Polestar 5 production model finally debuts

Finally, Polestar has made the Precept concept (shown 5 years ago) a reality as the Polestar 5 Grand Tourer, and the production model has minimal changes. Revealed at IAA Mobility 2025 in Germany this week, the Polestar Design used aircraft for primary inspiration, evidenced by taut surfacing stretched over an aerodynamic wing-like profile with Kamm-style tail.

The low nose, featuring the SmartZone first seen on the Precept, is flanked by Polestar’s signature dual blade headlights complete with Pixel LED technology as standard. The relationship between wheel and bonnet line is especially close, a feat made possible by the car’s platform and unique to segment front suspension design.

Gloss black or Shade cladding along the lower section of the doors reduces the visual height of the 1420 mm tall car while the glasshouse matches the wing-like profile and sleek roofline. Notably, the modern, minimalist surfacing is free of unnecessary embellishment.

At the rear, there’s a specially designed aero-efficient lightbar with rear vent detail and integrated rear diffuser to improve airflow. With its flush frameless glass and retractable door handles, the resulting Cd is just 0.24.

The Polestar 5’s form has been made possible without compromising rear seat space by moving the rear header structure backwards behind rear seat occupants’ heads and employing the digital rearview mirror and virtual rear window (as on the Polestar 4).

The Polestar 5 also features the largest panoramic glass roof of any Polestar so far – at just over 2-metres long and 1.25-metres wide – ensuring second-row occupants enjoy a truly light-filled and spacious feeling.

“It was a dream to design the Polestar Precept, and even more satisfying to see it realised as a production reality with the Polestar 5. I’m proud of everyone who worked so tirelessly to ensure our vision remained absolutely true to the concept. I can’t wait to see customers have as much fun with this car as we had creating it,” said Head of Exterior Design, Nahum Escobedo.

Interior
Inside, the 4+1 seat fully electric performance GT is created with equal focus for driver and passengers. Front seats designed in collaboration with Recaro mix an especially low hip-point with supportive bolstering and typical Swedish comfort. The driving position of the Polestar 5 is deliberately reclined, with a performance focus, thanks to the low-slung seats and upright angled steering wheel brought close to the driver.

A 9-inch driver display is mounted directly to the electrically adjustable steering column, ensuring the display is perfectly positioned in line of sight, no matter the chosen position. Finally, the 9.5-inch head-up display completes the driver focused information displays.

Designed primarily as a 4-seater, the rear seats follow the same form design as the Recaro fronts and can be individually reclined for comfort. Raising the armrest allows a fifth seating position, the staggered configuration offering greater shoulder space, and turns the performance GT into a practical 5-seater.

A cut-out in the battery, known as the foot garage, behind the front seats gives occupants extra foot space and a more natural seating position.

ADAS with SmartZone
The Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are highlighted by the SmartZone, housing sensors, radar, and forward facing parking camera. The Pilot Assist function adjusts the vehicle’s speed and position in its chosen lane, at speeds of up to 150 km/h. In total, the Polestar 5 has 11 vision cameras, one driver monitoring camera, one mid-range radar, and 12 ultrasonic sensors.

There are also interior radars to detect the number, position, and type of occupants to deploy the correct safety measures in the event of an accident.

Performance Architecture
The Polestar 5 uses a brand new, bespoke, hot-cured bonded aluminium platform that forms the basis of the Polestar Performance Architecture (PPA). Using high-strength aluminium extrusions, pressings, and castings, the structure is light in weight and rigid, and affords the car with torsional rigidity higher than that of a 2-seat sports or supercar.

Weighing less than a comparable steel structure, the aluminium architecture also brings safety benefits, and the 112 kWh lithium-ion NMC battery (106 kWh usable) forms part of the structure.

Innovative engineering decisions, including the compact front double wishbone suspension, lightweight two-piece alloy-belled front disc brakes and steering rack placed ahead of the front axle, have all been made to deliver performance focused driving characteristics.

The Dual Motor version has sophisticated BWI passive dampers with hydraulic rebound stops, while the Performance version uses BWI MagneRide adaptive damping. The dampers read the road up to 1,000 times per second and can react within three milliseconds, thanks to magnetorheological fluid, providing excellent body motion control while maintaining comfort and an optimal response at all speeds.

The in-house developed electric rear motor contributes up to 450 kW and 660 Nm to the Performance’s 650 kW and 1,015 Nm total power output. This allows the car to accelerate from 0-100 km/h in a claimed 3.2 seconds, while the 550 kW Dual Motor takes 3.9 seconds to complete the same run. Both versions are electronically limited to 250 km/h.

The Polestar 5 is the first model of the brand to have 800V electrical architecture. The advantage of this is that DC charging can be up to 350 kW. The 10% -8 0% battery charge benchmark is said to take as little as 22 minutes and an external charging indicator on the C-pillar gives a first glance indication of the vehicle’s state of charge.

The Dual motor can travel up to 670 kms on a single charge while the Performance has a claimed range of up to 565 kms. For increased efficiency, the rear motor of the Polestar 5 can disconnect.

Polestar Concept BST presented at Goodwood Festival of Speed