Lexus Es350E vs Polestar 4

What's the difference?

Luxury vehicles are better because of the quality, reliability and care that Lexus has brought since 1990, upending the status quo like no other brand before.

The ES, however, has been an outlier.

Inexplicably inferior to the far-cheaper Toyota Camry on which it’s long been based on, the bloated mid-sized “Executive Sedan” series created especially for America ignored “The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection” ethos that Lexus originals like the LS, IS, LFA and even the most-recent NX have striven for.

The eighth-generation ES redesign, however, is different, despite remaining Camry -ased, with an extended, beefed-up body and platform, multi-link rear suspension featuring adaptive dampers, an advanced new operating system that drags connectivity into this decade and an electric option.

Suddenly, the ES is poised to lure Polestar 2, Tesla Model 3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA buyers with a high-quality electric vehicle (EV) from Japan brimming with technology, refinements, space and features, at a price that cannot be ignored.

Has the ES finally understood the Lexus memo?

Polestar finally has more than one offering in its Australian model range. Following the Polestar 2 sedan that arrived in late 2021, and the recently launched Polestar 3 large SUV, the Geely-owned marque has just launched the model that is expected to be its top seller.

The Polestar 4 is a medium coupe-style SUV with liftback vibes, and it is set to line up against some of the most popular EVs on the market, including the Tesla Model Y.

Although, as Polestar execs claim, and the price suggests, it’s a more premium offering than the Tesla.

It is loaded with new technology, including a digital rear-view camera that replaces a traditional rear windscreen, which will either appeal to, or alienate buyers. Probably the former given the appeal of new tech to EV buyers.

But can the Polestar 4 snatch attention away from Tesla and the other solid electric SUVs of a similar size? Read on to find out.