There have been a handful of cars with no rear window in recent years, whether it be for aerodynamic or pure styling reasons, they instead use a high-def camera and digital rear-view mirror to give you a view behind. But all such cars have been high-end supercars or limited-run specials, like the Ferrari 812 Competizione, Aston Martin DBS GT Zagato and Mercedes-AMG One. Now there’s a mainstream option in the form of the Polestar 4 crossover coupe, which ditches the rear window in the pursuit of more spaciousness and safety, and with a newly announced starting price of $56,300 it’s much cheaper than those multi-million-dollar rides.
We first saw the Polestar 4 last year, but today it made its official U.S. debut at the New York International Auto Show, where Polestar announced full pricing and info for its fourth model. That $56,300 price, which includes destination, is for the entry-level rear-wheel-drive Long Range Single Motor model, which has 272 horsepower and 253 pound-feet of torque, good enough to hit 60 mph in 6.9 seconds.
Upgrade to the all-wheel-drive Dual Motor car, which costs $64,300, and you get 544 hp and 506 lb-ft of torque and a 3.7-second 0-to-60 time. Every version of the Polestar 4 has a 102-kWh battery pack and can fast-charge at up to 200 kW. Official EPA range figures aren’t out yet, but Polestar is targeting an estimate of 300 miles for the Single Motor car and 270 miles for the Dual Motor model.
Every Polestar 4 comes standard with a 15.4-inch central touchscreen and a 10.2-inch gauge cluster display, a 360-degree camera system, adaptive cruise control, a fixed panoramic roof, a heat pump, a powered soft-close liftgate, power-adjustable front seats, phone-as-key capability, retractable door handles, a wireless charging pad and an illuminated front emblem. The Pilot package, which costs $1,500 on the base car and is standard on the Dual Motor model, adds the Pilot Assist highway driver-assist system and automatic lane change capability.
The $2,000 Pro pack adds 21-inch wheels and gold seatbelts and valve stem covers, while the $5,500 Plus pack brings three-zone climate control with an air filtration system, a Harman Kardon sound system, auto-dimming mirrors, a head-up display, a heated steering wheel and heated rear seats, a kick sensor for the tailgate, more power adjustability for the front seats, power-reclining rear seats, a touchscreen in the rear for climate functions, and awesome illuminated mesh textile trim on the door panels.
Only available on the Dual Motor car is the Performance pack, which costs $4,500 and forces you into the other packages. For that you get 22-inch wheels with Pirelli P Zero performance tires, sportier chassis tuning with adaptive dampers, Brembo brakes and even more gold accents.
Six different paint colors are on offer, including a fantastic metallic gold that’s creatively called Gold, with prices for everything but the basic silver costing $1,300 or $1,600. For $1,000 you can get all of the exterior cladding painted in body color, which I think looks fantastic. There are four wheel designs ranging from 20-inchers to 22s, and some of the designs are limited to your choice in package. MicroTech upholstery is available in a few different colors, but for $5,000 you can upgrade to Nappa leather upholstery that also brings massage, ventilation and headrest speakers to the front seats, plus a brushed textile headliner and plusher rear seat headrests. A fully loaded Polestar 4 will set you back nearly $85,000.
Last, but certainly not least, the no-rear-window setup is standard across the board on every Polestar 4. The rear-view mirror gives you a digital feed from the camera mounted in the roof’s shark fin, and it’s super high quality with an ultra-fast refresh rate. If you need to look at the passengers behind you, you can still flip the mirror and use it as an actual mirror. In addition to this setup making the Polestar 4 look totally unique from the outside, it allowed Polestar’s engineers to make the structure of the car stronger and push back the rear seats for a much more spacious experience. The pano roof stretches further back than it could in a normal car, and ambient lighting makes sure it doesn’t feel like a dungeon back there. I’ve gotten to ride in the back seat of the 4, and I think it’s absolutely fantastic.
The Polestar 4 is able to configure and order online now, with deliveries set to start in the fourth quarter of this year. For the first model year cars will be built in Ningbo, China, but starting in 2025 it will be built in South Korea for the American market. The pricing puts the Polestar 4 right in the zone of competitors like the Genesis GV60, but the Swede’s unique styling is in a class of its own.