First Drive: Polestar 5 takes brand into the ultra-luxury GT world

What is it?

Polestar is really getting into its stride now. The Swedish performance brand has spent the last five years setting itself up as a separate carmaker within the enormous Geely empire, and so far has been tackling the popular electric saloon market with its 2 model. That’s no small feat.

Last year, its model range practically trebled overnight with the 3 and 4 SUVs, and now Polestar has its sights on the ultra-premium and exclusive electric four-door GT market – in other words, the Porsche Taycan’s back yard. We’ve had a very early drive of a pre-production car to see if the reality can meet the ambition.

What’s new?

What isn’t new is probably the more appropriate question. The Polestar 5 sits on a completely brand new, scalable bonded aluminium platform, it has new battery and 800-volt charging technology, and uses a tonne of environmentally-friendly and recycled materials in places that you can and cannot see. Bosses told us that the 5 is the “purest embodiment of Polestar performance yet”, so, this car is rather a big deal for the brand.

What’s under the bonnet?

Beneath the slippery shape lies a 112kWh (106kWh useable) NMC battery pack integrated into the new platform, all helping with the car’s torsional rigidity. It gets a 800-volt system, allowing for ultra-rapid charging capability of up to 350kW (a 10-to-80-per-cent top-up at a 350kW charger will take 22 minutes).

There are two flavours of Polestar 5, the Dual Motor and Performance, with the former delivering a WLTP-tested range of 416 miles, and the top-spec Performance giving 351 miles.

As this is Polestar’s flagship car, it’s powerful – very powerful. The lesser version packs 737bhp, while the Performance has a mighty 871bhp at its disposal.

What’s it like to drive?

Polestar says the real benefit of the new platform is its strength. It’s so strong that the firm’s engineers told us that it has similar levels of torsional rigidity to that of a supercar – that’s impressive for a very large electric car.

Our short test drive of a very early pre-production car at a closed test track didn’t reveal too much about what the Polestar 5 will be like in the real world. But it was enough to show that the 5 is a very engaging car, with sharp, linear steering responses like you find in the smaller Polestar 2, and it has excellent brake feel and performance.

It’s out-of-this-world fast, too, with us beating the claimed 3.0-second dash to 60mph by 0.3 seconds. But, at the same time, our test car also rode comfortably and was super quiet, even at high speeds.

How does it look?

You might be a little surprised at discovering that these are the first proper pictures of the car in action without it wearing test camouflage. Its shape is familiar, let’s be honest, and it feels like the car has been around for quite a while. But it hasn’t and that’s where Polestar has pulled a masterstroke.

Polestar revealed a concept car called the Precept in 2020, and few thought that the eventual production car would resemble the sleek four-door showcar. But the 5 is a near carbon-copy of that car – its muscular arches, its arching roofline, low nose and wide rear end have all been carried over. It’s a stunning piece of design, in our book, and really does look like a concept car for the road.

What’s it like inside?

The interior is another Polestar masterclass in design and construction. It’s all very minimalist, with the vast majority of the car’s functions – for better and for worse – being controlled by the huge 14.5-inch portrait touchscreen. There are some lovely details, like the metal scroll wheel on the centre console and the speaker grilles for the optional 21-speaker Bowers and Wilkins sound system. It’s very roomy, too – four tall adults will have plenty of room, there’s decent headroom thanks to there being no rear window, and there’s even space for a third back-seat passenger for the occasional journey. Boot space is a little tight at 365 litres, but this is a GT car after all, and there’s still a handy 62-litre frunk up front.

But it’s the quality that really amazes. Even on the pre-production car tested, the standard of build was very high. Plus, the interior is festooned with environmentally-friendly materials, such as flax, NFPP and recycled PET being used instead of plastics.

What’s the spec like?

Being the halo model in Polestar’s range, the 5 comes with a huge list of standard equipment. Features such as a massive glass roof, 20 or 22-inch wheels, electric adjustment for the seats and steering wheel are just the start. Prices kick off at £89,590 for the Dual Motor Launch Edition and £142,900 for the Performance Launch Edition.

Verdict

Whether it really can compete with a Porsche Taycan on a twisting road and that 416-mile range is enough for well-healed buyers are tests for another day.  It’s hard to give a definitive verdict after such a short drive of an early preview car, but it was enough to reveal the 5 promises to have an excellent blend of performance, poise and plushness, and very much is worthy of its halo positioning in the model line-up.