, the SUV is available to order now. In the UK, the single-motor SUV is £2,000 cheaper than the Coupe, while the dual-motor model is £3,000 cheaper. First customer deliveries are said to start in the fourth quarter of this year.
