Jay Leno spends most of this one sideways. The car is the Polestar 4 Arctic Circle, a rally-style build that Polestar's driving-dynamics engineer walks Leno through before the two go throw it around a rough, dirt course outside Los Angeles. The video reports 544 horsepower and 0 to 60 mph in 3.7 seconds from the all-wheel-drive electric powertrain, and the engineer explains that on the highway the car can disconnect one motor to stretch range, then bring it back the moment you start driving hard. This is not a spec-sheet showcase. It is a long, loose conversation about why an electric car built for ice and gravel might be more fun than the combustion rally cars Leno grew up with, punctuated by the sound of tires spitting dirt.
The Arctic Circle is a showcase build rather than something you can order, which matters for buyers: the car you can actually buy is the standard Polestar 4, and the engineer describes this one as development work, not a production model or a competition entry. What it is really built to counter is a specific worry. Cold weather remains one of the most common real-world knocks on EVs, and independent winter testing routinely shows range dropping in deep sub-zero conditions. The engineer says these cars work fine in the cold, that the battery heats itself as you drive, and that you can slide one across a frozen lake at speed without trouble. Parked overnight in the Arctic, he adds, the pack cools down, then warms itself once you start driving again. It is a direct answer to the question Polestar's Canadian and Nordic buyers keep asking. The engineer tells Leno the brand sells across the UK, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and the US, with the UK among its biggest markets and Canada growing, which makes cold-weather credibility more than a marketing line.
The engineer lists what separates this build from the road car: suspension raised by 20 mm, manually adjustable competition dampers, special 20-inch rims, Brembo brakes, extra lights up front, and a ski rack out back. The star is a hydraulic handbrake that locks both rear wheels, which the video says took real development because the all-wheel-drive system has to disconnect the rear motor before the handbrake will work, triggered by a switch. On range, the engineer quotes up to 280 miles for this dual-motor car and up to 320 miles for a single-motor rear-wheel-drive version rated at 272 horsepower and 0 to 60 in 6.9 seconds. He also recounts Polestar's history for Leno: spun out of Volvo about seven years ago, once Volvo's performance arm, now a separate company that still shares proving grounds and test methods with its former parent. The two also get into why electric suits sliding: the engineer says instant torque, with no waiting for a turbo, makes the car easier to place and tune on ice, and that regenerative braking gives strong pedal feel alongside the Brembo hardware. Leno keeps coming back to one idea, that the car lets you use all that power while still feeling in control, with Recaro seats holding you in place while you do it.
Bottom line: The Arctic Circle is a mood board, not a product, and that is fine. Its job is to make you believe an EV can be playful in exactly the conditions people assume kill electric cars, and on Leno's read it does. If Polestar is smart, the lesson filters down to the cars buyers can actually order: adjustable dampers, a proper handbrake feel, and confidence in the cold sell better than another tenth off the 0 to 60. For now, enjoy it as what it is, an engineer showing off in the dirt with a very game host riding along.
Commentary on a third-party video. Figures and claims are as presented in the source and have not been independently verified. Spotted an error? Tell us and we will correct it.