Polestar built a car with no rear window, sold it for two years, and has now added a version that has one. If you were on the fence about the Polestar 4 because of the camera mirror, that tells you something.
It also means the buying decision has changed. The car this page used to cover, the 2026 “Long Range Dual Motor” at $88,350, is now called the Polestar 4 coupe Dual motor and costs $81,750 before on-road costs after two rounds of price cuts. Sitting beside it at the same money is a Polestar 4 SUV with a glass rear window.
We haven’t driven it. Here’s what’s changed, what the numbers are, and what testers who’ve lived with one had to say.
What $81,750 buys now
The Dual motor’s hardware reads the same as before: two motors, 400kW and 686Nm, all-wheel drive, 0-100km/h in 3.8 seconds, and a 100kWh battery (94kWh usable) with a 590km WLTP claim. It weighs 2,355kg. DC charging peaks at 200kW, for 10 to 80 per cent in about 30 minutes.
The 2027 update announced in June changed the rest:
- The “Long Range” name is gone.
- The chassis was retuned with new springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and steering.
- The Plus pack dropped from $8,000 to $6,500, but no longer includes 22kW AC charging. That’s now a $900 option.
- The Performance pack became its own grade, currently $95,450.
- The Pro pack was deleted.
Braked towing is 2,000kg for the dual-motor car. Servicing is free for five years or 100,000km, with visits every 24 months or 30,000km. The warranty is five years, unlimited kilometres, with eight years or 160,000km on the battery. CarExpert reports a five-star ANCAP rating based on Euro NCAP testing.
The mirror: what people who’ve used it say
Nobody who has tested the car says the camera is unusable. Nobody says it’s as good as glass either.
CarsGuide’s Tom White, testing the single-motor car, said you get used to it but it never replaces the depth perception of a real mirror. Justin Hilliard, who ran a Dual Motor Performance as a long-termer, criticised its depth perception and low-light performance. Chasing Cars’ Tom Baker found his eyes struggled to refocus on the screen.
That refocusing complaint is worth understanding before a test drive. With a normal mirror your eyes are focused on the distance. With a screen, they have to focus on something half a metre away, then back to the road. Some people adapt in a day. If you wear multifocals, try it at night before you sign anything.
The upside is real. With no glass back there, the roof structure moves rearward and back-seat headroom is far better than the swoopy roofline suggests. You can also load the 526-litre boot to the ceiling without blocking your view. If camera mirrors interest you generally, we’ve covered aftermarket digital mirrors too.
Range: plan on 450km, not 590
Hilliard’s long-term car averaged 22.2kWh/100km over 2,384km. That works out to about 450km, and he called the car inefficient. His was on the 22-inch Performance pack wheels, which won’t have helped. White’s single-motor car did much better at 16.4kWh/100km.
The 200kW charging peak is fine but unremarkable in 2026, when the Zeekr 7X will take 420kW.
How it drives
Everyone agrees it’s fast. Baker, driving the car at its overseas launch for Chasing Cars, described astonishing straight-line pace, then lifeless steering and understeer.
Ride and body control drew the sharpest criticism. Hilliard found poor body control over bumps and through corners on the Performance pack and ended up recommending the single motor instead. White called the single motor’s ride plush.
Here’s the catch with all of that: every one of those tests was done before the 2027 chassis retune. Polestar changed the springs, dampers, anti-roll bars and steering, which are the exact things testers complained about. We haven’t seen an Australian test of the retuned car yet, so drive one yourself on a road you know.
Inside
A 15.4-inch landscape screen running Google’s Android Automotive does nearly everything, with Google Maps built in. Baker disliked having the air vents controlled through touchscreen menus.
Polestar did put physical buttons back on the steering wheel for MY26, replacing the touch-sensitive pads on earlier cars. If you’re looking at a used 2024 or 2025 example, check which wheel it has.
Nappa leather with ventilation and massage, and an electrochromic glass roof, are options.
Packs: what to tick
Plus pack ($6,500). Premium audio, upgraded headlights, head-up display and extra climate zones made up the pack on the 2026 car. Ask the dealer for the 2027 contents, since the 22kW charger has been pulled out of it.
22kW AC charging ($900). Only worth it if you have three-phase power. With it, a full charge takes about five and a half hours.
Performance grade ($95,450). Bigger wheels, Brembo brakes and adaptive dampers. Given what Hilliard found with the ride and range on the old Performance pack, we’d want to drive the 2027 version back-to-back with the standard car before paying $13,700 more.
Coupe or the new SUV?
Same price, same family. The coupe has the roofline, the rear headroom trick and the camera mirror. The SUV has a rear window.
If you sat in the coupe and the mirror didn’t bother you, buy whichever you like the look of. If it did bother you, you no longer need to talk yourself into it.
Who it suits
Someone who wants a quick, good-looking electric car with a proper back seat, charges at home, and doesn’t mind screens. Five years of free servicing takes some sting out of the price.
It doesn’t suit anyone who needs to see out the back the old-fashioned way, or anyone expecting to get near 590km on the highway. Think about resale as well. A model that has had $6,600 cut from its list price in a few months is going to be worth less used, and our EV depreciation guide explains how that plays out.
If you’re shopping the rest of the Geely family, the Zeekr 7X offers more range and faster charging for about $18,000 less.
