Polestar goes all-in on £105k, 884hp GT
After what seems like an eternity, Polestar finally launches its Porsche Taycan rival, the famous 5
If it feels like you’ve known about the Polestar 5 for a long time, that’s because you have. The firm intended to show the original look-alike concept, the Precept, at the 2020 Geneva show - y’know, the first one to be cancelled in the wake of the pandemic. Which means that in all the ways that matter, Polestar’s grand tourer - the very embodiment of its car-building manifesto, as distinct from owner Geely - predates the delivery of a viable mRNA vaccine. This is not a particularly good look for a brand that trades on its supposedly fast-moving, high-tech image, nor for the flagship it intends as ‘a guiding star for the industry’.
Luckily for it, the one thing that does look good is the Polestar 5 itself. It always has done. And here at least we can credit Polestar with sticking to its original vision: the 5 is a five-metre long, beautifully proportioned four-door (and primarily four-seat) GT with a Kamm-style tail and a colossal glass roof. Like the Polestar 4, it has a ‘virtual’ rear window, a conceptual novelty that has softened in the half-decade it has taken for the 5 to make it to production. Better to celebrate its maker’s efforts in keeping the newcomer impressively low to the ground for a fully-fledged EV that features a 112kWh battery.
This was very much a target for the bonded aluminium platform that underpins the 5, one that Polestar reckons could rival supercars for torsional rigidity. Most PHers will need no lesson in the advantages of high-strength extrusions, pressings and castings, of course - though it’s worth mentioning that for all the manufacturer’s discussion of the weight advantage versus a steel structure, this is still a two-and-a-half-tonne car. Albeit one that can apparently do without the mass-disguising assistance of air suspension or four-wheel steering or electrified anti-roll bars.
Opt for the cheaper of the two models going on sale in the UK, and you get front double wishbones, coil springs, and passive dampers. The flagship Performance version upgrades the latter to an adaptive MagneRide alternative - but Polestar attributes the comparative simplicity to the hard work done on the original layout and its means of construction. “Our R&D teams worked tirelessly to develop the Polestar Performance Architecture from the ground up, and it’s paid dividends in how this performance-focused GT drives,” noted CTO Lutz Stiegler.
Innovations delivered elsewhere include an in-house-developed rear motor (the one at the front is supplied by ZF), 800V architecture (a first on a Polestar, enabling 350kW charging), very low-slung Recaro seats, a plethora of SmartZone-based cameras and sensors (that we won’t bore you with), and Brembo four-piston brakes that are shared with the Polestar 3, but save 12kg of unsprung mass thanks to new lightweight 400mm two-piece discs. The tyres are bespoke, too, courtesy of Michelin, and there is a choice of 20- to 22-inch wheels to wrap them around.
Then there is the power, which is predictably ample. The 5 starts at £89,500 in the UK, which gets you 748hp, 599lb ft of torque, and a WLTP range of 416 miles. For £104,900, the Performance derivative sacrifices 65 miles of range in return for a peak output of 884hp and 749lb ft of torque - sufficient for it to get to 62mph in 3.2 seconds (versus 3.9 seconds in the standard Dual motor). For reference, the Porsche Taycan starts at £88,200 for a rear-drive model with 435hp. At face value, this does rather make the Polestar 5 seem like an appropriate gauntlet - even if the arc of its throw has taken a stupendously long time to reach a point where the car is actually available to order. Certainly, its maker, beleaguered in more ways than one, desperately needs a hit. Whether or not its handsome new grand tourer is too little too late - or precisely the antidote required - remains to be seen.
Yes it’s a good looking car, but equally there are other good looking EV’s, with the same or superior levels of performance/tech at a fraction of the price.
At the end of the day it’s a £105K for a
I suspect the problem is that there are companies who can bang out copies of concept cars quicker than the original manufacturer can bring things to market.
(This said, the Avatr 12 is a very nice looking car)
I really like the design of that, bit pricey though.
Compared to the power and aesthetics it offers vs its rivals, the price represents pretty good value. £88k for a no-optioned Audi e-tron GT with 583bhp (admittedly a very good looking car but not as spacious inside as the 5), £85k for a bottom of the range, no-optioned Lotus Emaya with 603bhp (which doesn't look as good as the 5), £88k for a bottom of the range, no-optioned Taycan with 435bhp (down over 300bhp on the 5) or, for an extra £1300 over the Taycan/e-tron GT, this car?
I'd be buying a 5 without hesitation were I in the market for one of the above!
I really like the design of that, bit pricey though.
Compared to the power and aesthetics it offers vs its rivals, the price represents pretty good value. £88k for a no-optioned Audi e-tron GT with 583bhp (admittedly a very good looking car but not as spacious inside as the 5), £85k for a bottom of the range, no-optioned Lotus Emaya with 603bhp (which doesn't look as good as the 5), £88k for a bottom of the range, no-optioned Taycan with 435bhp (down over 300bhp on the 5) or, for an extra £1300 over the Taycan/e-tron GT, this car?
I'd be buying a 5 without hesitation were I in the market for one of the above!
I ordered a company Macan Electric, list just over £100k but monthly was about £1500 a month so I needed to pay in £300 towards it as over my car limit. In the end I went for a £65k+ Polestar 4 for just over £500 so I get £600 extra each month.
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