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Polestar's halo car was due in the second quarter of this year, but the brand has now confirmed it will come later despite strong interest from potential buyers.
Electric Cars
The Polestar 5 electric sports car will arrive in Australia in the second half of 2026, the brand has confirmed.
Previously, the brand-new model was expected in the second quarter of the year, as reported by Drive in October, but Managing Director of Polestar Australia, Scott Maynard, says it is now on track for later in 2026.
“We've been talking about the second half [of the year] for first customer handovers,” he told the media at the launch of the updated Polestar 2 recently.
“I haven't got an exact date yet, but we're still staying true to our production schedule, and we're holding regular discussions with Sweden on exactly when we get the first cars.
“We expect to bring a pre-production car out before that so that we can show that around, and allow customers who have expressed an interest in it to come have a look at it.”
“We've got a lot of people talking to us about Polestar 5. Understandably, most of them want to see it, they want to clap eyes on it,” he said.
“That’s why we've worked really hard, and I'm really pleased with what we've been able to achieve to get a pre-production car brought out ahead of the first market vehicles.
“We also look after New Zealand, and they're pushing for a first production slot. So there’s definitely a groundswell there. I think that will start to show itself once we've actually got a car to walk around.”
The Polestar 5, which has no rear window like the Polestar 4, is expected to cost from $171,000 plus on-roads for the entry-level Dual Motor variant, making it the car maker’s most expensive model to date.
It will rival the Porsche Taycan, but compared to its base version, the Polestar 5 will be twice as powerful, with an additional motor and more driving range.
In top-spec Performance guise, it will cost from $193,100 before on-roads, and will be as powerful as the Taycan Turbo GT.
The Polestar 5 Dual Motor produces 550kW and 812Nm across its front and rear electric motors, making for a claimed 0-100km/h acceleration time of 3.9 seconds, and a 250km/h top speed.
The flagship Performance ups outputs to 650kW and 1015Nm, bringing the 0-100km/h claim down to 3.2sec, but with the same top speed.
Driving range is rated at up to 670km (WLTP) for the Dual Motor and 565km in the Performance.
It will also be the brand’s first car to support 800-volt charging, with a claimed 22-minute 350kW DC charge.
Asked who will buy the Polestar 5, Maynard said it would be someone who wants performance, but with a more eco-friendly focus – and not necessarily someone who already owns one of the brand’s other models.
“I would hate to pigeonhole a Polestar 5 buyer,” he said.
“They will be a customer who has a keen interest in a very high-end performance car. I think they will be relatively new to Polestar. I don't know that we've necessarily sold them cars before.
“They will be someone who wants all of the performance that is currently offered in the established brands, but our sustainability story will appeal to them. This car is a fabulous halo product that really speaks to Polestar values in their purest form.
“The engineering that's in this car and the coming together of all of the pillars that are important to Polestar in terms of progressive engineering, benchmark design and its sustainability story, I think give this car an opportunity to throw a light on the whole Polestar range.”
The Polestar 5 was developed in the UK at the brand’s final R&D centre, which was shut down in December, around the same time the brand was forced to take a $AU900 million loan from parent company Geely after it reported a $AU548 million loss in the third quarter of 2025 (July–September), as reported by Reuters.
Prior to that, the company reported a $AU1.55 billion loss in the previous quarter.
Despite its recent financial woes, Maynard told the media that the brand is here to stay, although it won’t enjoy the same growth locally in 2026 that it had in 2025. He added that selling the Polestar 5 in big numbers was not a priority.
“We're not too concerned about just how many we sell, which is going to sound like a weird thing for us to say, but rather just what an extraordinary opportunity this car is to demonstrate what Polestar can do.”
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A born-and-bred newshound, Kathryn has worked her way up through the ranks reporting for, and later editing, two renowned UK regional newspapers and websites, before moving on to join the digital newsdesk of one of the world’s most popular newspapers – The Sun. More recently, she’s done a short stint in PR in the not-for-profit sector, and led the news team at Wheels Media.
