Polestar organized a multi-leg press drive that will eventually take the Polestar 5 from Gothenburg, Sweden all the way to the Moroccan desert and a massive solar installation at Ouarzazate. The Everything Electric CARS crew picked up the car near Annecy in the French Alps and drove it down to Nice along the Mediterranean coast, a route that is about as good a showcase for a luxury EV grand tourer as any route in Europe. What came back from that drive is a substantive impression of a car that genuinely delivers on its specification. The Polestar 5 is 5 meters long, 2 meters wide, and just 1.44 meters tall, which keeps it out of SUV territory while giving the rear passengers more room than the profile suggests. A 106 kWh battery provides a realistic range of around 420 km under normal driving conditions, with more possible if you're restrained about pace.
The Polestar 5 competes directly with the Porsche Taycan Sport Turismo and the BMW i5 Touring in Europe, and less directly with the Lucid Air in the US. It sits above the Polestar 2 and Polestar 4 in the lineup as the brand's current flagship. The starting price of around £89,000 to £90,000 in the UK, rising to approximately £104,000 for higher-spec variants, places it in serious luxury territory. The dual-motor variant reviewed here is the longer-range configuration; a performance variant with even stronger acceleration exists but at shorter range. Polestar's UK sales have been growing steadily, and anecdotally the brand has been drawing in early Tesla adopters who want a premium alternative. The Polestar 5 is designed to close that argument by offering what the brand describes as its engineering pinnacle at launch. Notably, the car's sustainability credentials extend inside: every material in the cabin is either made from recycled inputs or designed to be fully recycled at end of life, a commitment that is more rigorous than most luxury competitors manage.
On the road, the car's one-pedal driving calibration drew particular praise. The Polestar 5 brings the vehicle fully to a stop under regen alone, which sounds like a baseline feature but remains inconsistently implemented across the industry. The dual-motor variant is estimated at around 3.2 seconds to 60 mph, with the performance version going faster still. Handling is described as highly confidence-inspiring: the car communicates well at the limit, holds a corner cleanly without mid-turn correction, and delivers the feel of a car engineered to be driven rather than merely piloted. The rear seat is genuinely comfortable for adults, with full-length panoramic glass overhead and a clever rearview mirror that converts to a digital camera feed, or can be switched to a conventional reflection when the rear seats are occupied. The main criticism is the entry height: getting in and out of a car this low requires a bit of flexibility, particularly for older buyers who are also the demographic most likely to be shopping at this price point.
Bottom line: The Polestar 5 is a compelling case that Swedish minimalism and genuine engineering quality can coexist at the top of the EV market. The range is real, the driving dynamics are serious, and the interior material commitments go further than most rivals bother with. At £90,000 it's expensive, but it's expensive in the way a Taycan is expensive: you can feel where the money went. If you're considering this segment, drive both before deciding. The Polestar may surprise you.