Polestar 5 prototype review: an 871bhp private jet for the road

Well, this looks good…

Doesn’t it just. We’d argue the Polestar 5 trashes the idea that the automotive industry has forgotten how to design a beautiful car. Watch this thing sweep silently past and it’s a reminder that a) it is actually 2025 and b) it’s possible to do something future-focused and aero-efficient without looking like a wonky alien. It’s up there with the Lucid Air in terms of presence and proportions.

OK, so it’s also very close to the Polestar Precept concept which was first shown in 2020, and that feels like an eternity ago. But the real thing is finally incoming, almost completely intact. The rear-hinged concept doors didn’t survive and the skinny digital door mirrors have gone too. But no-one really likes those anyway.

Presumably the Lucid is one of its rivals.

Well, yes, although it’s struggling to fully establish itself and still isn’t available in the UK. Not that Polestar hasn’t had its fair share of troubles. Five years ago we were awash in spangly new disruptive EV start-ups, but guess what: building a new car brand and delivering convincing product is colossally expensive and time-consuming. Who knew? Legacy heavy hitters like Audi, BMW, Jaguar, Mercedes and Porsche have all had their fingers burnt to varying degrees as the big EV transition gathers momentum. Or not as the case may be.

Enough of the gloomy prognostications. Why should we get excited by the Polestar 5?

Well, apart from its spectacular design – look at that rear light bar and the wheelarch/bonnet proximity – there’s plenty to get juiced up by, as we discovered during a prototype drive. Tech highlights include an all-new bonded aluminium chassis, the scalable Polestar Performance Architecture (PPA), which has the sort of torsional rigidity more usually associated with carbonfibre-tubbed supercars (51,000 Nm per degree, since you asked). The aluminium is 13 per cent recycled, 83 per cent from smelters that use renewable electricity. No word on the other four per cent. Maybe it parties hard.

And the electric bit?

It’s equipped with an 800V electrical architecture, new on the 5, enabling it to charge at up to 350kW for a 10-80 per cent infusion in a claimed 22 minutes. Tough to do in the real world but noble intent. The battery is packaged beneath the car, and uses lithium-ion NMC batteries. Then there’s its dual-motor configuration which delivers a resounding 871bhp and 749lb ft of torque. The rear motor – developed in-house – is good for over 600bhp alone. Polestar claims up to 416 miles range for the dual-motor car (351 for the Performance version), and up to 3.5 miles per kWh tops. The rear motor can be disconnected to pump up the efficiency.

But mega-powerful EVs aren’t that difficult to do. Making them handle is a lot trickier.

Indeed. Despite Polestar’s Swedish HQ and the hovering Independence Day-style spaceship presence of corporate parent Geely, remember that the company’s R&D base is in the UK, at the MIRA test track in Nuneaton. It’s not a glamorous postcode, but the 400-strong team contains a number of former Aston Martin, Lotus and McLaren dynamics experts hellbent, it seems, on making this 2,500kg high-end EV handle like a, well, not a Lotus Elise or McLaren obviously, but at least with some honesty and integrity.

How does it feel behind the wheel?

Honest. Which is no mean feat given the size and weight of the thing. The 5 immediately feels like a Polestar but it’s a lower-slung four-door GT – it’s only 142cm tall – with a lower dash scuttle than on previous models, so the vibe is different. The seats have a notably low hip point, too. It’s not so much that it feels sportier as more… business-like, in a contemporary, modish vein. Think private jet on a road, similar to the Porsche Taycan, really. Which is another arch-rival.

Did you get to drive it much?

Yes, but with constraints. We’re at Millbrook proving ground rather than MIRA. The hill route here is a familiar testing ground, designed to mimic a typical British B road (minus the pot-holes), though one with dreams of being the Nordschleife, perhaps. Across a bunch of laps the Polestar 5 reveals itself to be more athletic than you’d imagine, diligently engineered in terms of its body control, and with beautifully calibrated controls. Tip-in on the throttle is lovely, brake feel authentic, the steering somehow more interactive than on other Polestars despite only having modest alterations to the software settings that govern it. The rack is forward mounted, sitting ahead of the front axle for greater fidelity during cornering.

Do the claims stand up?

The engineering team sure has a lot of faith in the hardware. That PPA platform is good enough to obviate the need for torque vectoring, active anti-roll bars, or rear-wheel steering. These are all tools routinely used to sharpen the handling of plus-size EVs and luxury cars, but deemed superfluous on the Polestar 5. Magnetic dampers are the primary concession to dynamic wizardry – it’s standard on the Performance iteration, the regular car has a passive set up – and it rides with authority. It’s firm rather than floaty but still compliant, based on this early drive, anyway.

Pete Allen, deputy CTO and head of R&D in the UK, also gives props to the bespoke Michelin rubber. “It’s not about all-out grip,” he tells TopGear.com. “We’ve got down to a molecular level with them to determine the best balance between low rolling resistance and grip. That said, to me, it grips like a light car, and you can chuck it into a corner like a 1,400kg supercar.” A touch optimistic, maybe, but we know where he’s coming from.

Anything else?

It’s fast. On Millbrook’s mile straight, and with launch control engaged, the Polestar 5 warps to 30mph in 1.3 seconds, 62mph in 3.2, 110mph in 7.5 and simply keeps going. As familiar as we’ve become with these cosmically – and comically – fast acceleration numbers on EVs, it’s still quite the party trick. Though, as ever, we doubt it’s one that would get deployed very often, unless you want your passengers to redecorate that Scandi-minimalist interior.

We also sat with Polestar’s amiable chassis guru Joakim Rydhölm on the top lane of the high-speed bowl as he demonstrated the 5’s stability deep into three-figure speeds. There’s some trick under-body aero stuff on this car, and it seems to work. A lot of effort has gone into managing the airflow and cooling without hurting the car’s design. That authentic brake feel is down to a Brembo set-up that includes four-piston calipers up front and 400mm two-piece discs. They save 12kg in unsprung mass compared to the system in the Polestar 3.

Sounds impressive. Does it have character?

That’s a trickier question. Everyone’s currently engaged in a battle to infuse their EVs with personality. If you’ve experienced other Polestar models, the 5 will feel familiar, although you sit lower in this one, which helps. The driving position and seats are terrific, the real and perceived quality extremely impressive. The interior is the expected Polestar set up – 14.5in portrait central infotainment screen, with a 9.5in secondary screen ahead of the driver – and the materials used are sustainably sourced and of high quality. The 5 runs a Polestar-specific Android Automotive operating system with integrated Google functionality. The audio is by Bowers & Wilkins, with up to 21 speakers and 1,680-watt power output. It’s sensationally good, and combines with active noise cancellation for genuine serenity. NVH is not an issue here.

And in the rear?

The 4+1 rear compartment is fantastic, and is more interesting than a normcore limo. There’s a rear quarter-light to ease any incipient claustrophobia that passengers might feel in the absence of a rear window. That’s a bold design signature that’s already present on the Polestar 4. Sitting in the back of one of those can feel a little like the rearmost seat on a plane; the one in which the window seat doesn’t actually have a window. Shudder. On the Polestar 5, there’s more space, more light from the side windows, and a more authentically space-age lounge ambience. Smart packaging of the battery provides a little recess in the floor for your feet (like Porsche, Polestar calls it a ‘foot garage’). And the panoramic roof stretches further back, too. It’s the biggest seen on a Polestar so far: a little over 2m-long and 1.25m wide.

Anything else of note?

The attention to detail is forensic, and presents a different spin on luxury. Everything has been hand-picked in terms of material combination. The textiles are 100 per cent recycled. Natural fibres are used in the lower parts of the door bins and inside the 365-litre boot. The 62-litre frunk is lined with an UltraSilent material from Swiss supplier Autoneum, which has strong NVH thermal properties. It also looks good, should you plan to spend time inspecting the area where once you’d find an engine.

The team is working with another Swiss partner, B Comp, which uses flax fibres to create a material that’s 40 per cent lighter and reduces the plastic content by 50 per cent. Marginal gains are a factor here, of course, but the use of natural fibres brings an overall weight reduction of 7kg compared to traditional materials. Whether you like the look – and feel – of the end result in the seat backs is a personal thing. NB: sustainable animal welfare-approved Nappa leather is also available. There’s also all the expected ADAS stuff, courtesy of 12 ultrasonic sensors, 11 vision cameras, and a mid-range radar. Based on experience with other Polestars, it’s all a bit over-zealous but also core to the company’s ‘offer’.

Hmm. Understood. Any word on prices?

Yes. The Dual Motor Launch edition is £89,500, which is on a par with the Porsche Taycan and other key rivals, but Polestar is promising superior spec. The Performance Launch edition starts at £104,900. It’s billed as a four-door GT, rather than a luxo-limo, and based on this preview drive, the Polestar 5 has the chops to back that up. We’re keen for another go, which is a good sign, right?