Polestar sets its sights on the Porsche Taycan with the 884 horsepower Polestar 5

Over the last year or so Polestar has expanded its range by introducing the Polestar 3 and the Polestar 4 into its line-up. Now is the turn of the fifth car in the series, the Polestar 5. The Polestar 5 began its life as the futuristic Polestar Precept concept in 2020 and from today the production ready model is going on sale. This new grand tourer will be looking to further establish Polestar as a premium, technology-led, performance-focused brand.
• This is the fifth production car from Polestar – it’s slightly longer than the Polestar 4 and will be made in lower volumes making it more exclusive • The polestar 5 features a sweeping wing-like shape, Scandi chic interior, large panoramic roof and no rear window • It can travel up to 416 miles between charges • With up to 884 horsepower the Polestar 5 can accelerate from 0-62mph in 3.2 seconds • Order books are now open • Starting from £89,500

The Polestar 5 is designed for maximum aerodynamic efficiency, and it has been heavily influenced by aviation with the sloping rear creating a wing-like shape. It is built on a bespoke aluminium platform to help reduce weight. It is a large, five-metre-long car, but Polestar has tried to disguise this by using gloss black cladding to visually reduce the car’s height. Like other Polestars the traditional front grille is replaced by an integrated ‘SmartZone’ housing the plethora of sensors to support the Polestar 5’s safety systems. The headlights use the dual blade design from the Polestar 4 and, like the 4, the Polestar 5 has no rear window which Polestar says helps to increase rear headroom. Polestar is well-known for its commitment to sustainability and 13 per cent of the aluminium used in the Polestar 5 is recycled. There will be two versions of Polestar 5 available at launch: a Dual motor launch edition and a more powerful Performance model.

True to form the interior of the Polestar 5 features signature chic Swedish minimalism and an array of natural fibres and recycled materials. A two-metre panoramic roof – the largest of any Polestar to date – should help the inside to feel like and airy, while the seats are designed in collaboration with Recaro with a focus on comfort and support. Charcoal microfibre upholstery comes as standard but this can be upgraded to sustainably sourced Bridge of Weir leather. While there are five seats, the Polestar 5 is really designed to be used as a four-seater allowing for the driver and passengers to make the most of the space on offer and the low-slung driving position aims to make the Polestar 5 feel sporty and engaging. There’s four-zone climate controls and the rear seats recline and feature heating, ventilation and massage functions. Up front the driver gets a 9.5-inch head-up display, and the 14.5-inch portrait central screen runs on an Android operating system with Google Maps built-in. To make navigating the screen easier the system includes shortcut tiles and customisable widgets. Like other Polestars there’s an optional Bowers & Wilkins sound system and a suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) which use a range of cameras, radar and ultrasonic sensors to keep you out of trouble.

The Polestar 5 is the first Polestar to use 800V architecture which allows DC charging at up to 350kW. As a result, the large 112kWh battery can be charged from 10 to 80 per cent in as little as 22 minutes. The rear motor can be disengaged to improve efficiency, enabling the 748 horsepower Dual motor Launch edition to travel up to 416 miles between charges while the more powerful Performance model with 884 horsepower has a range of up to 351 miles, although this will be reduced if you drive enthusiastically and make the most of the supercar shaming acceleration.

The Polestar 5 is on sale now. Prices start from £89,500 for the Dual motor Launch edition and £104,900 for the Performance Launch Edition.

The Polestar 6 will be the next car in the line-up. We’ve already seen the concept for this electric roadster and the production version due to arrive in 2026.

Other large, fast and luxurious all-electric grand tourers include the Audi e-tron GT , Porsche Taycan and Lotus Emeya.