2025 Polestar 4 reviews: Remixing the crossover coupe recipe with a design twist

Polestar, the performance electric vehicle maker with Chinese parents but design and engineering roots in Scandinavia, is launching its third model billed as its fastest ever and most sustainable.

The Polestar 4, a coupe-like crossover, follows the Polestar 2 sedan and the Polestar 3, a midsize two-row crossover. The Polestar 4 is expected to become the EV maker's No. 2 seller after the Polestar 3.

The Polestar 4's aerodynamics are enhanced by a low nose, retractable door handles and airflow optimization around the rear light bar. One notable design trait: There is no rear window and cameras are used to provide drivers with rearview access.

The Polestar 4 is available in two long-range powertrains, each equipped with a 102-kilowatt-hour battery. The rear-wheel-drive package features a single motor with 272 hp and an EPA-estimated 300-mile range. The all-wheel-drive option generates 544 hp and a range of 270 miles based on EPA estimates.

It can vroom from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds.

Consumer Reports describes the Polestar 4 cabin, dominated by a 15.4-inch center screen with a Google-based information console, as "Scandinavian sparse."

To enhance safety, the Polestar crossover is equipped with 12 sensors, 12 cameras and one radar as part of a driver-assistance tech package provided by Mobileye. Polestar plans to add lidar down the road for Level 3 hands-free driving. An optional Pilot Pack includes Pilot Assist with lane change assistance initiated with a tap of the turn signal.

The Polestar 4 was introduced at the 2023 Shanghai auto show, and China, where it is built, served as the crossover's launch market. Polestar 4 output is also scheduled to begin in Korea next year, a move aimed at helping the model dodge U.S. tariffs on Chinese EVs. China's Geely Automobile and Volvo co-founded Polestar in 2017.

Pricing for the Polestar 4 starts at $60,000, while the Polestar 3 starts at $85,300, including shipping.

Journalists have had an opportunity to get behind the wheel of the Polestar 4 and we've rounded up some early reviews.

"We drove Polestar 4s with dual motors. This spec gives you both worlds: smooth acceleration, or stomp on the pedal for an exhilarating neck snap. Steering is excellent with sharp responses, and it's precise and direct and worth noting there is a big difference between the light and firm settings. Overall, the steering is heavier than the more family-oriented Polestar 3.

The brakes have a strong bite and are generally smooth but can be touchy at times.

The 2025 Polestar 4 offers two drive modes: Range and Performance, and you can only change between them via the screen. Range mode disconnects the front motor for greater efficiency. Switching modes, however, does not change steering or throttle inputs or make any suspension changes. Those adjustments must be done manually, also via the screen. Polestar engineers said this is something that might change in the future, based on feedback.

A picture of a foot denotes the button to activate one-pedal driving and you can turn the Creep mode on or off. You can also choose from two electricity-regeneration levels — tap the setting on the screen to pick; there are no steering wheel paddles to make the adjustment.

The suspension is on the stiff side. The single-motor model has a fixed conventional suspension; dual-motor models have air suspension and semi-active dampers that work hard to smooth out road bumps.

There's also an optional Performance Pack including 22-inch wheels, four-piston Brembo brakes, performance chassis tuning, and Swedish gold seatbelts, brakes, and valve caps."

— Alisa Priddle, Motor Trend

"Once you're behind the wheel, the Polestar 4 is disconnected from you and parts of itself. The dual-motor all-wheel-drive car I drove kicks out 536 horsepower — and the result is the PS4 is plenty quick from point to point — but in the corners it lacks the accuracy we've come to expect of a Polestar. The brand clearly presents itself as the sporty alternative to Volvo, and the PS3 fulfills that mission to a tee. But the 4 lacks its bigger sibling's precision. Steering effort is always too light regardless of what mode you're in and a lack of feedback leaves you guessing at the wheel. Turn into a corner and the nose takes a noticeable beat to obey your commands, and then the rest of the chassis takes yet another to catch up. It's almost as though the rear end of the PS4 doesn't want to play ball with the front, and that leads to a resoundingly sloppy feel while you're at the helm.

The ride, while fine, also lacks the PS3's composure. Even in the car's softest mode it's obvious that the suspension is stiffly sprung — and the car's simply-too-big 22-inch wheels don't help matters. It jitters over expansion joints and never seems to settle down properly. The Spanish roads I drove the 4 over looked silky smooth (and proved to be when I drove the Polestar 3 on the same route), but the PS4 managed to find every rut and point them out to us as we rode along. The car I drove was very close to production-spec but felt as though it was just unfinished. A little more fine-tuning here and some dialing-in there and the 4 might come good, but we don't think it will handle America's rutted streets and highways with the same sort of aplomb we're quite sure the PS3 will."

— Nick Yekikian, Edmunds

"It might disappoint all those Polestar engineers who burned the midnight oil packing performance attributes into the 4, but after spending a day behind the wheel of both models, what impressed me the most was the display screen. Yes, I know. Oriented horizontally as opposed to the Polestar 3's vertical positioning, the 15.4-inch display is powered by Android Automotive OS (read: Google) and the excellent Snapdragon Cockpit Platform. That tells you it is fast, reliable and efficient, but the real masterstroke here is the screen's set up. It is split down the middle into, essentially, two vertical screens, which you can customize. For instance, navigation map on one side and then between two and four 'widgets' on the other. These are large and coloured buttons that you can select from a submenu. So, the things you use the most. I selected radio, climate, car settings and regen braking. It's a great system in that it is easy to see and use, meaning less time for your eyes on the screen and more on the road. None of this submenu scrolling nonsense. Another cool feature is the planet lighting app, which presents each of our solar system's planets as a light selection for the cabin's ambient lighting."

— Andrew McCredie, Driving

"Like all EVs with astronomical horsepower figures, the Polestar 4 feels like it has every bit of its 544 hp available whenever. Full-throttle pulls will snap the car to 60 mph in as little as 3.7 seconds, and it'll pull hard to illegal speeds faster than you've realized you're way over the limit. Unfortunately, the excellent powertrain was paired with a fairly vague brake pedal that dampened some of my backroads fun.

So did the visibility. On the streets of Madrid, the Polestar 4 felt like a large, wide car. That alone isn't a bad thing, but at times maneuvering the car around felt frustrating due to the car's lack of rear window. That was especially true in the city, where I'd constantly turn my head and check my mirrors for pedestrians, cyclists and other drivers. I drive defensively and try to predict and stay ready for what others could do at any given time, and I just felt like I was missing a key piece of information from the rearview mirror for no good reason. The replacement video stream fed to the rearview mirror lacked a sense of depth. It felt like the car had a larger-than-normal bubble, as I couldn't get a strong grasp of its physical dimensions. That's not a great feeling to have in a crowded European city."

— Kevin Williams, InsideEVs

"Since the Polestar 4 eschews a back window, the rearward view arrives solely via a roof-mounted camera and digital mirror. Those who have used digital rearview mirrors before shouldn't have any issues, but for the less technologically proficient, the digital mirror may require some adjustment since it's harder to get a realistic sense of depth from the screen.

Although we didn't mind the setup, it ultimately felt like Polestar is solving a problem that doesn't really exist. The headroom improvements seem minimal, and the top of this 5-foot-11-inch author's hair still brushed the headliner. The field of view is definitely wider than with a traditional mirror — and the view angles four degrees left or right when the turn signal is on and tilts slightly down when reversing — but the benefit isn't quite as revolutionary as Polestar suggests. Still, the display is clear and minimizes the flicker from LED headlights behind."

— Caleb Miller, Car and Driver

"The 4's cockpit has been pared down more than needed. The 10.2-inch digital gauge cluster and 15.4-inch tablet-style touchscreen work fine as displays. When they're put to work through the Google built-in interface to host lots of functions normally toggled or switched or spun with a knob, they breed the kind of J.D. Power dissatisfaction that other car companies avoid like inquiries from reporters. So many functions depend on the touchscreen and on steering-wheel controls — adjusting head-up display height and information, steering-wheel position, et al — that it can take minutes to set up the car for a driver that isn't in one of the car's available 'favorite' setups.

It's a setback, since the rest of the cabin perfects the uncluttered and matte-luxury touch of the EV genre. The woven-textile seats have excellent support and hard controls for adjustment. Polestar offers real leather upholstery, too. The 4 has lots of footroom and headroom thanks to the flat floor and form factor. And the lack of rear glass doesn't induce back-seat anxiety as much as I expected. The rear bench needs better support stitched into it, though its electric-recline option will coddle two large passengers while the third middle passenger snoozes on their shoulders."

— Martin Padgett, Green Car Reports