2026 Polestar 4 Has No Rear Window, But That’s Not My Biggest Issue With It

Allegedly, the Polestar 4 is a crossover. Allegedly. At a mere 60.4 inches tall, it’s only a couple of inches taller than a Toyota Camry, though, and depending on the angle it looks more like a liftback sedan than the “SUV coupe” that Polestar claims it is. In that way, it feels a little like Polestar built its version of the segment-defying Jaguar I-Pace, an in-between design that was already plenty controversial when it was first revealed. It isn’t really a car or a crossover as much as it’s simply a vehicle.

If you thought the I-Pace’s design was controversial, though, the Polestar 4 takes it to another level. Designers decided they could give rear passengers more pleasant experience while improving safety if they got rid of the rear window, so while there’s still a massive glass roof, the rear window is gone.

Instead, the rear-view mirror has turned into a rear-view screen that depends on a camera to show you what’s behind you. It’s certainly different. For some people, that’s going to be a dealbreaker right out of the gate. A car with no rear window? What’s next, a car with no wheels? But is it really that bad? Does it take some getting used to, or is it better than you might think? Is the rest of the car actually any good, or is it just too weird? Ultimately, it depends on who you are and what you’re interested in.

Full Disclosure: The folks at Polestar wanted me to drive the Polestar 4 so badly, they flew me from Hilo, Hawaii, to Austin, Texas, put me up in a hotel with air conditioning and a comfortable mattress (two things I don’t get back in Hawaii) and fed me a couple of meals. Once again, though, no one wanted to do karaoke with me, and my feelings are still hurt.

As much as internet car enthusiasts are going to be talking about the Polestar 4’s missing rear window, I don’t know if anyone on the street is going to notice without it being pointed out to them. Once you tell them there’s no rear window, they’ll probably be horrified, but up until that point, they’ll probably just see a cool EV with a neat design.

And it really does look great in person, I promise. Granted, I also love the Hyundai Ioniq 6’s design, so you may disagree after seeing your first Polestar 4 on the road. Some photos make it look more frumpy and crossover-like than what you’ll see with your own two eyes, but from other angles, it looks sleek and almost sedan-like.

Slide into the driver’s seat, and you’re greeted with a cabin that’s both simple and inviting. If you like the idea of Tesla’s interiors more than the execution, you’re going to love the Polestar 4, because its cabin is very “like Tesla but good, actually.” It actually feels like you’re sitting in a luxury car, even if the interior isn’t significantly nicer than one you’d find in a Volvo.

Then again, Volvo sets a pretty high bar with its interiors, so that’s not a bad thing, especially if you care about innovative uses of sustainable materials. The Volvo connection also means you get some incredibly comfortable seats that I’m still thinking about. You’d think my focus when I first sat down would have been the giant center screen, but no. It was the seats. I guess it’s possible they’re only ridiculously comfortable for me and my body, so you may not find them nearly as comfortable as I did, but man, they really were so good.

The best part is that getting comfortable in the seats didn’t require an absurd amount of adjusting to get them right, they were just comfortable from the moment I sat down. Sure, you can find 800-way adjustable seats in other luxury cars that could theoretically be set up to be more comfortable, but who wants finding a comfortable driving position to be a full-on project? Oh, and you can also power-recline the rear seats for even more comfort.

The downside of the Polestar 4’s minimalist interior design is that, just like in a Tesla, pretty much everything is controlled through the 15.4-inch center screen. Thankfully, unlike in a Tesla, there’s a slim 10.2-inch driver display and an optional head-up display that both help you keep your eyes on the road, and there are some actual physical steering wheel controls. Oh, and you do get a single knob in the center that controls volume.

Polestar put a lot of work into letting you customize that center display, in addition to further integrating Google tech such as lane-specific navigation instructions into its system, so with a little bit of work, you can make sure all your most frequently used controls are easy to find, but it’s still going to take some time. There are probably plenty of tech enthusiasts out there who will love setting up their new car exactly the way they want it, but plenty of other people will probably find it just as frustrating and annoying to have a project to do as soon as they get their new car home.

Then there’s the missing rear window. I know most of the comments will be about how you’ll never buy a car without a rear window, but honestly, I didn’t really miss it. I don’t love digital rearview mirrors because they never quite seem focused on what I would want them to be focused on. But you also get a much wider view of what’s behind you, which I won’t pretend isn’t a big benefit. If Polestar had stuck a window back there, you probably wouldn’t have been able to see very well anyway.

As far as blind spots go, that’s really going to depend on how you set up your mirrors more than the 4’s design itself. Drivers who insist on making sure half of each mirror shows the side of the car are going to think it’s a blind spot nightmare, but if you actually set your mirrors up correctly, it really isn’t an issue. Being forced to use the center screen to adjust the mirrors was honestly far more annoying than adjusting them to eliminate blind spots.

If you can’t get used to using a digital rearview mirror, the Polestar 4 probably isn’t for you. And that’s OK. Not every car needs to be for every single person. It also remains to be seen how well the rear cameras will deal with inclement weather. They worked just fine on this drive, but will you be able to see in the snow? Will they be able to handle an ice storm? At least in theory, you should be able to trust a Swedish automaker to build a car that can handle winter storms, but can you? In a few months, one way or another, we’re going to find out.

Under the hood (well, under the sheetmetal, since under the hood is a tiny frunk almost no one will use), you have the choice of either a single-motor or dual-motor setup. Since everyone is obsessed with all-wheel drive these days, the dual-motor version will probably be the most popular one, giving owners 544 horsepower and 506 pound-feet of torque. That’s enough power to launch from 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds, and you can definitely feel it behind the wheel. It may not be the most powerful EV you can buy, but it’s still seriously quick.

Opt for the single-motor rear-wheel-drive version and you get 272 hp and 253 lb-ft of torque, which translates to an official 0-60 time of 6.9 seconds. You’d think I’d prefer the quicker version, but even though I only had a limited amount of time to drive the single-motor 4, it’s actually the one I’d go with. It still felt plenty quick, and it’s rated at up to 310 miles of range instead of the dual-motor’s max of 280 miles. In addition to eliminating the weight of the motor up front, you also get a simpler passive suspension instead of the dual-motor’s adjustable suspension, and it just feels right.

You obviously get more adjustability if you go with the fancy suspension, but there’s something refreshing about driving a car that only has one suspension setting. The front end also felt a little lighter and livelier in the single-motor 4, which made it more fun to toss into the corners. According to Polestar, removing the front motor does make the 4 lighter but not by much. Instead, they attributed the difference more to chassis and suspension tuning.

Regardless of which suspension the 4 has, it feels more like a grand tourer than a sport sedan. It’s so quiet and nice inside, I swear driving the 4 left me calmer and more relaxed than I was when I got in. It’s more than competent in the corners, so you can still have your fun in the canyons, but really the 4 wants to cruise in quiet comfort. At least, quiet and calm until I had to adjust something using the touchscreen.

The single-motor 4 also has one big advantage over the dual-motor version that I haven’t mentioned yet: price. Order the most basic dual-motor 4, and you’re looking at a base price of $64,300, including destination. If you order the single-motor version, though, in exchange for giving up 272 hp, it will only cost you $57,800. I’d rather put that $6,500 toward some more desirable options, but that’s just me.

Will the Polestar 4 actually succeed in the U.S., though? I have no idea. But U.S.-bound 4s are built in Busan, South Korea, so at the very least, tariffs aren’t as much of a concern. The Trump administration still adds tariff taxes to the cost of importing vehicles from South Korea, but 10,000 Tariff Grandpa doesn’t seem to change his mind on South Korean tariffs quite as frequently as he does Chinese tariffs, so there is always that.

Your paint options are also pretty limited, with Gold Matte being the only real color, and even the blue option is more gray than blue. But as much as that might be an issue for people like me who want to see automakers have more fun in the paint department, one look around any parking lot in the U.S. is all it takes to see the overwhelming majority of buyers couldn’t care less about what color their cars are. And I do have to admit Polestar’s Snow is a pretty good white. 

If it were my money, I’d probably go for a different car with more physical controls in the cabin, but I’m also the kind of person whose phone still has the same background it came with out of the box and don’t particularly love buying things that require me to set them up. There will probably be plenty of people out there who will love the sort of technology and customization the 2026 Polestar 4 has to offer.