Polestar 4 SUV unveiled as Zeekr 7GT cousin for Australia

Having shed its camouflage today, the new Polestar 4 SUV will land in Australia during the fourth quarter of 2026, giving buyers a more practical and substantially more conventional alternative to the continuing Polestar 4 coupé.

Unlike the original Polestar 4, the incoming SUV variant has a rear window, an elongated roofline and unpainted cladding. Proportionally, the sharp new derivative looks more akin to a raised European wagon than a conventional electric crossover.

But appearances are deceptive. The SUV has identical length and width to the standard Polestar 4, and its height differs by 22mm thanks only to its stand-off roof rails.

When it lands in Australia with RWD and AWD options, the Polestar 4 SUV will face a fascinating battle with its Geely Group cousin, the highly anticipated Zeekr 7GT.

Polestar says it developed just 48 new parts to transform its best-selling 4 coupé model into the SUV variant, fitting a straighter roof, upright tailgate, conventional rear glass and full-length gloss-black roof rails.

The design team had conceived a wagon version of the Polestar 4 from the model’s inception, but it was not initially approved, with the brand deliberately launching the radical coupé model, without a rear window, first to clearly stand apart from rivals.

Strong demand for a wagon-like electric vehicle in European markets forced Polestar’s hand. The resulting SUV grade retains the coupé’s 4840mm length and 2999mm wheelbase but lifts boot space from 500 litres to 530L behind the cargo cover.

A much wider boot aperture that does away with the coupé model’s fixed rear divider liberates not only 1665L of space with the rear seats folded 60:40, but creates a much wider opening for loading bulky items.

The closest conceptual rival to the Polestar 4 SUV is likely to be the Zeekr 7GT. Both are Geely Group brands: Zeekr is the ‘Chinese premium’ counterpart to Polestar’s ‘European premium’ tier in the hierarchy of the Hangzhou-based conglomerate.

“We’re working quite hard in separating the brands, in finding what is a Polestar [and] what is a Zeekr,” said Polestar program manager Johanna Berg.

Under the skin, the 7GT and Polestar 4 are not identical, with each car having various advantages and disadvantages. Both have double-wishbone front suspension, but only the Scandinavian car nabs an even more sophisticated virtual kingpin axis.

On the other hand, the 7GT counters with air suspension for its top model, more power and an 800V architecture that outpunches the Polestar 4’s 400-volt system, which tops out at 200kW DC charging (10 to 80 per cent in 30 minutes).

The single-motor RWD version of the Polestar 4 produces 200kW/343Nm and is priced from $73,900 plus on-road costs, with the dual-motor AWD making 400kW/686Nm from $81,750 plus ORCs.

Beyond standard kit such as a 15-inch touchscreen with Google OS, Apple CarPlay, a power tailgate, heated front seats and a heated steering wheel, a $6500 Plus pack adds Harman Kardon audio, a head-up display, pixel LED headlights and reclining rear seats.

Dual-motor cars with the Plus pack can be upgraded with a $7200 Performance suite that adds adaptive damping, 22-inch wheels, Brembo brakes, gold accents and Pirelli P Zero tyres.

Production of the Polestar 4 SUV commenced in secret in Busan, South Korea, during the second quarter of this year ahead of global deliveries kicking off shortly, with an Australian release still pencilled in for late 2026.

Clearly, it’ll take a twin test of the Polestar 4 SUV and Zeekr 7GT to see which of Geely’s midsize electric wagons deserves to take the crown.

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