Polestar 4: My experience driving Tesla's rival - the car with no rear window - through the Highlands

Having only ever owned a 2007 Vauxhall Agila, which I bought for a few hundred pounds, this fresh-out-the-factory electric vehicle (EV), with a price tag of around £60,000, made me feel a bit insecure as I stood next to it.

I had never driven an EV before, but took up the opportunity when asked to test drive the car from Edinburgh to Torridon, on the west coast.

“What could go wrong?” I asked myself. “Surely you just charge it up, push a button and go.”

In theory yes, but, for a novice, it turned out to not be that simple.

Sliding into the slick, space-ship-like car onto seats made out of recycled plastics to mimic the feel of an expensive Nike sneaker (so I was told), I realised this vehicle wasn’t just any old EV.

The Polestar 4 is the first mainstream car in the UK to have no rear window. Instead, a camera relays images to a screen in the place of a rear view mirror.

While you can technically see more than you would with a mirror, this takes some getting used to. It’s like watching the tele. If you move your head about, the image doesn’t change. Also, it takes a moment for your eyes to adjust to a screen than a reflection.

Polestar, owned by Volvo, is also the first automotive company to integrate Google for voice recognition. Say ‘hey Google’ out loud to the car and you get a response. Car-related changes are controlled by a touch screen at the front, which is huge and very user friendly, like an iPad.

One criticism I have with this is too much of the functionality of the vehicle is in the screen. I found myself wishing there were more actual buttons for simple tasks as I sat trying to work out how to open the boot for 15 minutes.

But, on the plus side, there is an app that comes with the Polestar 4 that takes you through all the planets if you need a break in between working out how things function.

As with most electric cars, there is a “selector” to hit the car into drive, reverse or neutral. In Polestar 4’s case, it’s just a lever at the side of the wheel where there is also a button to press for parking mode.

The car detects outdoor temperature and heats up the steering wheel automatically when it’s a bit nippy. Hitting the road on a cold spring day in Scotland, the wheel became so hot I couldn’t keep my hands on it at times. I started to think about the fleet of rival Teslas being torched and thought for a moment: “Does this one just self combust?”

As I rested my arm on the window sill, pondering whether I liked the car having this much control, a message flashed up on the dashboard warning me to not fall asleep while the Nike shoe seat, like a giant foot wiggling its toes, massaged my back.

I realise I am coming across as a bit of a luddite and ungrateful. The Polestar 4 is an incredibly smooth and luxurious vehicle to drive.

The sound system with its Dolby Atmos speakers provides an excellent accompaniment, and even better if you’re a passenger as deleting the rear window means a lovely panoramic roof that extends further over the backseats.

I happened to be giving Shetland-born musician Conrad Griffiths a lift who coincidentally released a new single that week called The Plough, which is all about how the polaris, aka the Pole Star, guides one home.

With the quality sound, airtight feel and array of gadgets, the car has a bit of a studio-like feel to it, so much so that you sometimes forget you’re in a car. I kept having to keep an eye on the speedometer - not just for the law, but also for the battery.

The Polestar 4 has an impressive range for an electric vehicle - up to 385 miles for the single motor - one of the best in the current market.

Charging it was an experience. After trying to tap my bank card on a charging pod, I was told by a fellow EV driver that I needed a special membership card to use that specific machine.

It turns out there’s a network of various kinds. I could feel him wanting to say “all the gear, no idea”. It turned out I was just unlucky with where I decided to stop as most charging stations have Ionity ports, among others, which you can use to charge with the tap of a bank card.

The car can charge from 10-80 per cent in under half an hour with a 200kW charger, meaning you could cover around 500 miles in a day with just one short stop.

I was told powering up the car to 80 per cent was enough for the 215-mile trip, so I didn’t stop again.

I’d never experienced “range anxiety” before, but I guess once you do, you make sure you charge more than you need which, as a newbie, I hadn’t done.

Going above 70mph at points, and reaching the chillier climate around the Torridon hills, the battery ran down to 0 per cent a lot quicker than anticipated.

It was a long five miles on zero charge, made even longer from driving at snail’s pace to conserve the battery. A nervous silence filled the car as my passenger subtly turned off the music and slowly closed the windows so as to save every bit of electricity possible, the outline of the mountains against the crepuscular sky around us, reminding us daylight was fading and how remote we were.

But hats off to the Polestar 4, which I can confirm was able to do that last stretch on whatever reserve it had beyond zero, though I don’t recommend letting it get to that stage.

The range anxiety was quickly forgotten about as I pulled into the Torridon Hotel where there was charging pod and a five-star room for the night. There’s little wonder this location was voted Scotland’s 2025 hotel of the year with its relaxed yet ultra luxe vibe, high-end local cuisine and traditional Highland interiors with tasteful modern touches.

As I handed the Polestar 4 to a different courtesy driver on return, who had never driven one before, I tried to show him how to open the vehicle.

Sometimes the car senses the key in your pocket as you approach and the door handles extend for you to open. If not, you need to touch one of the handles to trigger this, though it can be temperamental. Failing to get it right several times, I ended up looking like E.T, wide-eyed and using his glowing finger to touch Elliot’s forehead as I tried to open the door.

Four attempts later, we cheered as it responded, after which I told him: “This car will amaze and infuriate you at the same time.”