Polestar 5 praised in first-drive reviews

Polestar’s 5 is getting the kind of first-drive response carmakers want from a flagship: reviewers are treating it as more than another fast electric sedan. Across reviews published from June 1 to June 3, outlets including Autocar, MotorTrend, Top Gear, CAR and Auto Express described the 2026 Polestar 5 as a serious electric grand tourer with unusual engineering depth and a level of driver appeal that many reviewers said is missing from rival EVs. (autocar.co.uk) (motortrend.com) The common thread is not just speed. Reviewers kept returning to the same idea: Polestar built the 5 around a bespoke bonded-aluminum platform rather than a shared group architecture, and that decision appears to shape both the car’s price and its character. (polestar.com) Polestar describes the 5 as an electric performance GT with “supercar acceleration” and says the chassis uses heat-cured adhesive in place of much traditional welding. ### Why are reviewers treating the Polestar 5 differently from a typical EV launch? Autocar’s Richard Lane wrote on June 1 that the Polestar 5 is “far more than a Taycan rival” and said it has “bags of character and desirability.” MotorTrend, in a first drive published the same day, called it “a fast EV GT with real character” and said the car helps prove EVs can have “soul.” (autocar.co.uk) Those reactions matter because the 5 arrives in a crowded high-performance EV field. Reviewers repeatedly compared it with the Porsche Taycan, Tesla Model S, Lucid Air, Audi e-tron GT and Hyundai Ioniq 6 N, but several said Polestar had not simply copied the segment leader’s template. (polestar.com) ### What hardware is driving that response? The 2026 Polestar 5 launches with two all-wheel-drive variants and a 112-kWh battery, according to Polestar and multiple first-drive reviews. Output starts at 737 bhp in Dual Motor form and rises to 871 bhp and 749 lb-ft in the Performance version, while charging peaks at 350 kW. (autocar.co.uk) Top Gear said the Dual Motor is rated for 421 miles on the WLTP cycle and the Performance version for 346 miles, while CAR listed a 3.9-second 0-62 mph time for the lower trim and 3.2 seconds for Performance. Auto Express put UK launch pricing at 89,500 pounds for Dual Motor and 104,900 pounds for Performance. (motortrend.com) ### What did reviewers say about the way it drives? MotorTrend said “the chassis” is the Polestar 5’s highlight and linked that directly to the UK-developed bonded-aluminum structure. Top Gear wrote that engineers had made the “big 2.5-tonne limo handle like something with half of its heft.” CAR said the car had “excellent ride balance” and “supreme refinement.” (motortrend.com) Autocar tied the car’s appeal to the decision to give it its own platform, writing that the result was a flagship EV GT shaped “precisely as imagined.” Auto Express said the Dual Motor version’s lack of adaptive suspension was “not the disadvantage it might first appear to be,” suggesting Polestar’s base setup had impressed on the road. (carmagazine.co.uk) ### Were all the reviews uniformly positive? What Car? broke from the strongest praise. Its June 1 review said the Polestar 5 is “not as sweet to drive as the best performance cars,” naming the BMW M3, Hyundai Ioniq 6 N and Porsche Taycan, though it also praised the car’s interior space, cruising manners and standard equipment. (motortrend.com) That makes the early coverage notable less for unanimity than for pattern. Even where reviewers were more reserved, they still described the 5 as very fast, well equipped and credible as a long-distance electric GT. ### What is Polestar trying to show with this car? (autocar.co.uk) Polestar says the 5 is “designed and engineered as a Polestar in its purest form” and calls it a “Grand Tourer” built around a rapid, “analog drive.” Autocar reported that the model was developed largely by a 500-strong team at Horiba MIRA near Nuneaton in Britain, even though production will be split between Geely plants in Chongqing and Wuhan, China. (whatcar.com) Polestar’s own market page says the 5 is currently available for purchase in active markets within Europe and Australia. The company also says the Polestar 5 platform underpins the upcoming Polestar 6 roadster, which Autocar identified as the next related model in line. (whatcar.com) (polestar.com)