Polestar 5 2026 review | Still want that Porsche Taycan?

What is the Polestar 5

If you’re a top company executive shopping for your next company car, chances are you’ve been sorely tempted by the Porsche Taycan.

Along with a handful of rivals, like the related Audi E-Tron GT and the BMW i5, it offers high-flying execs the chance to combine the company car tax breaks inherent in choosing an electric car, with a premium driving experience – and the sort of badge that won’t get you laughed out of the golf club car park.

Can you say the same about the Polestar 5? Well, Polestar’s stock has certainly risen in recent years. But its new model, the Polestar 5, is its most upmarket yet – and with it, Polestar is hoping to catch the eye of big cheeses who might fancy something a little different from the usual crowd.

How practical is it?

Is the 5 a saloon or a hatchback? Well, truth be told, it’s half-way between the two, with a boot opening that’s larger than a normal saloon’s, but nowhere near as tall or useful as a proper hatchback or estate.

On the plus side, the rear seats will fold down and split in 60/40 formation, allowing through-loading of longer items.

You get a total of 427 litres of luggage space in all, divided between the 365-litre boot and a 62-litre cubby beneath the bonnet. That’s a bit less than you’ll get in the Taycan, which offers as much as 491 litres with front and rear storage compartments combined; the BMW i5, meanwhile, offers 490 litres. That said, the 5 will still – just about – swallow enough luggage for a week away with the family

The rear seats, meanwhile, are sculpted into a pair of chairs that feel like the business-class recliners on an aeroplane. Sitting in the back of the 5 is a truly high-class experience, and feels more special than any of its rivals.

It’s roomy, too, particularly for a car with such a low, tapering roofline. Polestar says this is thanks to the lack of a rear screen, which has allowed it to extend the roofline back further and create more rear head room. Leg room will be more than sufficient even if you’re particularly tall, meanwhile.

There’s a chunky, comfortable central armrest that features its own control panel, and this can lift to turn into an emergency fifth seat – something you don’t get in the Taycan unless you pay extra for it. Granted, nobody will want to sit there for long, but given most cars of this type will rarely be used five-up, it’s an appropriate solution. For those who need a proper middle rear seat, the i5 is a better bet.

Up front, the seats are magnificently comfortable and almost infinitely adjustable, so you can spend hours in them without so much as a hint of back-ache. Visibility is excellent thanks to the low nose, low scuttle, and relatively slender pillars that extend far forward, giving you a good view out at junctions.

Toward the back, it’s a slightly different matter. As we’ve already said, there’s no rear screen, which means looking behind you when parking isn’t merely a case of turning in your seat. Instead, rear visibility comes thanks to a camera arrangement at the back of the car, which broadcasts to a small screen in lieu of the rear-view mirror.

Sounds flash, but in reality it can be a pain to use, because it takes time for your vision to adjust between the two different focal depths of the screen and the road outside each time you look at the screen – something that doesn’t happen with a proper rear-view mirror.

There’s bad news on in-car storage, too, because simply put, there isn’t much of it. The main problem is the lack of a traditional glovebox. Polestar has tried to make up for this with lots of small cubbies – but the fact is, if you’ve got a larger, bulkier box or bag to stash away, there’s nowhere really to do so except the front boot.

What’s it like to drive?

The overriding thing you need to know is that the 5 is fast. That’s true whichever model you go for – even if it’s the basic version. Though in this case, ‘basic’ is doing a lot of heavy lifting, because the 5 Dual Motor gets a maximum output of 737bhp – enough to send it to 62mph from rest in 3.9 seconds.

In the unlikely event that’s not quite rapid enough for you, there’s also the Performance variant, which gets an upgrade to 871bhp, allowing it to complete the same sprint in just 3.2 seconds.

Both versions come with a 112kWh battery, but the Performance drains it rather more rapidly, which is why it’ll probably only manage a little over 300 miles between charges in the real world. By comparison, the Dual Motor model should manage closer to 350 miles.

Out on the road, that pace is visceral. Floor the throttle in the Performance model and you find yourself emitting an involuntary gasp as your stomach is punched from behind by the seat and your head pinned to the head rest.

And yet, it’s controllable, too. Polestar has made the throttle’s travel long, which means it’s easy to apply power gradually, and that means the 5 feels docile and smooth when you aren’t in need of full-bore acceleration. It’s only really when you really punch it that it takes off like a scalded cat.

This sense of civility permeates the whole car, in fact. There’s a subjective sense of wellbeing to the way the 5 drives that isn’t easy to measure. You can feel it in the beautifully defined control weights, and the way the pedals feel. The 5 is even a delight to drive slowly – a sure sign that time has been taken by its engineers to get everything just-so.

The 5 is at its best when fitted with the magnetorheological dampers that come as standard on the Performance model (and, sadly, can’t be chosen as an option on the more affordable Dual Motor).

These allow it to gloss over bumps and ruts far more smoothly than most of its rivals. Granted, the 5 still doesn’t waft like a Bentley, but that isn’t necessarily a bad thing; what it offers instead is a sense of isolation without a complete disconnect from what’s happening beneath you.

In the Dual Motor, without the trick suspension fitted, the ride quality becomes firmer and less forgiving, which is a bit of a pity; even so, it’s not intolerable, and no worse really than that of a Taycan.

In corners, the 5 displays a studied neutrality that might sound dull, but actually gives you immense confidence in the car, given the amount of power on offer. The way you can flow it through bends, leaning on the immense grip and using a surprising proportion of all that grunt to fire you through corners and out the other side, is a delight. True, it doesn’t involve you in the process as much as a Taycan, but it’s perfectly pitched for a large, comfortable grand tourer – which, essentially, is what it is.

Technology, equipment & infotainment

There are only two models in the range – Dual Motor and Performance – and for the most part, they share a decent equipment list that includes artificial suede upholstery, heated front seats, four-zone climate control, ambient lighting, wireless phone charging, a panoramic glass roof, and cruise control.

That said, there are some curious omissions here; Polestar, for example, will make you pay extra to get adaptive cruise control (only available as part of the pricey Pilot Pack), and if you want heated rear seats – available as standard on some much cheaper cars – you have to fork out for the upgraded Climate Pack.

Key differences with the Performance model include an upgrade from 21- to 22-inch wheels, a Bowers & Wilkins audio system, and those magnetorheological suspension dampers.

Polestar’s interiors have always been very touchscreen-centric – that is to say, most of the functions are devolved into the central screen. And while that does mean the 5’s cockpit feels cleanly styled and uncluttered, it also means that it can often take you far longer than it needs to to access certain key functions that might otherwise be switched on and off with a button.

That applies even to key functions like the headlights, which can make them harder to activate right when you need them – for example, when entering a patch of heavy weather, right when your eyes need to be on the road. What’s more, there are so many functions to control that sometimes the menus can feel a little bewildering.

At least the touchscreen itself responds swiftly, and the big, clear on-screen ‘buttons’ aren’t too fiddly.

Polestar 5 running costs

It might sound like something of a misnomer to describe a car that starts at around £90,000 as good-value – but believe it or not, that’s what the Polestar 5 is.

Compare it with the BMW i5 to see what we mean. Granted, the i5’s range starts at a significantly lower price – indeed, perhaps a Single Motor version of the Polestar would be a good idea, as a more cost-effective entry point to the range?

However, to come even close to the 5’s performance specifications, you have to choose the i5 M60, which will set you back several thousand pounds more than the 5 Dual Motor.

Even then, the i5 M60 can’t hold a candle to the entry-level 5’s battery range. And while the basic Porsche Taycan can, it’s a much slower car; to get performance to match that of the 5 Dual Motor, you have to choose the Taycan 4S – which isn’t only more expensive than the Polestar, but it’s about 20 miles shy of on range.

In other words, the 5 doesn’t come cheap, but it does offer a lot of bang for your buck – more so than any of its key rivals.

Its energy efficiency of 3.5mi/kWh (in Dual Motor form; the Performance is much less efficient) bests rivals of similar performance, too, thanks in part to the Polestar’s particularly aerodynamic profile.

Private car tax costs are on a par with rivals, though if you’re choosing the 5 as a company car, you’ll be more concerned about its BIK tax liability, which is pretty reasonable when compared with cars of similar performance given its lower P11D value.

And like most EVs, the 5 only needs to be serviced every two years or 20,000 miles, whichever crops up first.

Polestar 5 reliability

We don’t have much information about Polestar’s reliability to go on. For example, in the latest What Car? Reliability Survey, Polestar didn’t feature, which is likely because too few owners took part in the survey to allow for an accurate rating of the brand’s reliability record.

What we can tell you is that in the 2025 running of the Survey, in which Polestar was included, it came 23rd out of the 30 manufacturers that were included, which frankly isn’t a brilliant result.

It’s also worth noting that you only get a three-year warranty with a 60,000-mile cap with the 5. That’s the bare minimum one can expect from a new car warranty these days, and it’s bettered by BMW and Porsche, who both offer three-year warranties with no mileage limit.

If you’re willing to go ‘non-premium’ and opt for a much cheaper Kia instead, you get a seven-year warranty – so it feels like a bit of a shame that Polestar can’t offer you more.