Polestar 5 arrives with 871bhp and no rear window

The Polestar 5 has been officially unveiled as the Swedish performance brand’s new flagship model with up to 871bhp and a range of 416 miles.

Based on the stunning Precept concept of 2020, the Polestar 5 is a four-door “4+1-seat” grand tourer set to challenge the Porsche Taycan and Lotus Emeya with its long-range, high-performance package.

The production car was unveiled at the Munich motor show and is on sale immediately, priced between £89,500 and £142,900.

Polestar 5 design

Sticking closely to the original design of the Precept, the Poletar 5 is a sleek five-metre-long fastback designed with aerodynamic efficiency to the fore. Polestar’s trademark “dual blade” headlights with Pixel LED technology sit either side of a low, pinched front end that houses the Smart Zone that holds the car’s many ADAS sensors. Polestar says that innovative double-wishbone front suspension has allowed it to keep the bonnet and wing lines low relative to the wheels and it has used clever shading on the doors to make the car look even lower.

In profile, the 5 is almost identical to the Precept, the only concession to practicality are the regular rear doors in place of the concept’s coach-hinged units. At the rear, the same sharp Kamm-style tail design is also retained and the full-width rear light bar acts as a rear wing.

Like the Polestar 4, the 5 does away with a rear window, instead extending the rear head structure back to create more space inside. In place of any rear glass, the 5 uses a digital camera and rear-view mirror, and features a 2m by 1.25m panoramic sunroof.

Polestar 5 interior

Polestar says the 5 will seat five people but it’s clearly configured for four, and the maker says the outer rear seats match the fronts for comfort. Every Polestar 5 features four-zone climate control and heating, ventilation and massage for the front and outer two rear seats. The rears also recline individually and the battery has been designed with “foot garages” to create more foot space for rear passengers.

Up front, the driver gets a nine-inch instrument pod mounted on the steering column, supplemented with a head-up display. There’s a 14.5-inch main touchscreen which can be controlled via a rotary dial on the centre console, which also features a PIN-controlled lockable compartment in lieu of a glovebox.

Buyers can choose from a standard MicroTech fabric upholstery or optional Bridge of Weir Nappa leather, which is produced in line with Polestar’s sustainability ambitions.

The Polestar 5 continues the Swedish brand’s focus on cutting the environmental impact of its cars. It uses the same recycled plastic materials on the carpets and headliner as other Polestars and 13% recycled aluminium in the construction of the bonded-aluminium platform. It also introduces the wider use of natural fibres for major interior elements, including a flax-based finish to the seat backs, and lower door sections created with natural fibres and finished to show the natural structure of the material.

Polestar 5 powertrain

The Polestar 5 is the first model based on Polestar’s own architecture and uses in-house developed motors to offer Taycan GTS-rivalling performance. Even the lower-powered Dual Motor edition covers the 0-62mph run in just 3.9 seconds while the Dual Motor Performance cuts that to a supercar-shaming 3.2 seconds. Both models are limited to 155mph.

The Polestar’s pace comes courtesy of a two-motor powertrain. In standard models this produces 737bhp and 599lb ft while the Performance model turns up the power on the front motor to generate a total of 871bhp and 749lb ft. Both feature four-piston Brembo brakes with 400mm two-piece discs that save 12kg compared with the same system in the Polestar 3. The Performance edition also benefits from adaptive Magnaride suspension that reads the road 1,000 times a second.

The 5 is the first Polestar to use 800V architecture, allowing its 106kWh battery to charge at up to 350kW. In the more restrained of the two versions, that battery will cover up to 416 miles between charges with efficiency of 3.53m/kWh, while the Polestar 5 Performance has a range of 351 miles and official consumption of 2.97m/kWh.

Michael Lohscheller, Polestar CEO, said: “Polestar 5 is bringing the future to our present. Our vision for Polestar’s design, technology, and sustainability direction is no longer a dream but a reality our customers can buy.”

Orders for the Polestar 5 are open now, with first UK deliveries due in Spring 2026.