Can you imagine a car without a rear window? The Polestar 4 ditches the rear window in favor of a camera providing a feed of what’s going on behind the car.
The Polestar 4 ditched its rear window for a digital camera system, and CEO Michael Lohscheller says 80% of customers get used to it quickly and then love it. It’s a bold move that perfectly splits opinion – you either think it’s genius or completely ridiculous. Here’s why Polestar actually wants people to hate some of their design choices and what this means for the future of car features.
Something different, on purpose
If you think electric vehicles are becoming extremely vanilla in terms of styling, you’d be right. It seems like every automaker is copying Tesla is some way, but Polestar is purposely making a vehicle with a polarizing car design. This could be the future of electric vehicle innovation and adding controversial car features might create much more buzz and conversation around electric vehicles. Polestar wants people to either love this new design or hate it, and that means they actually feel something about the new car.
Can you get used to losing the window?
Now that the Polestar 4 is being built without a rear window and a camera to provide the feed from behind the car, it begs the question of whether or not drivers can get used to it. This is one of the most significant Polestar 4 design features, giving you a digital rearview camera to provide the feed you need. For some drivers who have already become dependent on their rearview cameras to back a vehicle out of a space, this technology is only the next step forward. For others, the lack of a window in the back can be disturbing.
Is the CEO worried?
Polestar’s CEO, Michael Lohscheller, had an interview with Autocar in which he said that most customers like the rearview mirror instead of the window. As many as “80% of customers get used to it very quickly and then they like it, but I will say there are also people who don’t like it.” The rear window replacement technology is simply a rearview camera system, but it provides a much better overall view of the area behind the car than most other rearview camera systems.
Betting on crossing lines
The Polestar 4 rear window camera replacement system, is buzzing in the industry, and it has helped improve sales for the company. At a time when EVs are experiencing a slowing of sales, this is one of the many automotive design trends that has helped improve sales totals during the first half of the year. Polestar’s global sales increased by 51.1% over the same period last year, producing 30,289 units compared to 20,047 during the same time period last year. Of course, last year’s sales figures were a bit disappointing, but you still have to compare the figures from one year to the next.
The camera feed shows up on the rearview mirror
Some people look at the rearview camera feed on the infotainment screen to see what’s going on behind the vehicle, but rear-camera mirrors have become more of a common feature in modern cars. Many luxury vehicles offer this feature and the new Polestar 4 provides this feature as well. A rear-camera mirror system provides a clear view of what’s going on behind the vehicle. This is a great feature because it can’t be obstructed by too much stuff being piled up in the rear of the vehicle.
Does the style change much?
A car without a rear window sounds like it has a huge change and might have performance-oriented reasons, but that’s not the case. In fact, the Polestar 4, without a rear window and a camera system in its place, doesn’t look strange, and the rear seats are roomy. There’s plenty of light allowed in because the car has a glass roof, which seems a little odd, but that’s what you get with new designs.
Would you drive a vehicle that requires you to use a camera system to back your car out of a parking spot or your garage? Considering the feed appears on the rear-camera mirror, which is a replacement for a traditional rearview mirror. The new Polestar 4 doesn’t have a rear window and offers a camera system instead, which has the EV world buzzing. That’s exactly the way Polestar wants it.