Polestar 5 vs Jaguar I-Pace

What's the difference?

It’s finally here.

The Polestar 5 electric grand tourer (GT) has officially launched in Australia six years after the original Precept concept was revealed.

Thankfully many of the concept’s design cues have carried over to the production model and it continues Polestar’s history of offering GT cars - its first was the limited-production Polestar 1 which was only sold in left-hand-drive markets.

Like all current Polestars, the Polestar 5 is all-electric and competes against the likes of the Porsche Taycan and Audi e-tron GT.

We’ve already driven the Polestar 5 overseas, but this is the first time we’re experiencing it on local soil. Read on to see how it fares.

What sets the most iconic Jaguars apart?

Here’s a theory. Consider history’s greatest: the 1948 XK, its 1961 E-Type replacement and the first XJ of 1968. We’re talking about a grand tourer, sports car and luxury sedan respectively that broke ground in each of their segments.

Despite being a sales disappointment, let’s add the 2018 I-Pace to this elite group.

Like the others, it was a pioneer, this time in the luxury electric vehicle (EV) SUV field, beating most competitors and seemingly influencing newer ones ever since, from the excellent Kia EV6 to the coming Mercedes-Benz EQE SUV.

Now, five years and a comprehensive update later, we revisit the 2023 I-Pace to see if it’s still a standout.