Polestar is a design-driven, pure-electric model, so the arrival of the Polestar 4 isn’t any shock (particularly, coming because it does, after Polestars 1, 2, and three). But what’s thought-provoking is that this savvy model of lateral thinkers and elegance experts desires to rescue one of many extra egregious automotive niches—the SUV coupé.
It helps that the corporate’s CEO, Thomas Ingenlath, was a designer in a former life. “Rather than simply modifying an existing SUV, giving it a faster roofline, and as a result compromising elements like rear headroom and comfort, we have designed Polestar 4 from the ground up as a new breed of SUV coupé that celebrates rear occupant comfort,” he claims.
So whereas probably the most highly effective dual-motor Polestar 4 runs a 102-kWh battery for a claimed vary of 350 miles (WLTP), and is probably the most high-performance Polestar thus far, all eyes are understandably on the automobile’s design—and the rear finish specifically. Why? Because Polestar has removed the normal rear window completely.
Those in Glass Houses
Photograph: Polestar
It’s an concept the corporate explored with its beautiful 2020 Precept idea automobile, however right here it’s for actual. Given that the form of a automobile’s “glasshouse,” as designers consult with it, is core to how we learn a car, eliminating one main part of it’s a punchy assertion.
Polestar has finished it by embracing the capabilities of the high-definition display that replaces the age-old rear-view mirror. This shows a real-time feed from a roof-mounted rear digicam, and delivers a much wider field of regard. These aren’t new—Range Rover has been utilizing its ClearSight camera mirror for years—however Polestar is the primary to max out on the design potential.
The motive? In elongating the Polestar 4’s silhouette, the automobile’s aerodynamic properties have additionally been optimized, a key a part of an EV’s range-extending armory. The 4 has an impressively slippery 0.26 drag coefficient. But it additionally allows a reimagining of the automobile’s rear compartment.
“In the past, we’ve always had to provide an opening at the rear for a physical mirror,” Polestar’s head of design, Maximilian Missoni, tells WIRED. “Camera tech now is very high resolution, it works well at night time, and the software is constantly being upgraded so we can add value into the system over time. We could remove the rear window and move the whole structure further back. It creates a cocoon.”
