'There were two weird things about driving UK's first car without a rear window'

You whitethorn not beryllium acquainted with Polestar, but you'll apt recognise the plan of this car. The institution was calved successful Sweden arsenic a motorsport squad successful 1996.

That's your archetypal hint - Sweden, celebrated for Abba, Ikea - and Volvo. Volvo is the proprietor of Polestar, having acquired it successful 2015.

Before that, it had go an authoritative spouse of the car manufacturer, transforming immoderate of its mean mundane vehicles into show machines. In 2017, Volvo began to rebrand Polestar arsenic an electrical conveyance (EV) brand, which brings america to wherever we are today.

Volvo has ever been recognised arsenic somewhat of an innovator - it was the archetypal to instal a three-point spot loop successful a car, the archetypal to present rear-facing kid seats and the archetypal to adhd information features specified arsenic unsighted spot warnings, inflatable broadside curtains and side-impact extortion to its cars. And Polestar is surely continuing that tradition.

The car nether treatment present is the Polestar 4 - and it boasts a diagnostic that sets it isolated connected UK roads. The shaper claims that it is the archetypal rider car connected our roads to deficiency 1 happening - a rear window.

Instead, you're provided with a integer rear presumption 'mirror'. Why has it done this?

It's each astir tackling the contented of constricted rear visibility often seen successful modern car design, arsenic good arsenic enhancing aerodynamics for improved ratio - a important origin erstwhile you're aiming to maximise your EV range. Polestar revealed that a survey it conducted among 2,000 UK drivers recovered that 1 successful 5 were disquieted astir their restricted presumption retired of the backmost of their cars.

So, erstwhile you look successful the rear presumption 'mirror', you're really seeing a high-definition surface showing a real-time provender from a roof-mounted rear camera. Polestar says this gives a acold wider tract of presumption compared to what you tin spot retired of the backmost of galore modern cars.

It besides has different benefits, it claims. No rear model means the full-length panoramic extortion stretches beyond the heads of those sitting successful the backmost seats, truthful there's plentifulness of airy inside.

What is besides gives you is simply a rear seating acquisition that is sublime. There's ample legroom and the accidental to genuinely beryllium backmost and bask the ride. Unlike successful galore cars, the rear seats are afloat adjustable - similar they are successful the beforehand - enabling your rear passengers to genuinely relax. If you're driving, you volition envy them.

Now, astatine this constituent anyone who's driven a van precocious volition beryllium shouting "so what,big deal". That's due to the fact that it's not uncommon connected vans to person a rear presumption 'mirror' that's really a camera. Of course, vans don't person rear windows by virtuousness of their relation and plan and backmost successful the time the operator relied heavy connected those monolithic helping mirrors you spot connected specified vehicles.

I really experienced this myself a portion backmost successful a prosecute van. It took maine a portion to click that it had a 'rear presumption mirror' and past click erstwhile much that that was impossible.

What makes the Polestar 4 futuristic and isolated from different EVs

It’s each precise simple. As agelong arsenic you person the cardinal fob astir your person, you simply get successful - it unlocks arsenic you attack - prime ‘drive’ and disconnected you go.

There are nary buttons - everything works via the ample touchscreen, from the clime power to the heated seats to the assorted thrust settings. You adjacent unfastened the glovebox via the screen.

The thrust is rapid, with precise speedy acceleration and a soundless glide makes you consciousness similar you’ve genuinely travelled successful clip to immoderate perfect, shiny age. It'll get you to 60mph successful little than 4 seconds, with the dual-motor mentation boasting a meaty 536bhp.

The interior is beautifully minimalist. There’s a full batch of thing and I personally emotion it. The lines are creaseless and uninterrupted. It truly does consciousness similar a measurement into a movie oregon something. And it should marque you consciousness similar that - this isn't a inexpensive car.

It's afloat of tech. You tin take your interior 'ambience' (ie lighting) based connected antithetic themes named aft the planets successful the star system. The seats volition lukewarm you, chill you and massage you. There's afloat Google integration and you tin link your location tech to your car to cheque connected its complaint and truthful connected portion you're astatine home. It's got a premium dependable system, including a talker successful the headrest. You sanction it, it's here.

The agelong travel equation

Now, erstwhile it comes to mundane driving - wherever you're possibly doing the commute oregon pottering astir - EVs are great. Plug them successful astatine location overnight connected a inexpensive tariff and you're a victor erstwhile it comes to outgo versus petrol oregon diesel.

For me, the large question people that continues to bent implicit electrical powerfulness is agelong journeys. The tech and the infrastructure has made large strides successful caller years. The archetypal EVs connected the marketplace would hardly get you 100 miles earlier needing a charge, whereas present 300 oregon much miles is communal - and you're ne'er acold from a charger.

But 300 miles is inactive good abbreviated of galore petrol and diesel cars - meaning utilizing an EV connected a cross-country travel needs a spot of thought. I similar to trial this conception connected a regular thrust I bash that is 175 miles each way.

For a start, the claimed scope of astir EVs is simply a phantasy that doesn't construe to the existent world. The figures that manufacturers assertion are done successful cleanable lab-like conditions and are chiefly truthful you tin comparison 1 conveyance to another. It indispensable beryllium said that the aforesaid is mostly existent of miles-per-gallon figures claimed for petrol oregon diesel cars.

There are galore factors that impact an EV's scope - the extracurricular somesthesia for one, which tin beryllium an contented successful the UK, arsenic EV batteries enactment champion erstwhile it's determination betwixt 15C and 35C. Then there's however hard you thrust it, however overmuch tech you person switched on, etc. Even the Polestar was showing 320 miles of scope 1 time and 265 the adjacent erstwhile it hadn't adjacent moved disconnected my driveway. And that was connected a reasonably mild day.

There’s inactive a flimsy anxiousness and inconvenience astir agelong journeys, not lone successful presumption of range, but charging clip and outgo arsenic well. While chargers are present rife crossed the UK, nationalist ones are hugely costly erstwhile compared to charging astatine home.

This is thing I’ve done successful much item before, erstwhile I did the aforesaid agelong travel in a Volvo and past enactment the lessons learned to the trial in a Kia.

Right present agelong journeys are simply not arsenic casual arsenic successful a petrol oregon diesel. I tin capable my 17-year-old diesel BMW up and bash 500+ miles earlier needing to bash truthful again. EVs are hardly fractional that. But 1 time the equilibrium volition displacement and we’re getting person each the time.

As I said, determination person been monolithic strides successful caller years. When you bash request to halt for a charge, accelerated charging tech means you usually lone request to bash truthful for 30 minutes oregon so, which is good connected a agelong travel arsenic it gives you a break, but it doesn’t bushed 2 minutes astatine a petrol station.

On this peculiar travel successful the Polestar, I acceptable disconnected with a afloat complaint having topped up astatine home. The car was showing 262 miles compared to its on-paper claimed 385 miles - contempt it being a mild time with temperatures successful the mid-teens.

But that's a reasonably decent scope nevertheless and it would mean conscionable 1 quickish halt successful each absorption for a top-up, successful theory. I did person immoderate 'range anxiety', arsenic the erstwhile EVs I'd done this with 'lost' 40 oregon 50 miles of scope erstwhile I was cruising astatine motorway speeds.

Best laid plans and each that. At my archetypal halt determination was a occupation - each the chargers were successful use. I lone had to hold astir 15 minutes, but that meant I was stationary for 35 minutes alternatively of 20. On a two-and-a-half-hour travel that I seldom halt connected normally, that's a just chunk of other time.

Anyway, with complaint backmost from 149 miles to 239 miles aft topping backmost up to 86% battery, I was connected my mode again. I was stopping astatine my destination, Bristol, for a bully 7 hours oregon truthful and truthful decided to plug successful astatine a relative's location for the duration.

Although topping up successful this mode is notoriously slow, it added a utile 60-odd miles to the 177 miles I had arrived with, meaning I departed for the instrumentality with 234, much than capable to get home.

I did apical up again with a stop, but this was much to guarantee I arrived location with a decent magnitude of complaint alternatively than being astir bare upon my return. In each I spent astir £50 topping up with nationalist chargers, which is much than the full travel costs maine astatine existent diesel prices and astir apt astir 10 times what it costs to bash it astatine location connected a inexpensive EV tariff, but that's the equilibrium of EV ownership - positive determination are assorted schemes that volition trim the outgo of nationalist chargers for those that request to usage them regularly.

There was 1 marked quality to doing the travel successful the Polestar compared to my escapades past twelvemonth and that was down to the car itself. I mentioned that past twelvemonth I 'lost' range, with some cars taking maine little acold than they said they would astatine the commencement of the journeys.

No specified play successful the Polestar. Its scope indicator was precise accurate, to wrong a fewer miles erstwhile compared to the mileage I was driving.

This gave maine a batch of assurance successful the car and however acold it would instrumentality maine earlier needing a charge. That made it the slightest stressful time retired successful an EV I've ever had.

There were conscionable a fewer niggles with the car - having the controls for astir everything connected the reasonably ample touchscreen really tin marque it a spot of a distraction. I'd accidental the glovebox happening is simply a measurement excessively far. Not everything needs a techie solution erstwhile an old-school merchandise drawback works conscionable good - though determination is simply a information payment to beryllium had.

I besides struggled with turning disconnected the operator immunodeficiency I didn't want, specified arsenic the relation that tries to resistance you backmost into your lane connected a motorway erstwhile you don't privation it to - but these sorts of things are ironed retired erstwhile you get to decently cognize a car implicit the people of longer than the week that I had it for.

Does this car person excessively overmuch tech for its ain good? Maybe. That's each down to idiosyncratic preference.

And the weird bit?

I said determination were 2 weird things astir driving the UK's archetypal car without a rear window. The archetypal is, arsenic overmuch arsenic the presumption successful the “mirror” is familiar, you’ll find yourself looking implicit your enarthrosis erstwhile reversing, for example, lone to beryllium met with a achromatic void down the rear seats. When you’ve been driving for much than 20 years similar me, that takes immoderate adjustment. You person to spot the cameras successful the “mirror” and connected the screen.

And the 1 truly weird thing? You can’t cheque your complexion successful the rear presumption reflector - and that takes much getting utilized to than anything.

UK deliveries of the caller Polestar 4 started successful October, with connected the roadworthy prices starting from £59,990.