Polestar 4 Midterm Test

CAR Magazine’s six-month test says the Polestar 4 stayed striking to look at but frustrating to live with, with software bugs overshadowing its hardware. (carmagazine.co.uk) The final update, published April 10, 2026, covered a dual-motor Polestar 4 priced at £66,990 before options and £75,290 as tested. CAR said the car delivered 536 brake horsepower, a 3.7-second 0-60 mph time and 3.1 miles per kilowatt-hour in its own testing. (carmagazine.co.uk; polestar.com) CAR’s tester said the main problems were not broken trim or battery trouble but daily-use glitches: unreliable unlocking, a built-in dashcam that “aren’t working yet,” and cruise control and speed-limit recognition that behaved unpredictably on commutes. (carmagazine.co.uk) That matters because the Polestar 4 is sold as a design-led electric sport utility vehicle with heavy reliance on software, including a 15.4-inch central touchscreen for functions such as mirror and steering-wheel adjustment. CAR said that setup still felt “alien” after months of use. (carmagazine.co.uk; carmagazine.co.uk) The car’s most visible experiment is the missing rear window. Polestar says the rear-view mirror is a display fed by a roof-mounted camera, and the company has promoted the system as giving a wider field of view than many conventional rear windows. (polestar.com; polestar.com) Polestar’s own specifications put the Long range Dual motor version at up to 367 miles of WLTP range, while the Long range Single motor is rated at up to 385 miles. The same spec sheet lists a 100 kilowatt-hour battery, up to 200 kilowatts of DC fast charging and a 10%-to-80% charge time of 30 minutes. (polestar.com) CAR did not dismiss the vehicle outright. Its six-month verdict praised the big boot, comfortable passenger space and distinctive exterior, and said the “hardware” felt impressive even as the software “hamstrung” the ownership experience. (carmagazine.co.uk) That split helps explain the reaction online, where the CAR update fed comparisons with other electric family cars that promise less drama and fewer experiments. In its first-month report, CAR itself grouped the Polestar 4 with rivals such as the Tesla Model Y, Xpeng G6 and Hyundai Ioniq 5. (carmagazine.co.uk) Six months in, the Polestar 4 came out of CAR’s test as a fast, roomy electric car whose bold ideas were easier to admire than to trust every day. (carmagazine.co.uk)