When was the last time you drove something with no rear window? Unless you have a Class 4 licence and have experience driving large container trucks, the answer is probably 'never'.

Well, if you're curious to know what it's like to drive without being able to see out the back, there is now a car that offers exactly that. The new Polestar 4 is in town, and its lack of a rear windscreen is just one of the several ways that helps it stand out from the crowd.

Why doesn't it have a rear windscreen?

Polestar will only say that it is a design decision, without elaborating too much about its choice. In its press release, it says that the absence of the rear windscreen "enables a new kind of immersive rear occupant experience" and "creates a truly unique interior ambience".

It all feels rather weird at first, but you're not completely blind to what's happening outside. For the driver, rearward visibility is delivered via a roof mounted camera that delivers a high-definition feed to the rear-view mirror.

It's not the first car to have a digital feed in the rear-view mirror, but to have it as your only option for looking out the back feels like a novelty. You can tilt it to make it into a regular mirror, ostensibly to let you check on your rear passengers, but otherwise the default view is from the rear camera.

To its credit, the image from the camera is quite sharp. The lack of depth from a traditional mirror does take some time to get used to, but the upside is that the camera does cut out glare from the lights of other vehicles at night.

Doesn't it feel claustrophobic in the back then?

Surprisingly, not really. To compensate for the lack of a rear windscreen, Polestar has given the car a massive glass roof that stretches well beyond the heads of the rear passengers. As a result, the car does let in lots of light into the cabin, along with an airy ambience.

As well, while Polestar deems the 4 to be a coupe-SUV, the roofline doesn't slope too sharply at the rear. This means that there is plenty of headroom to accommodate most adults of average height. Unless you're actively trying to look out the back, you won't feel much of a difference sitting in the Polestar 4 as with any other car.

What else is special about the Polestar 4?

Polestar has opted to give the car's interior the full Tesla treatment. This means a large central touchscreen in the middle, and virtually no physical controls to speak of. That includes adjusting the door mirrors, the steering wheel position, and even opening the glovebox.

While that has the potential to be incredibly distracting, thankfully Polestar has a solution of sorts, by allowing some functions to be accessed and controlled via the steering wheel haptic touch buttons. It does make things a bit easier, but nothing beats physical switches at the end of the day.

Nevertheless, it does give the Polestar's interior a clean and minimalist vibe. And it complements that with a little bit of personality, offering a selectable choice of ambient lighting that's matched with the Sun and planets of our solar system, complete with some basic facts of each.

Polestar also makes a big deal about the fact that the upholstery and some of the cabin materials are made from 100 per cent recycled plastics, as pointed out by several labels plastered around the interior. It does give the car a different ambience from many other cars, and Polestar does deserve credit for attempting something unique at least.

How does it drive?

The Polestar 4's looks does suggest a car that's rather sporty in nature, with its sleek styling and low height. The test car's Performance Pack package, which adds active sports suspension, large brake callipers finished in gold, and 22-inch alloy wheels with high-performance Pirelli sports tyres specially developed for this car, further enhances that sensation.

In Long Range Dual Motor guise at least, the car does at least have some performance chops to match its looks. As the name suggests, the car comes with two electric motors, one at each axle, and together they combine to produce a total of 544hp and 686Nm of torque. Those are potentially supercar-slaying figures, and they allow the car to go from 0-100km/h in just 3.8 seconds.

It's the way the power comes in that's truly staggering though. Put your foot down when the car is in Performance mode, and you find yourself virtually teleporting down the road at a rather alarming pace. It takes a lot of self-control to rein yourself in because this car can easily reach twice the legal speed limit without hesitation.

For those who feel like they can't handle that much power, there's also the Polestar 4 Long Range Single Motor which comes with exactly half as much power, with 272hp and 343Nm of torque, and goes from 0-100km/h in a more controlled 7.1 seconds.

Ride and handling are more of a mixed bag. There are three selectable settings for the suspension, and oddly it is the hardest Firm setting that offers the best balance between delivering a comfortable ride and an engaging drive. Standard feels a tad too soft and results in the car bouncing unnaturally everywhere, while the middle Nimble setting seems a bit neither here nor there.

The four-wheel-drive system, the low centre of gravity and the performance tyres all try their best to keep the Polestar 4 grounded in the corners, and while they work well together to give the car some reasonably controlled handling manners, the general impression is one of steady competence rather than sheer excitement.

Range is quoted at 590km for a full charge on the Long Range Dual Motor (and a slightly higher 620km for the Single Motor), which sounds incredibly impressive. But in reality, you'll probably get somewhere in the high 400s, as the Polestar 4 is not particularly efficient in its energy consumption, despite its large 100kWh battery.

Is it worth buying?

There's no question that the Polestar 4 is really quite a different sort of electric SUV, with its quirky design inside and out. If you can live with some of its oddities, and can afford its $381,000 price tag, inclusive of COE (as of Oct 2024), then it is perhaps worth considering.

For the money you get a car that is guaranteed to grab attention, and deliver the sort of mind-bending performance that you'll only get from cars with a much higher price tag. And with no back window, they can't see who exactly is leaving them in the dust.

ALSO READ: The car with no rear window: Polestar 4 previewed in Singapore

benjamin.chia@asiaone.com

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