An Over-the-Air Update Made the 2026 Polestar 4 a Whole Lot Better

In addition to the 544-horsepower Dual Motor model, which is all Nick drove last time, I got to try the Single Motor PS4. Its rear-mounted motor makes 272 hp, which I’d call sufficient but not sprightly. Aside from its accelerative disadvantage, the Single Motor model I drove stood out because of its simpler suspension.

The less expensive car’s passive dampers allow more lean through tight corners and a bit of float when cresting a rise, whereas the Dual Motor’s adaptive units keep things more tied down. This additional freedom of movement lets on that this is a heavy car, as most EVs are. That said, the smaller-diameter wheels — standard 20-inchers instead of the 22-inch wheel-and-tire combo that comes with the Dual Motor’s Performance pack — had more sidewall to mask the little stuff, resulting in better secondary ride characteristics. That’s a trade-off that some buyers may be fine with. I’ll reserve final judgment on wheel and suspension choice until we can sample the Dual Motor without the Performance pack, which wears 21-inch wheels and has a less aggressive suspension tune.

Polestar engineers told me that a lot has changed since Nick drove that preproduction model in Europe — too many tweaks to enumerate. Systems that have been touched include the steering, suspension, stability control, propulsion and driver assistance functions. Nick had trouble with a persistent watch-the-road admonishment from the car, but I didn’t encounter that once, thankfully.