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What's the difference?
Polestar finally has more than one offering in its Australian model range. Following the Polestar 2 sedan that arrived in late 2021, and the recently launched Polestar 3 large SUV, the Geely-owned marque has just launched the model that is expected to be its top seller.
The Polestar 4 is a medium coupe-style SUV with liftback vibes, and it is set to line up against some of the most popular EVs on the market, including the Tesla Model Y.
Although, as Polestar execs claim, and the price suggests, it’s a more premium offering than the Tesla.
It is loaded with new technology, including a digital rear-view camera that replaces a traditional rear windscreen, which will either appeal to, or alienate buyers. Probably the former given the appeal of new tech to EV buyers.
But can the Polestar 4 snatch attention away from Tesla and the other solid electric SUVs of a similar size? Read on to find out.
Zeekr isn’t your average Chinese newcomer brand.
Born from ideal conditions in the primordial automotive soup created in the blend between Geely and its Swedish subsidiaries, Zeekr promises European driving refinement blended with the rapid development cycles and intense technological focus of China.
In some ways, you can think of it as the opposite and more Chinese side of the coin to Polestar, with Geely and Volvo as parents.
You’ve probably already heard the chatter around its first two models which have just arrived in Australia the X small SUV (the brand’s take on the Volvo EX30) and its wild 009 people mover, but what we’re looking at today, is its next and possibly most significant model, the 7X mid-size SUV.
Set to arrive in the second half of 2025, we were granted a very brief preview drive of a top-spec Chinese version in the brand’s home province. Is this electric mid-sizer worth looking out for? Read on to find out.
Polestar may be a Tesla rival but the Polestar 4 looks and feels much more premium than the Model Y. The brand has taken its time to get the cabin just right and the sustainable materials don’t feel cheap in any way. In fact, this car feels special.
I may not be a fan of some of the tech - the digital rear-view mirror, for example - but many people will be drawn to the car because of these features.
On the road, the Polestar 4 is a cracking EV, with excellent driving range and a fun factor that can’t be denied. That aftersales offer is just the cherry on the cake.
This is Polestar’s best chance yet of being accepted by the masses.
Note: CarsGuide attended this event as a guest of the manufacturer, with travel, accommodation and meals provided.
The Zeekr 7X looks better in the metal, impresses with its European cabin ambiance and slick build quality from behind the wheel, and dazzles with its impressive specifications and wild software.
There’s unfortunately a lot riding on local calibration, all the way from ride and handling to driver assist tech. We’ve driven cars from new brands which initially look impressive, but end up being infuriating to live with, and it will only take local testing in the second half of 2025 to figure out whether Zeekr can manage to bypass some of the teething issues its rivals have faced.
It’s also a shame some combination of ADRs and the relatively small size of our market will kill off some of the coolest features this car gets overseas.
Regardless, there’s an impressive product here at least on our limited initial impressions, one which leans on its blended DNA to seemingly provide the best of both worlds - Chinese forward-facing tech, with European platform design. If this sounds like it could call out to you the Zeekr 7X is certainly a launch in 2025 worth keeping an eye on.
Polestar pitches itself as a design-led brand and so far that checks out. The Polestar 2 is a striking sedan, the 3 is a bold, boxy, big SUV and now the 4 is the latest sexy addition to the range.
As mentioned, it is technically a medium SUV but it has a distinct fastback look. Polestar calls it a coupe-SUV. Whatever it is, it looks smashing in the metal.
The sleek silhouette pairs nicely with the split LED headlights and low-set front end. While there is an elevated ride height, it manages to sit low enough to the ground to look sporty.
The most interesting angle of the Polestar 4 is the rear. This car does not have a rear windscreen. The tailgate is made up of aluminium panels instead of glass, but the massive panoramic roof stretches back to the top of the tailgate.
The squared-off rear sits up high and houses gorgeous tail-lights that span the width of the car. Even though the rear is controversial given the lack of window, it’s probably the Polestar’s best angle. It’s unique and striking.
The Polestar 4’s interior design is best described as stylish minimalism. It is much more interesting than Tesla’s appliance-like cabin design, and it’s clear a lot of thought has gone into the interior. There are virtually no buttons which helps the look, but that can impact practicality.
The integrated air vents look stunning as does the flat-bottom steering wheel.
A mix of whites, and light and dark grey materials are broken up by pops of colour like gold seatbelts.
Recycled material is found throughout including the floor mats, dash toppers and seat upholstery, some of which is inspired by the fashion and sportswear industries. But being Polestar, it’s with a sustainable twist.
At a distance the 7X looks, I suppose, like just another Chinese electric SUV. The sleek amorphous body shape is so synonymous with new electric vehicles, they may as well be designed by AI.
A closer inspection reveals a more subtle car, with a hint of aggression about its alloys and sturdy wheel arches. Its stance on the road is certainly more ‘European performance SUV’ than ‘generic family mid-sizer’, especially in the high-spec versions we had a chance to sample.
While I do think it will miss out on a bit of personality in its face without the clever pixel LED light bar it gets in the Chinese market, the rear three quarter might be its better angle, with 3D-style light fittings sliced out of the bodywork, blending with the bootlid spoiler and little flick of the panelwork down below to make for a hint of the sporty capabilities which lie below.
The inside is even better, though. Frameless doors give way to a space packed with lavish trims complete with an immediate and surprising feel of quality. You could be sitting in an upmarket Volvo or Polestar easily, you’re just confronted with an unknown logo on the steering wheel.
It also takes on more personality on the inside, with clever 3D-look ambient lighting inlays, ultra-sharp screens with dazzlingly fast software, and switchgear which feels as premium as any luxury brand.
The giant and completely dominating central touchscreen might not be for everyone, but it’s part of Zeekr’s mission to bring the overbearing sense of tech from the Chinese market to the luxury space.
It strikes me, sitting in the 7X, the days of Chinese cars being cheap and cheerful are laregely behind us. There aren’t even remote reminders, as you might still find from time to time in a GWM or MG product.
There aren’t cheap plastic panels where there shouldn’t be, there aren’t areas where it feels like the design doesn’t quite match up, there aren’t odd bits of switchgear which don’t feel as quality as they should, or mismatching fonts, or software which doesn’t match the rest of the car.
It’s this attention to detail which makes a car feel more than the sum of its parts, and it’s clear Zeekr’s Gothenburg design studio hasn’t been limited in its scope in bringing a sense of completionism to every part of the cabin.
Sliding into the driver’s seat, the first thing I notice is how high the centre console sits. This is clearly a Polestar thing because it’s similar to the 2. This adds to the sporty feel of the cabin, but I don’t know if it needs to be that high.
It does however liberate a massive amount of storage space under the console. You could fit a handbag, shoes or other items there, and Polestar offers accessories like bicycle-esque bottle holders.
There’s more storage in the smallish central bin which also houses two USB-C ports, a half-hidden phone charging pad, and door bins that will fit a larger bottle, but only lying down.
The seats are comfortable and the cloth-like sustainable material in the Singe Motor grade looks great, but it can grip on to clothes a little. The perforated Zinc-coloured ‘animal welfare’ Nappa leather in the Dual Motor is stunning and probably what I would opt for. Which is rare given I am no leather fan. But whatever the material, there’s a decent amount of support on offer.
If you opt for the Nappa upgrade ($7000) you get Harman Kardon speakers embedded in the front headrests. It’s an interesting addition but it sounds quite cool when you realise where the sound is coming from.
Aside from the ‘play’ dial on the console, there are very few visible buttons. Meaning every function is housed in the central 15.4-inch landscape digital display.
I recently spent some time in another new Geely Group product - the Volvo EX30 - which has a similar set-up.
Thankfully, the menu is easy to navigate and the main screen is split between nav (running Google Maps of course) and up to four other functions, including apps like Spotify, a quick link to often-used controls and whatever else you want to customise.
Aside from the visually appealing graphics and colours, the display is crisp and easy to get your head around. The air con is easy to access and you use the screen to change the direction of the vents, which oscillate on the passenger side.
The ambient lighting which is solar system themed is pretty cool, too. You pick the colour by planet. And the ‘Hey Google’ command appears to work well.
However, functions like opening the glove box should still be a physical button. There is no reason it needs to be housed in the screen. Also, adjusting the exterior mirrors and steering wheel required a lesson from the Polestar team. You can do it via the screen, or by using the smart controls on the steering wheel that change depending on what function you need.
Again, this is very clever tech, but is it that necessary? Just because Tesla does something, doesn’t mean every other EV brand on the planet needs to follow suit.
Then we get to the digital interior rearview mirror. While the lack of a rear windscreen does not impact the look of the car negatively, it’s another element that feels like tech for tech’s sake. Is there really enough of a benefit to interior space to justify this radical change to the car?
The display is clear but when you look at it then the exterior mirrors, the object in the display seems closer than the mirrors. There’s also no washer for the camera, with Polestar suggesting the angle means it doesn’t need one. The question remains, what happens if it malfunctions?
I realise you can’t see out the back of plenty of vehicles, like trucks and, often, delivery vans. It’s also something you have to navigate when you pack your car full of gear for holiday and can’t see past all the luggage. And I appreciate many more people will be drawn in by the tech of it all. But for me it remains the answer to a question no one asked.
Moving to the rear, the slightly bucketed seats are plush and supportive and there is acres of legroom thanks to the Polestar 4’s 4.8-metre wheelbase. It is a spacious cabin no doubt, but the placement of the battery pack under the floor means your knees sit up higher than they would in an ICE car. It’s a similar phenomenon in Tesla models. There’s also no toe room under the front seats.
You can, however, recline the rear seats slightly, making for a more relaxed vibe back there. There are amenities like rear digital climate controls, more USB-C ports, chest and knee-level air vents, and a fold-down arm-rest with cupholders, but big bottles won’t fit in the doors.
The boot appears shallow but there is under-floor storage where you can house the charging cable as well as flatter items. All up you get up to 526 litres of cargo space (that includes 31L under-floor), increasing to 1536L with the 60/40 split rear seats folded, while a front cargo space swallows 15L.
Polestar only offers a tyre repair kit for the 4, so no temporary spare.
The 7X’s dedicated electric SEA platform (a derivative of the same platform which underpins the Polestar 4) allows for familiar EV innovations like a flat floor and better integration for the battery pack. As a result, this feels like a quite, spacious mid-sizer.
Up front there seems to be great adjustability and a nice width to the cabin, and a nice sense of coziness provided by the plush trims and raised centre console.
A tilt-opening centre console box provides a large storage area below (which can be converted optionally to a fridge) while there’s decent storage in the doors, and a large cutaway under the centre console area.
Atop, there’s dual wireless chargers and dual cupholders with a sliding cover piece to keep things tidy when they’re not in use. Overseas versions at least also have nifty lift-open armrests with small storage areas good for sunglasses and the like.
While the screen is massive and is required to control many of the car’s functions, it’s not clear year exactly how deep the functionality of this software in Australian cars will be, suffice to say it will be more streamlined than the complex suite available in China at launch.
However, there are a set of four shortcut buttons plus a volume dial below the screen to add some physical functionality, which is always welcome.
There are also various customisable elements to the digital instrument cluster, setting it apart from the more basic versions out there on some rival vehicles.
Suffice it to say it will be easier to use for non-screen people than the Model Y, the incoming version of which will no doubt dump nearly all physical controls.
The second row immediately stands out thanks to its ease-of-access. The doors intentionally open a full 90 degrees, and you’re greeted with the open flat floor, making it easy to shuffle the whole way across if you’re only able to board or exit on the kerbside.
Space seemed more than sufficient for me (at 182cm) in the rear row, with airspace for my knees and plenty of headroom. The rear seats also offer power adjust and heating in overseas models.
We’ll miss out on the built-in mechanised tray and high quality entertainment screen option which was in the Chinese versions we tested.
In a clever touch, there are even a set of drawers under the rear seats for additional storage, to add to the standard bottle holders in the doors and drop-down armrest.
There’s tri-zone climate with touch panel controls on the back of the centre console, as well as some USB-C outlets for rear passengers. Adjustable air vents are located in the B-pillars.
The boot measures in at 539-litres which is decent, but perhaps not segment leading. It’s offered with quick release seats and a partitionable boot floor as well as a ski port.
Up front there’s a frunk, great for your charging cables, which measures either 66 litres in RWD versions or 42 litres in AWD versions.
Towing capacity according to European-spec vehicles measures in at 2000kg braked, although keep in mind it’s likely to be different for locally delivered vehicles as it will be measured when the car is complied with local suspension settings and to specific ADRs.
Polestar announced prices at the start of the year but the company lowered pricing by between $3000 and $4700 per grade ahead of the vehicle's arrival on Australian shores. That was enough of a drop to ensure it slides in under the Luxury Car Tax threshold.
Two grades are on offer initially, including the Long Range Single Motor real-wheel drive at $78,500, before on-road costs, and the Long Range Dual Motor all-wheel drive from $88,350.
Tesla’s Model Y starts at around $56,000 and tops out at about $83,000 for the Performance, so pricing for the Polestar 4 is aligned with something more premium.
Other similarly positioned EVs include the Hyundai Ioniq 5 ($69,800-$91,300), Kia EV6 ($72,590-$99,590), Skoda Enyaq ($69,990-$83,990) and the Subaru Solterra ($69,990-$76,990).
In a smart move, both grades come with an identical standard features list. The key difference is the powertrain.
The healthy standard equipment list includes the Android Automotive operating system, 'Google Built-in', wireless Apple CarPlay, eight-speaker audio, a 15.4-inch multimedia display, solar system-inspired ambient lighting, eight-way power driver’s seat and six-way powered passenger seat, 20-inch aero wheels and the camera-based interior mirror that replaces the rear windscreen - more on that later.
They also come with rain-sensing wipers, a digital key, keyless entry and drive, wireless device charging, heated front seats, digital radio and a panoramic glass roof.
There are a number of option packs available for both grades that bundle in features. The $8000 'Plus Pack' has the most features including increased AC charging from 11kW to 22kW, heated steering wheel and rear seats and a lot more.
There’s also a 'Pro Pack' ($2500), a Nappa leather upgrade ($7000) and the 'Performance Pack' ($7200) but that’s only available for the Dual Motor. There are also a number of individual options.
While the 4 comes with a decent level of kit, features like a head-up display are only available in the option packs. This and a few other items should be standard at this price.
Put simply, we don’t yet know how much the Zeekr 7X will cost. In fact, Zeekr in Australia probably hasn’t even decided how much it will cost yet. For a clue, though, pricing was just revealed in Europe, the 7X’s first export market.
There, it starts from roughly $75,000 for a base rear-wheel drive version, although it’s worth noting Geely group vehicles attract a 18.8 per cent tariff in Europe, and therefore we’d expect it to be quite a bit cheaper in Australia.
However, it will also need to steer clear of its much smaller Zeekr X sibling, which comes in two variants priced at $56,900 and $64,900, respectively. Based on these two factors I think it’s fair to speculate a range of $65,000 to $80,000 depending on variant.
On the topic of variants, expect three as the brand will look to mirror its range in China (as it has already done in Europe).
Kicking off proceedings is a standard range RWD with a 75kWh battery pack good for a 480km driving range on the WLTP cycle.
Then there’s a Long Range RWD variant with a 100kWh battery pack good for a 615km driving range, and finally there’s a Performance AWD.
For anyone shopping around for an EV, especially in this mid-size segment this will be a very familiar line-up.
It also boasts a solid amount of equipment, although some particularly impressive items available in its Chinese home market won’t be available in Australia thanks to some buzzkill Australian Design Rules (ADRs).
Still, you can expect extensive Nappa leather interior trimmings, not just the seats and wheel, but in the console and across the dash, too, with a full array of electric adjustments for the front seats with heating (EU cars have the option for ventilation and message functions, too).
It immediately leaps out at you on the tech front with a 16-inch 3.5K centre multimedia touchscreen. This unit is ultra-fast (using a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, for those who care) and has clever graphics on the home screen which show the surrounding weather conditions thanks to its always-online suite.
For those sick of cars without instrument clusters, the 7X gets a 13-inch unit for the driver and there’s also an option to add a 36.2-inch head-up display (at least on EU-market cars).
On the outside there are a set of LED headlights and tail-lights, frameless doors and 19-inch alloys.
Stepping up a grade on Euro-spec cars nets some minor items alongside the larger battery, including an auto-dimming rear vision mirror, and a power-adjustable steering wheel, while the top-spec all-wheel drive adds a significant boost to performance, active air suspension, upgraded brakes and perforated leather trim on the inside.
Again, these standard items might not mirror what ends up being available in Australia, but it should give you at least a good indication of what kinds of things to expect.
Some particularly cool things on the Chinese market versions we drove which can’t come to Australia thanks to design rule limitations include the pixel pattern panel on the front of the car (which adds quite a lot of personality to it), as well as a big electrically-folding touchscreen panel and tray table on the back of the driver’s seat perfect for entertaining kids.
Like Europe, it’s also possible we won’t get all the interior options available in China either, like the Ming Dynasty vase-inspired blue and cream interior trim option.
The other thing to note is despite its premium positioning, expect Zeekr to continue to undercut electric mid-size SUV rivals like the Audi Q6 e-tron, BMW iX3 and the Genesis GV70 electrified.
While the brand agreed comparisons to Tesla’s Model Y are “inevitable”, the car doesn’t really feel like a competitor, because its larger and also because it clearly intends to shoot above the mainstream space with its specs and interior feel.
Perhaps the biggest threat to the 7X though will be the surprisingly plush Xpeng G6 (from a crazy low $54,800) which should be arriving in customer hands imminently.
The battery electric Polestar 4 comes with two powertrain options.
As its name suggests, the Long Range Single Motor has one motor driving the rear wheels only, and it pumps out 200kW of power and 343Nm of torque. That’s enough to help propel the SUV from zero to 100km/h in 7.1 seconds, on the way to a 200km/h top speed.
The Long Range Dual Motor has a second motor on the front axle for all-wheel-drive grip, and the power and torque is bumped to 400kW and 686Nm, respectively. You’ll get to 100km/h a lot quicker at 3.8 seconds, too.
There are two drivetrains on offer with the 7X. The rear-wheel drive cars are equipped with a 310kW/440Nm motor, while the AWD version adds a second motor on the front axle for total outputs of 470kW/710Nm.
It’s a punchy set of outputs compared to most options in this segment, but as we’ve learned with electric cars, it’s all down to how well the car’s traction software and transmission settings communicate this power to the wheels.
Acceleration times look promising. Zero to 100km/h is delivered in six seconds for rear-wheel drive versions, or just 3.8 seconds in the all-wheel drive (0.1 of a second slower than a current Model Y Performance). Max speed on all variants is an electronically-limited 210km/h.
The top-spec Performance AWD also adds the aforementioned larger brakes and air suspension with active dampers to help keep things all tidy.
The Polestar 4 uses a 400-volt, 100kWh lithium-ion battery.
The Long Range Single Motor has a healthy EV driving range of up to 620km on the WLTP standard, and energy consumption ranges from 17.8 to 18.1 kilowatt hours per 100 kilometres.
Range in the Dual Motor drops to a still very useful 590km and efficiency sits between 18.7 and 21.7kWh/100km.
We were in and out of different grades at the launch so didn’t capture real-world efficiency but we will when we do a full review soon.
AC charging is at a rate of 11kW, but if you opt for the $8000 Plus Pack that increases to an impressive 22kW which ensures a zero to 100 per cent home charge (32-amp) in just five and a half hours.
DC charging capacity is up to 200kW and Polestar says you should be able to get from 10 to 80 per cent full in about 30 minutes.
These add up to solid figures for the price and segment.
It comes with a type 2 and CCS2 charge port and a home charging cable.
Efficiency seems about on par for a car this big and heavy, though it would be nice to see a step-change improvement. RWD versions have a WLTP-rated consumption of 17.8kWh/100km for the base Premium, or slightly less for the Long Range (17.7kWh/100km). The Performance AWD has a relative lust for energy, rated at a less impressive 19.9kWh/100km.
High consumption, of course, requires large batteries. The base Premium RWD gets a 75kWh lithium-iron phosphate (LFP) unit, providing a WLTP-measured 480km of range (about on par for the segment) while the Long Range RWD and Performance AWD versions get a 100kWh nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC) pack, providing an impressive 615km or 543km of range, respectively.
Regardless of battery choice, all versions have an 800-volt electrical architecture allowing a claimed 480kW max DC charging speed.
According to the brand this means a 10-80 per cent charge time as low as 13 minutes for the LFP battery or 16 minutes for the NMC battery.
It would make the 7X one of the fastest-charging vehicles in Australia, but keep in mind there aren’t many chargers (if any) currently capable of outputting such speeds.
Impressively, European versions at least can extract the maximum 22kW off an AC charger, allowing a slow-charging time of just 4.5 hours (LFP) or 5.5 hours (NMC).
We’ll have to wait and see whether this specification carries over to the Australian market, but it would be the only car in the class to get 22kW as standard if so. Again, good luck finding public slow chargers capable of outputting such speeds (most are 11kW or less), but it’s nice to have from a future-proofing point of view.
Additionally, the 7X is capable of outputting up to 3.3kW from its charging port in vehicle-to-load mode, which not all rivals offer. Check back next year to make sure this feature is equipped to Australian-delivered cars.
Some EVs tend to blend into one another when it comes to the drive experience. Thankfully, that’s not the case with the Polestar 4, which is the fastest Polestar model to date.
I drove the Single Motor and Dual Motor with the Performance Pack back to back, and both hold appeal for different reasons.
The Single Motor is the everyday Polestar 4 and it is the one I would choose. There is ample power and torque on offer and that 7.1-second 0-100km/h sprint time is nothing to be sniffed at.
Riding on the standard 20-inch aero wheels with a high sidewall, the Single Motor is composed with a comfortable ride quality. The drive from Adelaide via various winding and pockmarked roads to the Barossa Valley highlighted how well the Single Motor can handle these sorts of surfaces. It’s not as comfy as a Camry, but Polestar has ironed out most of the firmness.
Steering feels light but super sharp in the Single Motor and while there is a hint of body roll, it is still exceptionally capable on the twisty stuff. It also doesn’t feel anywhere near its 2230kg kerb weight.
The Dual Motor is a different beast, especially when paired with the Performance Pack. That pack adds, among other items, Brembo brake callipers and a ‘Polestar Engineered’ chassis tune.
It is brutally quick from a standing start. Like ‘pull your face back’ quick. Zero to 100km/h in 3.8sec to be precise. It’s a hoot, but it is much more than just a straight-line speed machine.
The Dual Motor carves up corners, again with slight roll, but it has no business being this sharp given its dimensions and weight. We sprinted (safely) through bends better suited to a tiny performance hatch with ease.
You can adjust the chassis to your preference. Suspension runs from 'Standard' to 'Nimble' and 'Firm', and steering is either Standard or Firm, the latter adding quite a bit of weight to the steering. Power delivery is either 'Range' or 'Performance'. Obviously, the latter is the most fun.
Even in Standard suspension mode, the ride is much firmer than the Single Motor, which isn’t helped by the massive 22-inch wheels. It is, however, never unbearable. In fact, it’s more than fine on some of the average roads we encountered.
The Polestar 4 is well insulated, ensuring a hushed cabin.
I had a very short test drive of the top-spec AWD Performance 7X on a test course at the brand’s home test circuit at Ningbo, which included a pre-prepared ‘off-road’ feature and about two laps around the car park. So our drive impressions are limited.
Still, the 7X immediately feels the part from behind the wheel. Heavy, purposeful steering communicates the heft of an electric premium SUV well, and the top-spec air suspension handled its weight nicely on a curve course. The big brakes certainly work well and the ride dispatched a set of speed bumps with ease.
The ‘off-road’ section, a steep incline designed to be mounted sideways to showcase the car’s clever torque-vectoring traction system, was also easy to navigate, and the additional clearance provided by setting the active suspension to its off-road setting was notable.
Additionally, the set of surround cameras were some of the better ones I’ve used lately to get a sense of where the important bits of the car actually are when you can’t see yourself.
From what I could tell, though, you can certainly feel the weight of the massive 100kWh battery pack, so don’t expect the 7X to be an ultra agile machine. You can also feel the increase in dimensions compared to a Model Y - this is certainly a larger SUV.
Still, the quality of the cabin and the ambiance inside jumped out at me, as did the sleek software and overall premium feel.
Make sure to check in prior to the local launch of the 7X for more detailed impressions of cars with local calibration settings. It’s likely Australian delivered cars will receive regional damper settings, and as always, the calibration of the driver assist systems will be key.
Even in my brief steer I felt the faint tug of lane keep assist on the wheel, so here’s hoping these features score their own local calibration which isn’t deal-breaking on day one.
I was also able to sample this car’s lower riding sibling, the 007 sedan, on the track. It proved as violently quick as you’d expect with its impressive specifications, although wrangling such power and weight requires a pretty strict electronic stability control (ESC) system. That occasionally sucks the fun out of corners and makes the car feel like it sometimes knows what’s best (and actually, maybe it does).
The brakes also proved to fatigue quickly at track velocities, although the same can be said for most EVs I’ve sampled, aside from the Audi e-tron GT which had impressive sustain.
If you’ve got your eye on this class of vehicle then, it might be worth the wait to compare it to the likes of the techy Audi Q6 e-tron, sedate but predictable BMW iX3, and decidedly more intriguing Polestar 3.
The Polestar 4 is yet to be assessed by ANCAP or Euro NCAP so it’s unrated for now.
But it comes with an extensive list of standard safety gear, including the latest advanced driver assist systems. That’s one of the benefits of sitting under the Geely umbrella next to Volvo.
This includes adaptive cruise control, ‘Collision Avoidance and Mitigation’, ‘Run-off Road Mitigation’, forward collision warning, lane keeping aid, ‘Post Impact Braking’, road sign recognition and ‘Driver Alert Control’.
Other gear includes ‘Blind Spot Information System (BLIS) with steer assist’, a cross-traffic alert with brake support and a rear collision warning and mitigation.
The Polestar 4 is fitted with 11 exterior cameras, 12 ultrasonic sensors and one front radar to help keep you safe.
It also comes standard with the 'Pilot Pack' that includes lane change assist and pilot assist, which is semi autonomous driving.
This car gets a set of active (crash avoidance) safety features so comprehensive whether they’re good or not will really come down to calibration.
Like Teslas, the 7X gets so many sensors and cameras it can provide a 3D visualisation in the dash cluster of all the people and objects around the car. It’s one of those new-age features which is undeniably cool and gives you an insight into how the car’s brain works.
The usual array of features otherwise is present including freeway-speed auto emergency braking, lane keep assist, blind-spot monitoring with rear and front cross-traffic alert, as well as door open warning, driver monitoring (with facial recognition, scary), as well as adaptive high beams.
It can even automatically park itself. Actually, in China, at least, it can completely drive itself. We were treated to a tech demo of this car’s fully autonomous “level three plus” driving mode on public streets in Hangzhou.
When on, it shows a complete visualisation of its surroundings and the road conditions on the nav screen. It performed reasonably well in immensely complicated surroundings.
It pre-emptively changes lane itself, somehow avoids the plethora of two-wheeled vehicles and rickshaws driving through every busy intersection in a Chinese city, and is completely capable of stopping then driving through sets of lights all on its own.
The only problem is the system taps into and relies on China’s vehicle-to-infrastructure connectivity. This is how it’s so accurate at knowing when to go and when to slow down at intersections. We’re way behind where we’d need to be for such technology to be deployed in Australia.
Plus it’s far from completely being able to drive itself. Occasionally it would merge into a bus stop lane and then have to merge back out, and at one point it managed to miss a freeway on-ramp and needed to circumnavigate the block to get back on.
Still, it’s a more sophisticated take on the tech than the exclusively freeway test I sat in for Tesla’s self-driving software a few years ago.
The Zeekr 7X is yet to be rated by ANCAP or Euro NCAP.
Covering the Polestar 4 is a five-year, unlimited kilometre new-vehicle warranty, and an eight year, or 160,000km battery warranty.
Complimentary roadside assist covers you for five years too.
The service schedule is every two years or 30,000km.
But the big news is that Polestar won’t charge you a cent for servicing for the first five years, or 100,000km of ownership, whichever comes first - it’s complementary.
This is an outstanding aftersales offer.
Zeekr currently offers a fairly run-of-the-mill five-year and unlimited kilometre new car warranty and an eight-year/160,000km battery warranty on its X small SUV which has already launched in Australia, terms which we expect will remain the same on its follow-up vehicles.
Additionally, there’s five years of roadside assistance and the X at least offers long service intervals of two years and 40,000km.
On top of this, Zeekr claims its OEM-backed dealer model will allow for better aftermarket support and parts supply compared to importer outfits, and it is adding a raft of features for a premium ownership scheme similar to those offered by Lexus and Audi currently. From launch the X is also offered with a 7.0kW home charger, as an example.
The brand also tells us it is planning to launch with a more basic version of the software suite in this car, but is also planning at least two major software updates a year which will progressively add more of the features available to Chinese consumers as time goes on.