2027 Polestar 5 First Drive Review: The Right Car at the Wrong Time

• What's new: The Polestar 5 is an luxurious electric grand tourer set to compete with cars like the Porsche Taycan.
• Why it matters: It's Polestar's flagship model, which aims to set the standard for how a Polestar should look, feel and drive.
• Edmunds says: I drove the Polestar 5 across Europe, and it's exceptionally fun to drive, although questions about its U.S. arrival remain.

Real-life concept car

Let's start with the metal. The Polestar 5 (or "PS5" from here on out) is pretty much just 2020's Precept Concept with production-spec sideview mirrors, conventional doors and smaller wheels. It's a stunning thing to look at, a true concept car for the road. Whereas the Taycan looks at home among most amphibians, and the Mercedes-Benz EQS draws inspiration from the finest jelly beans, the PS5 pursues aerodynamic efficiency without sacrificing its good looks. 

Stacked against the Porsche, the Polestar is longer, outstretching it by 5 inches. It's also 2 inches wider and just under 2 inches taller. Yet despite its generous footprint, the PS5 offers 1.5 fewer cubic feet of cargo space in the rear, and it's down nearly a cubic foot beneath its hood. Also, now's probably a good time to tell you that, like the Polestar 4, it lacks a rear window, opting for a digital rearview mirror and camera array instead.

The bulk of the sedan's added length lies between its wheels, a space that's 6 inches longer than on a Taycan. This translates to a larger passenger compartment. Polestar wanted to pair this with enough rear headroom for most adults and an aggressively sloping roof. The compromise? Axing the rear window. Its vanishing allowed engineers to push the PS5's rear roof structure farther back, making enough room for the heads of chauffeured executives or very lucky children. 

There must be Stockholm syndrome at play, because as I log my first few kilometers across the French countryside, the PS5's lack of a rear window fades from thought. As gimmicky as it is at first, the live-view mirror is quite effective. I doubt you'd think about it after the first 15 minutes of ownership. As such, I've got some explaining to do, especially since I called its omission "a deal-breaker" when I first drove the Polestar 4 a few months ago. 

My concerns remain. The live camera feed lives on a bright screen inches from your face, which isn't exactly my idea of a luxurious experience. Log enough miles, and its failure becomes a when, not an if, at which point you'll be the person who spent six figures on a car for the privilege of not being able to see out of it. Thing is, you'll still have a Polestar 5 to look at while you wait for a tow truck, a more forgivable situation than were it the far less gorgeous PS4. After all, isn't beauty one of the main reasons we overlook red flags? 

An upgrade in every sense

Once it goes on sale in the U.S., the Polestar 5 will be available in two flavors: Dual Motor and Performance. I'm in the latter as I make my way through narrow passes on the way up the Pyrenees mountains to Andorra. The figures that accompany the PS5 Performance are as outstanding as they are meaningless: 884 horsepower, 749 lb-ft of torque and an advertised 0-to-60-mph time of 3.1 seconds. In short, it's a monster, but so are most versions of the Taycan, the Lucid Air and the Audi E-tron GT.

With this in mind, the PS5 Performance doesn't rely solely on rapid acceleration. Instead, it aims to provide the most communicative and engaging driving experience an EV with a claimed weight of 5,512 pounds can muster. Its primary tool is its MagneRide suspension, which uses magnets to rapidly change the viscosity of its fluid, allowing it to be both firmer and softer than a conventional setup. 

My tester pairs its adaptive suspension with one of the most beautiful wheel designs I've ever seen, measuring 22 inches versus the stock 21s, and wraps them in stickier Michelin Pilot Sport S 5 rubber measuring 255/35 up front and 295/30 in the rear.

Along the bumpiest European roads, the PS5 glides over rough stuff without complaint and with no unwanted vibrations disturbing the cabin. It then keeps its body and perfect 50/50 weight distribution stable with little excess movement on tight switchbacks, creating the impression that the Performance is much lighter than it is. 

This adaptive suspension, along with the smaller components that support it, results in steering that has excellent feel whether you're tracking straight or in the middle of a bend. It also picks up weight naturally as you increase your speed and approach the grip limit of your tires. It's masterfully done, which translates into a car that's confidence-inspiring and one you can drive quickly or slowly and still enjoy. 

It's a similar story with the brakes. Although the Performance gets the same four-piston calipers up front and multi-piece rotors as the Dual Motor, just painted gold (because Sweden), the pedal is fairly firm and doesn't travel much as you press. This makes it easy to modulate the amount of stopping power you want, creating a more intuitive experience.

From a dynamics standpoint, the Performance is practically faultless. It feels like the result of an engineering team working as if they're facing Porsche's best, because they are. The PS5 gets the details right, too. Its driving position lets you sit low in the chassis, while the steering wheel extends considerably. Whether you're big or small, finding the ideal driving position won't be an issue.

A noticeable step down

The beginning of my second drive day means swapping the Performance for the Dual Motor. At first glance, all of the good stuff carries over, such as the durable brakes, excellent ergonomics, and a healthy 748 hp and 599 lb-ft of torque; it isn't exactly a downgrade. The only visual differences are the lack of gold accents and the smaller 21- or 20-inch wheels. 

With more power than a Challenger Hellcat, it's no surprise the Dual Motor is quick. You'd need instrumented testing to tell it apart from the Performance. However, the same can't be said of its suspension. As the road begins to wind, the limitations of this car's fixed setup, which can't adjust for softness or stiffness, become clear. 

The Performance model offers three suspension settings: Standard, Nimble and Firm. The Dual Motor falls somewhere between the first two, meaning that despite its sporty moniker, the Performance offers better ride quality when you want it and the benefit of a firm ride in sporty settings, all while rolling on a larger wheel set. 

While the Dual Motor rides well enough for a grand tourer, its suspension compromises also show up in its less communicative steering. The resulting experience feels more in line with what I've experienced from competitors, whereas the Performance breaks away with a much less common true dual personality. 

The standard model does have the upper hand in terms of range, though. Both variants use the same 112-kWh battery pack and 800-volt electrical architecture. As such, they'll also charge from 10% to 80% in 22 minutes when hooked up to a 350-kW fast charger, or 33 minutes on a slower 200-kW plug. However, the Dual Motor is rated for 421 miles in the European WLTP cycle, whereas the Performance drops considerably to 346 miles. Expect those figures to come in closer to 350 miles and 300 miles, respectively, on the American EPA cycle. 

Where are the buttons? 

Like most cars in this segment and price point, the Polestar 5's cabin is almost entirely devoid of physical controls. It's a bummer, especially given that its overall fit and finish is stellar. Although this interior is almost entirely made of sustainable materials, its quality is no less impressive.

Peer through the steering wheel and you'll find a 9-inch instrument cluster paired with a vertically oriented 14.5-inch central display. Just above, you'll find the aforementioned 8.9-inch virtual rearview mirror. 

Stick with the Dual Motor car, and you get a 10-speaker audio system as standard, while the Performance upgrades to a 21-speaker Bowers & Wilkins setup. Given how quiet the PS5 is in both wind and road noise, either system will impress. 

Too much, too late 

Pricing remains a huge unknown. While Polestar has yet to announce figures for the U.S., the Dual Motor starts at 119,900 euros in Europe ($139,300 based on current exchange rates), while the Performance comes in at 142,900 euros ($166,000). However, a simple currency conversion won't unravel this mystery, especially given that the PS5 is manufactured in China, making it subject to our country's 125% tariff on Chinese-made vehicles.

The PS5 entered development long before the Taycan's sales woes — or the rest of the industry's for that matter — were as dire. Before the Biden administration increased the U.S.' 25% tariff on Chinese-made cars to 100%, and the Trump administration added a separate 25% tariff on top. Even if the PS5 had met its initial 2024 target release date, it would still have been affected.

The Polestar 5 is an impressive machine. In Performance trim, it's dynamically excellent, tremendously quick and fun to drive. With its adaptive suspension, it offers a true dual personality with some of the best looks of any EV to date. It does, however, ask that you go without a rear window, put up with a screen-heavy cabin, and pay a considerable premium to experience what should be its standard form.

If current market conditions and tariff policies endure, it won't matter that the Polestar 5 is technically excellent. It'll either be too expensive, not profitable enough, or both. It's simply the right car at the wrong time.