ANNECY, France – Electric vehicles (EVs) are getting quicker, larger and more high-tech with every new launch. But few manage to feel genuinely distinctive. The Polestar 5 may change that.

The Swedish electric carmaker’s flagship is not just another high-performance, battery-powered machine chasing acceleration figures. Instead, it is a sleek four-door grand tourer designed to cover long distances quickly and comfortably, while wrapping the driver and occupants in minimalist Scandinavian luxury.

Born from the striking Polestar Precept concept car first unveiled in 2020, the production Polestar 5 remains faithful to the show car.

At 5,087mm long and just 1,425mm tall, the car has dramatic proportions. Its low nose, flush door handles, frameless windows and wing-like roofline give it a sleek side profile. According to Polestar, aviation inspired much of the design.

Beneath the sheet metal, the car introduces a new bonded aluminium platform where, instead of conventional steel construction, the chassis uses glued and bonded aluminium sections similar to aerospace engineering methods. Polestar says the resulting rigidity exceeds even some two-seat sports cars.

At the heart of the Polestar 5 is a 112kWh lithium-ion battery that powers two versions of the car: the Dual Motor produces 550kW and 812Nm of torque, while the flagship Performance version develops a formidable 650kW and 1,015Nm of torque.

Its headline performance figure is startling. The Dual Motor hits 100kmh in 3.9 seconds, while the flagship Performance version is 0.7 seconds quicker at 3.2 seconds.

That places the flagship Polestar 5 firmly in supercar territory. Yet, the numbers tell only part of the story.

To showcase the car to automotive journalists, Polestar drove 12 early-production models from Sweden to Morocco in a long-distance road trip dubbed “Sweden to Sahara” from end-May to June 1, covering some 6,000km across Europe and North Africa. The cars were shipped from Polestar’s plant in China to Sweden for the drive.