'This is the UK's first car with no rear window and two things are odd about it'

Polestar whitethorn not beryllium a sanction you're acquainted with, but its plan volition apt onslaught a chord. The institution was calved successful Sweden arsenic a motorsport squad successful 1996.

The archetypal hint is Sweden - location to Abba, Ikea, and Volvo. Volvo owns 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 a pioneer - 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 carrying connected 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 has made the assertion that it is the archetypal rider car connected our roads to deficiency 1 happening - a rear window. Instead, drivers are provided with a integer rear presumption 'mirror'. Why has it done this?

It's each astir overcoming the constricted rear visibility often seen successful modern car design, arsenic good arsenic enhancing aerodynamics for improved ratio - a important origin erstwhile trying to maximise your EV range. Polestar conducted a survey among 2,000 UK drivers and recovered that 1 successful 5 were acrophobic astir their constricted rear view.

So, erstwhile you glimpse astatine the rear presumption 'mirror', you're really looking astatine a high-definition surface displaying a unrecorded provender from a roof-mounted rear camera. According to Polestar, this provides a overmuch broader tract of presumption than galore modern cars offer.

The institution besides claims different benefits. The lack of a rear model allows the full-length panoramic extortion to widen beyond the heads of rear passengers, ensuring plentifulness of airy inside.

The rear presumption reflector that isn't a rear presumption reflector (Image: Steve Smith)

What it besides offers is an exceptional rear seating experience. There's plentifulness of legroom and the accidental to genuinely beryllium backmost and savour the journey.

Unlike galore cars, the rear seats are afloat adjustable - conscionable similar the beforehand ones - allowing your rear passengers to decently unwind. If you're the 1 driving, you'll beryllium envious.

Now, those who person precocious driven a van mightiness beryllium reasoning "so what, large deal". This is due to the fact that it's not antithetic for vans to person a 'mirror' that's really a rear presumption camera.

Given their relation and design, vans typically deficiency rear windows, truthful drivers person traditionally relied connected the ample helping mirrors you spot connected specified vehicles. But present tech is taking over.

I had this acquisition myself successful a rental van not excessively agelong ago. It took maine immoderate clip to realise that it had a 'rear presumption mirror', and past a small longer inactive to recognize that this was, of course, intolerable and it was a camera.

What sets the Polestar 4 isolated from different EVs and gives it a futuristic edge

It's each incredibly straightforward. As agelong arsenic you person the cardinal fob connected you, you simply attack the car - which unlocks automatically - prime 'drive' and disconnected you go.

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

The thrust is swift, with accelerated acceleration and a soundless glide that makes you consciousness similar you've genuinely time-travelled to a pristine, gleaming, era. It'll instrumentality you to 60mph successful little than 4 seconds, with the dual-motor mentation packing a hefty 536bhp.

The interior is beautifully minimalist. There's a full batch of thing and I personally emotion it.

The interior is simply a futuristic masterclass (Image: Steve Smith)

The lines are creaseless and uninterrupted. It genuinely feels similar stepping into a movie oregon thing similar.

And it should marque you consciousness similar that - this isn't a fund car.

The car is packed with technology. You tin prime your interior 'ambience' (i.e. lighting) based connected themes named aft the planets successful our star system.

The seats connection heating, cooling and massage functions. It boasts afloat Google integration, allowing you to link your location tech to your car to show its complaint and different things portion astatine home.

It features a premium dependable system, including a talker successful the headrest. You sanction it, this car has it.

The agelong travel equation

When it comes to mundane driving - specified arsenic commuting oregon moving errands - electrical vehicles (EVs) are fantastic. Plug them successful astatine location overnight connected a inexpensive tariff and you'll find they're much cost-effective than petrol oregon diesel cars.

However, I inactive person reservations astir utilizing electrical powerfulness for agelong journeys. While the exertion and infrastructure person improved importantly successful caller years, there's inactive country for improvement.

Early EVs could hardly screen 100 miles earlier needing a recharge, but present galore tin question 300 miles oregon more, and charging stations are ne'er acold away.

Yet, 300 miles inactive falls abbreviated of the scope offered by galore petrol and diesel cars, meaning that readying is required for agelong cross-country trips successful an EV. I similar to trial this mentation connected a regular thrust I bash that covers 175 miles each way.

The advertised scope of astir electrical vehicles (EVs) is often a acold outcry from reality, with manufacturers' claims based connected perfect laboratory conditions for examination purposes. This is besides mostly existent for the miles-per-gallon figures quoted for petrol oregon diesel cars, it indispensable beryllium said.

Numerous factors tin interaction an EV's range, including outer temperature, which is peculiarly applicable successful the UK, fixed EV batteries mostly execute optimally betwixt 15C and 35C. Other factors see driving benignant and the usage of onboard technology.

For instance, my Polestar trial car displayed a scope of 320 miles 1 time and 265 the adjacent without adjacent leaving my driveway - and this was connected a comparatively mild day.

Despite the expanding prevalence of chargers crossed the UK, determination remains a grade of anxiousness and inconvenience associated with agelong journeys successful an EV, not lone owed to range, but besides charging clip and cost. Public chargers are importantly much costly than location charging.

I've antecedently explored this contented successful greater detail, comparing a agelong travel in a Volvo with a consequent travel in a Kia utilizing the lessons learned from the archetypal experience.

At present, agelong journeys are simply not arsenic straightforward successful an EV arsenic they are successful a petrol oregon diesel car. My 17-year-old diesel BMW tin screen 500 miles oregon much earlier needing to refuel, whereas EVs negociate hardly fractional that distance.

However, the scales are gradually tipping successful favour of EVs. As I've antecedently mentioned, determination person been important advancements successful caller years. Rapid charging exertion means that erstwhile you bash request to halt for a charge, it usually lone takes astir 30 minutes.

This is acceptable connected a agelong travel arsenic it provides a break, but it doesn't comparison to the two-minute halt astatine a petrol station.

On this circumstantial travel successful the Polestar, I started with a afloat complaint from home. The car displayed a scope of 262 miles, which was importantly little than its advertised 385 miles, contempt the mild mid-teen temperatures.

The presumption looking backmost - nary model down the seats (Image: Steve Smith)

However, this is inactive a respectable scope and theoretically would necessitate conscionable 1 speedy halt successful each absorption for a top-up. I did acquisition immoderate 'range anxiety', arsenic erstwhile EVs I've utilized mislaid 40 oregon 50 miles of scope erstwhile I reached motorway speeds.

Despite my best-laid plans, I encountered an contented astatine my archetypal halt - each the chargers were occupied. I had to hold astir 15 minutes, meaning I was stationary for 35 minutes alternatively of 20.

On a travel that typically takes two-and-a-half hours without stops, that's a just chunk of clip to add.

Regardless, aft recharging from 149 miles backmost up to 239 miles (86% battery), I resumed my journey. I planned to enactment successful Bristol, my destination, for astir 7 hours, truthful I decided to plug successful astatine a relative's location for the duration.

Despite the notoriously dilatory process of topping up successful this manner, it added a useful 60 oregon truthful miles to the 177 miles I had arrived with, meaning I acceptable disconnected for the instrumentality travel with 234 miles, much than capable to scope home.

I did halt for different top-up, but this was chiefly to guarantee I got location with a decent magnitude of complaint alternatively than being debased upon my return. In total, I spent astir £50 connected nationalist chargers, which is much than the full travel would outgo maine astatine existent diesel prices and astir apt astir 10 times what it would outgo astatine location connected a inexpensive EV tariff.

However, that's the trade-off of EV ownership - plus, determination are assorted schemes that tin trim the outgo of nationalist chargers for regular users.

One notable quality successful making the travel successful the Polestar compared to my adventures past twelvemonth was owed to the car itself. Last twelvemonth I 'lost' range, with some cars taking maine little acold than they initially indicated.

There were nary specified issues with the Polestar. Its scope indicator was highly accurate, deviating by lone a fewer miles erstwhile compared to the region I was driving.

This gave maine a large woody of assurance successful the car and its quality to instrumentality maine a definite region earlier needing a charge. It resulted successful the slightest stressful time retired successful an EV I've ever experienced.

The Polestar 4 getting immoderate foodstuff (Image: Steve Smith)

There were conscionable a fewer issues with the car - having the controls for astir everything connected the reasonably ample touchscreen tin marque it somewhat distracting. I'd reason that the glovebox happening is simply a measurement excessively far.

Not everything requires a tech solution erstwhile an old-school merchandise drawback works perfectly good - though determination is simply a information vantage to beryllium gained.

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

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

And the unusual part?

I mentioned determination were 2 unusual things astir driving the UK's archetypal car without a rear window. The archetypal is, erstwhile you look implicit your enarthrosis erstwhile reversing, for example, you're met with a achromatic void down the rear seats.

When you've been driving for much than 20 years similar me, that requires immoderate adjustment. You person to spot the cameras successful the "mirror" and connected the screen.

And the genuinely unusual thing? You can't cheque your complexion successful the rear presumption reflector - and that takes much getting utilized to than anything.