Polestar 4: Dude, Where's My Rear Window?

Let’s test drive and review the 2026 Polestar 4! And thanks ‪@homefieldapparel‬ for sponsoring this video!

Today, Polestar is an electric car brand from Volvo. But back in 1996, the Polestar name began as a Volvo collaboration in the Swedish Touring Car Championship. It’s common for racing heritage to make its way into street cars — whether by way of performance, styling, or both — and that was the case with Polestar, too. Volvo made concept and production Polestar sports car models in the 2010s, before pivoting the brand completely.

In 2017, Volvo announced that Polestar would join the pack and become a standalone electric brand. This move aligned with a lot of other brands, especially in the 2010s. New and unproven EV startups were everywhere in the automative space in the USA, from Rivian, to Lucid, to Lordstown Motors, to Fisker, to Faraday Future. Some of those brands panned out. Some didn’t.

By creating the Polestar EV brand, Volvo had a prime opportunity to make its own new, mysterious name with the backing of a proven manufacturer. Polestar, which is currently funded by Chinese automaker Geely, had a new logo, a new design language, and new, affluently styled cars that looked familiar … like Volvos … but more peculiar. In a good way.

The Polestar 4 is a newer entrant to the company’s lineup, making Polestar a three-car company. The brand currently offers the Polestar 2 sedan, Polestar 3 SUV, and the Polestar 4, which is a mix between two. (You’d think there would be four models, given the name. The Polestar 1 did exist at one time.)

At its debut, the Polestar 4 had a bunch of technology, frameless windows, and no rear glass. Instead of a traditional setup with rear glass and a rearview MIRROR, the Polestar 4 has a wall of blackness and a rear-mounted camera feeding into the apparatus where that rearview mirror would be. Polestar says getting rid of that rear glass has safety and comfort benefits, such as creating more structural rigidity, stretching the glass roof to make rear passengers feel like they have more space, and actually giving them decent amounts of headroom despite the coupe-style sloping roofline.

The current Polestar 4 comes in both single-motor and dual-motor configurations, and I took delivery of a dual-motor for this loan. It has 544 horsepower, 506 pound-feet of torque, a 100-kWh battery, and all-wheel drive. Polestar says the 4’s battery can be charged up to 200 kW on a DC fast charger, and that when charging at its full potential, you can go from 10 to 80 percent battery in 30 minutes. The EPA-estimated range on this particular car is 280 miles.

The 2026 Polestar 4 starts at $56,400 USD for the single-motor, long-range variant. The dual-motor long-range spec starts at $62,900. This Polestar 4 only has two paid options — $1,800 21-inch wheels and a $1,300 metallic exterior color called Snow — bringing its total price to $67,400. (My loaner also says “Expert Experience” in huge letters down the side, which is hilarious.)

Without a rear window, I think it'll be hard for the Polestar 4 to take the world by storm. But I do think it'll get people's attention, and that's half the battle these days.

Thanks for watching my YouTube channel. Enjoy the drive (and the video)!

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