We have not driven the Polestar 5 ourselves yet. This piece pulls together what the people who have driven it are saying, checks their numbers against Polestar's own, and adds our view on what we can judge from the photos and footage: the design, the cabin and the packaging. The UK road tests went live on 6 October 2026, and Autocar reports UK deliveries begin this month.
The numbers, from Polestar
| Dual motor | Performance | |
|---|---|---|
| Power | 550 kW (737 hp) | 650 kW (871 hp) |
| Torque | 812 Nm | 1,015 Nm |
| 0-100 km/h | 3.9 s | 3.2 s |
| Top speed | 250 km/h | 250 km/h |
| WLTP range | 678 km (421 mi) | 558 km (346 mi) |
| Kerb weight | 2,500 kg | 2,500 kg |
| UK price | £89,500 | £104,900 |
Both use a 112 kWh, 800-volt battery. Reviewers put the usable capacity at 106 kWh. DC charging peaks at 350 kW, and Polestar quotes 10-80% in 22 minutes. AC charging is 11 kW only. It is 5,087 mm long on a 3,054 mm wheelbase, with a 365-litre boot and a 62-litre frunk. Polestar's global spec page lists 748 and 884 "hp"; those are PS figures, and the UK page gives 737 and 871 bhp.
The car is not sold in the US.
Is it as fast as Polestar says? Yes
Carwow's video set out to test whether Polestar was "lying" about the Performance. It was not. Carwow's own timing gear recorded 0-60 mph in 3.12 seconds against Polestar's claimed 3.1, and a 10.77-second quarter mile. The car's built-in timer read quicker than the independent gear, so take in-car numbers with a pinch of salt. Carwow also measured 60-0 mph in 32 metres, better than its usual benchmark.
Autocar's full road test recorded 3.2 seconds to 60 mph, confirmed 2,500 kg on the scales with a 50:50 weight split, and saw just under 300 miles of real-world motorway range. It averaged 196 kW on a rapid charger, below the Taycan Turbo S and Lotus Emeya S it compared it with.
What the reviewers agree on
The good: - The looks. It has road presence, and carwow rated it better-looking than the Taycan, e-tron GT and AMG's electric GT. - The speed. Nobody found it slow. - It handles better than 2.5 tonnes suggests. Autocar found real agility once the stability control was in Sport. The Independent praised the steering's "delicacy as well as accuracy". - A quiet, comfortable cabin. The rear has reclining, heated and massaging seats depending on spec, and good legroom thanks to footwells cut into the battery. - Cheaper than an equivalent Taycan. Autotrader put the Taycan with the same power at about £30,000 more.
The bad: - Almost everything is on the touchscreen. Autocar, Top Gear, What Car?, EVPowered and carwow all criticised the lack of physical controls and the unlabelled steering-wheel buttons. EVPowered said the interface problems were the only thing standing between the car and five stars. - There is no rear window. You get a camera mirror instead, which the Independent found gives a poorer image than glass. - The boot is small for a car this long, at 365 litres. - Weight and range. In practice the Performance does about 300 miles, and Autocar called the whole car "great but too late" against newer rivals. - Ride. It is firm on the Performance; Stuff found it borderline harsh. - Driving engagement. What Car? and Chasing Cars both said a Taycan still steers and rides better. Carwow added that there is no rear-wheel steering, so the turning circle is large.
Our take
It looks aggressive, and it is long. The Polestar 5 has the proportions to be properly menacing: a long, low fastback that fills its parking space. From the front and the side it works.
The tail lights let it down. This is where we part company with most reviewers, several of whom liked the thin full-width light bar. To us it takes the aggression out of the back of the car and makes the rear look a little odd for something this purposeful. It is the one part of the design we would change.
The cabin is decent, and the software looks good. Nothing in the reviews or the footage suggests a flagship-beating interior, and the Independent wanted more to set it apart from the cheaper Polestar 3, but materials and seats get consistent praise. The software itself looks clean and quick in the videos. The problem the reviewers keep raising is not the software but how much of the car's basic control has been pushed into it.
It is not locked into four seats, and we like that. Polestar calls the layout "4+1". The rear is two individual seats, but the centre armrest lifts away to make a fifth place when you need one. Reviewers agree the middle seat is for short trips, and it will not be as comfortable as the outer two. It is still more useful than a strict four-seater, and a real advantage for the occasional extra passenger.
There is nothing crazy about it, and that is both its strength and its weakness. It is a well-sorted, very fast, comfortable electric GT that undercuts the Taycan, rather than a car that changes the class.
The verdict
On the reviewers' evidence, the Polestar 5 delivers on its performance claims and makes a strong value case against the Taycan. The touchscreen-only controls and the missing rear window are the compromises to accept. For us, the tail lights are the one design miss on an otherwise handsome car. If we were buying, we would follow What Car? and Chasing Cars in looking hard at the Dual motor: more range, a softer ride and £15,400 less.
Sources: Polestar UK specifications (polestar.com, checked 6 October 2026); carwow, "New Polestar 5: are they LYING about how fast it is?" (YouTube, 6 Oct 2026); Autocar road test (6 Oct 2026); Top Gear; What Car?; Stuff; EVPowered; The Independent; Autotrader, Electrifying, Everything Electric and Chasing Cars (YouTube). Photographs: Polestar.