Polestar, based on the unique mission assertion, is an electrical premium model that places efficiency and design at its core. To which we’d additionally add “it’s not Tesla” as an more and more potent promoting level.
New boss Michael Lohscheller, to one of the best of our data, has by no means waved a chainsaw round in a gathering, however he’s actually prioritizing efficiencies and business uplift—and he must.
Polestar offered 44,851 vehicles globally final yr, a 15 p.c decline in comparison with 2023, however retail gross sales are up by 76 p.c in Q1 this yr (from comparatively small volumes), bolstered by the arrival of the three and 4—and Elon Musk’s monumental hubris.
The very fact stays, although, that whereas the model’s gross margin has now fortunately flipped from destructive to constructive, Polestar has nonetheless misplaced a thumping $190 million to this point this yr, whereas securing $1.7 billion in credit score since finish of final yr. The 4 may be very a lot right here as a part of the plan to reverse such fortunes, and as this mannequin is not made in China it may look to US shoppers for assist.
The 4 bears the imprimatur of Polestar’s rigorous design-oriented philosophy. The earlier boss, Thomas Ingenlath, rose to prominence from the automotive design world, and his de facto quantity two, Max Missoni (now a senior designer at BMW), was tasked with delivering a coupe svelteness that the 4’s underfloor battery and general structure didn’t readily lend itself it to.
Rear View Filler
The answer, then, is eye-catching. Transfer the header rail again in order that it sits behind the second row occupants’ heads fairly than above them, creating an unusually beneficiant quantity of headroom within the rear. Luxuriate in the advantages introduced by a wheelbase that’s a solitary millimeter shy of three meters. Then delete the again window.
The result’s a pleasingly fastback silhouette and a uniquely cocooning rear compartment. Any incipient claustrophobia is offset by the presence of an enormous panoramic roof and the choice of electro-chromatic glass.
