Polestar Finally Gave the Polestar 4 a Rear Window. Americans Won't Get It
The new body style adds rear glass, an inch of headroom, and nearly 59 cubic feet of cargo space. A federal rule keeps it out of US showrooms, but Canada is getting it.
Polestar has built the version of the Polestar 4 that answers the car's most talked-about quirk. The new Polestar 4 SUV adds a conventional rear window, a more upright tailgate, and extra cargo room to a crossover that launched with no rear glass at all. American shoppers won't get it, though, and under current federal rules Polestar can't sell it here.
Polestar announced the SUV on September 2 in its launch release. European pricing starts at €57,900 in Germany, and first customer deliveries are planned for the fourth quarter. Production began in the second quarter in Busan, South Korea, where the Polestar 4 coupes sold in the US are also built.
What changes from the coupe
The front half of the car carries over unchanged. Behind the B-pillars, the roofline runs straighter and the tailgate stands more upright, which leaves room for a real rear window. A conventional rearview mirror is standard. The camera-based digital mirror, which the coupe depends on, becomes an option.
The reshaped rear adds about an inch (2.5 cm) of second-row headroom. A larger panoramic glass roof now runs all the way back to the tailgate, and an electrochromic version that dims at the touch of a screen is offered only on the SUV. Full-length roof rails are standard and rated for a 220-pound (100 kg) dynamic load.
Cargo space is the practical headline. Polestar quotes 18.7 cubic feet (530 liters) behind the rear seats measured to the seatbacks, 23.1 cubic feet (655 liters) measured to the roof, and 58.8 cubic feet (1,665 liters) with the 60/40 seatbacks folded. Counting the front trunk, total storage is 59.3 cubic feet (1,680 liters). These are European measurements, so they won't match US cargo ratings exactly.
The same hardware underneath
The SUV uses the same SEA architecture and the same 100-kWh battery as the coupe. The rear-motor version makes 272 hp (200 kW) and 253 lb-ft, reaches 62 mph (100 km/h) in 7.3 seconds, and is rated at up to 391 miles (630 km) on the European WLTP cycle. The dual-motor model makes 544 hp (400 kW) and 506 lb-ft, runs 0–62 mph (0–100 km/h) in 3.9 seconds, and is rated at up to 373 miles (600 km) WLTP. EPA ratings typically come in well below WLTP figures.
DC fast charging peaks at 200 kW. A Performance Pack adds recalibrated ZF active dampers, Brembo brakes, and new 22-inch wheels on Pirelli P Zero tires. Polestar says Vehicle-to-Load, delivering up to 3.3 kW through a separately sold adapter, and a new Camping mode will reach all Polestar 4 variants in a future software update. Google Gemini takes over voice control from Google Assistant.
German pricing, including VAT, starts at €57,900 for the rear-motor SUV, €65,900 for the dual-motor, and €76,300 with the Performance Pack.
Why it isn't coming to the US
The SUV arrives on the wrong side of a federal cutoff. In June, the Commerce Department's Bureau of Industry and Security declined to grant Polestar an exemption under the Connected Vehicle Rule, electrive reported. The rule bars automakers controlled by China or Russia from selling connected vehicles in the US, and the decision covers new Polestar models starting with the 2027 model year. Polestar is controlled by China's Geely Holding. Volvo, which traces to the same owner, did receive an exemption.
Polestar has said it will sell its existing US stock of the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 and keep supporting current customers, but it won't bring new model-year 2027 vehicles here. We covered what that means for the next-generation Polestar 2 in our story on the Formula 2030 concept, and the Polestar 4 SUV falls under the same rule.
Canada is a different story. Polestar's own launch release lists Canada among the markets that get 11-kW AC charging, and Drive Tesla Canada reports the SUV is headed there, with Canadian pricing not yet announced.
What it means if you're shopping in the US
- A new Polestar 4 in the US means the coupe from existing inventory, and that means no rear window. Check current pricing and incentives on polestar.com rather than relying on older launch figures.
- If the camera-only rear view was a dealbreaker, the SUV solves it, but not for US buyers.
- Polestar says it will keep supporting and servicing current US owners. It hasn't said whether US cars will get the Vehicle-to-Load and Camping mode update.
What we don't know yet
- Whether Polestar will seek another path to US authorization. The company hasn't announced one.
- Canadian pricing and official NRCan range ratings for the SUV.
- The date of the SUV's international media drive, where Polestar says it will also give the Formula 2030 concept its public debut "later this year."
- When the Vehicle-to-Load and Camping mode software update will arrive.
