The defining design choice on the Polestar 4 is what it leaves out: there is no rear window. The tailgate is a solid panel, and Polestar replaces the view with a roof-mounted camera feeding a digital rearview mirror. The company’s argument is packaging - deleting the glass frees up rear headroom and luggage space. Dutch outlet AutoWeek has now documented the cost of that choice, publishing photos of several different Polestar 4s with the same problem: dented tailgates.
Why it happens. The reversing camera sits high on the tailgate and switches on with a delay. By the time the feed appears, a driver reversing toward a post or pillar can already be touching it. The ultrasonic parking sensors are arranged along the lower edge of the bumper, and AutoWeek found they do not reliably detect an obstacle at the height of the tailgate’s bulging metal section. In a tight maneuver, the first point of contact is that convex metal panel rather than the plastic bumper below it - so instead of a scuffed bumper, owners get a creased tailgate. Replacing the panel is expensive, and AutoWeek reports many owners simply live with the dent.
What comes next. The rear-window delete is not a one-off. The larger Polestar 5 also drops the rear glass, though deliveries have not yet started. There is one sign Polestar is listening, however: an estate version of the Polestar 4 is due before the end of 2026, and the teaser images released so far show it with a conventional rear window.
