Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Montreal — On two-lane Route 117 in Quebec, I jumped into the left lane, nailed the throttle in my 544-horsepower, 2026 Polestar 4 and — ZOT! — was past the truck in front of me in the blink of an eye. I glanced in the rear camera mirror, pulled back into the right lane, and gave the truck a wave.

Except the Polestar 4 has no rear window, and the trucker never saw my gesture. Haw.

Polestar’s latest compact SUV is quick, cool and — as its clever rear design implies — innovative; just like Tesla models that pioneered the EV segment over the last dozen years. With Tesla in mind, Volvo (and its Chinese owners) spun off its Polestar performance badge in 2017 as a full-line electric vehicle brand. Where Volvo has developed EVs with its safety and design north stars, Polestar has leaned into speed and innovation.

The fourth — and most important model to date in Polestar’s young journey — the 4 is a Scandinavian Tesla Model Y. Call it Polesla.

Like the camera mirror in Tesla’s Cybertruck, the 4’s rearview unit is necessitated by its radical rear roof design. Determined to make the compact SUV look like a racy sports coupe (while maintaining utilitarian rear seat and cargo space), the Polestar 4 does without a rear window, confident that the advance of digital mirrors and blind-spot assist would cover the void.

It works, though old habits (like my trucker wave) will die hard.

It’s a reminder that digital technology is changing every tool in the automobile. Cadillac innovated the camera mirror last decade. At the Detroit Grand Prix in 2018, I asked race car driver Jorden Taylor what his 600-horsepower, $730,000 winged Cadillac DPi.V.R cyborg shared with a production Cadillac.

“Two things,” said the affable race pilot. “The V-8 engine block and the camera mirror. You can’t see out of these mid-engine race cars, and the camera mirror allows me an unobstructed view out back to I can see my competitors and slower traffic around me. I love it.”

Now it’s standard in the $57,400 Polestar 4. It will not be to everyone’s liking in a ferociously competitive premium class that includes Model Y, Cadillac Optiq, Mustang Mach-E, Genesis GV70, BMW iX3 and Lexus RZ. All with rear windows.

What won’t be polarizing is the Polestar’s rear head and legroom. At a charging station (more on that later), I hopped into the back seat, where the standard panoramic roof arched backward above me. It easily cleared my 6’5” head before plunging into the rear tailgate, much further rearward than other roofs in the segment. The result is plenty of light for the rear passenger. Sun too strong? Opt for the cool two-mode roof that will turn opaque at a touch of a button.

I could also move the rear seat back, comfortably stretching my legs to sit behind myself. Still, competitors like Tesla and Optiq offer more room.

Like its peer internal combustion engine segment, compact EV SUVs are where the sales are, and brands have brought their A game.

The Model Y is so good it was the second best selling non-pickup in the market last year after the gas-powered mainstream Toyota RAV4 compact SUV. The Polestar follows the formula with distinctive styling, a simple interior and raw speed.

South Korea-made and Chinese-owned (Geely), the 4 is the third mass production model in the Polestar lineup, following the (now withdrawn) 2 hatchback and 3 midsize SUV. The 4 (Polestar numbers its vehicles in order of rollout) has matured with its own design cues.

Gone are the Volvo-like Thor’s Hammer headlights in the 2 and 3, replaced by dual-blade headlights, grille-less sports car fascia and horizontal tail lamps. The separation from Volvo is important, even as Polestar stays true to spare Scandinavian style prized by everyone from Ikea furniture to Orrefors glass shoppers.

The 4’s exterior is cleaner than the busier lines of the 2 and 3. With its wide stance, coupe roofline and deeply-scalloped rocker panels, the SUV gives off a sporty, athletic vibe.

The simplicity continues inside. With key in pocket, the 4 recognized me as I approached, extending the flush door handles like a handshake. When I settled into the comfortable high-backed seats, the Polestar automatically turned on. No need to touch the brake pedal, push a button, insert a key. Slick.

As was the spare interior anchored by a 15.4-inch horizontal screen. No buttons cluttered the dash or doors. Tesla-like, I adjusted my side mirrors, steering wheel and air vents in the screen. Operated by Google Built-in (like General Motors EVs), other functions can be controlled by voice command.

Hey, Google, set driver temperature to 70 degrees.

Done.

Hey, Google, navigate to Mont-Tremblant, Quebec.

Done.

Hey, Google, make the roof opaque.

Done.

Hey, Google, tell me a joke.

“How do trees access the Internet? They log in.”

The cockpit of the 2026 Polestar 4 features twin screens and minimalist steering wheel controls.

Henry Payne, The Detroit News

I like a car with personality, and the 4 has it in droves. Tesla has fart cushions, tracks Mars, and names its drive modes (like Plaid) after the movie “Spaceballs.” Polestar tells jokes, tracks the solar system and weaves its interior fabrics like Swedish textiles.

It tracks Tesla on charging, too, with NACS (North American Charging Standard) connector so you can navigate to — and fill up at — Tesla’s ubiquitous Supercharger network.

The 4 trails the segment’s best EVs, the Model Y and Optiq, in two respects.

First, while my $64,300 all-wheel-drive tester boasts eye-popping acceleration numbers on par with a Model Y Performance, the Polestar is a significant 800 pounds porkier and a big financial ask (especially with the $7,500 federal welfare gone) for a new luxury badge.

Second, while the equally luxurious Optiq is also porky, both the Cadillac and the Tesla offer superior hands-free driving systems. Navigate from, say, Montreal to Detroit, and the Tesla (and Caddy) will take you there hands-free on four lanes. Not the 4, which only sports adaptive cruise control.

Still, it’s great to see a new badge mature, and the Polestar 4 is a welcome addition to the U.S. market. Just remember to roll down your window if you want to wave at the trucker you just blew by.

Next week: 2026 Nissan Sentra

2026 Polestar 4

Vehicle type: All-wheel-drive, five-passenger compact SUV

Price: Base $57,400, including $1,400 destination charge ($64,300 Dual Motor as tested)

Powerplant: Lithium-ion battery pack mated to single/dual electric motors

Power: 272 horsepower, 253 pound-feet torque (single rear motor); 544 horsepower, 506 pound-feet torque (dual front and rear motors)

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Performance: 0-60 mph, 3.7 seconds (mfr.); top speed, 124 mph

Weight: 5,192 pounds (as tested)

Range: 310 miles (single motor), 280 miles (dual front and rear motors)

Report card

Highs: Cool design; electric performance

Lows: Polarizing design; lacks full self-drive

Overall: 3 stars

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

Tokyo — The U.S. auto industry is navigating tricky roads as manufacturers face stalled electric vehicle demand, rising tariff costs, and intense competition. But Honda Motor Co., which counts the United States as its biggest customer with 40% of global sales and operates four manufacturing plants in three states employing over 23,000 associates, is determined to maintain a steady course.

In a wide-ranging interview at Honda headquarters in Tokyo, CEO Toshihiro Mibe said that the company remains on course for a fully electric future like Tesla Inc. and will continue to prioritize the United States for manufacturing investment.

Among legacy automakers, Honda has been — along with General Motors Co. — the most forceful in its commitment to ending the production of internal combustion engines, a challenge the company calls its Second Founding. Long one of the world’s premier ICE manufacturers — both on-road and on the racetrack — the brand gave a glimpse of its electric future this week in showcasing three near-production, so-called O-Series models at the Japan Mobility Show here.

Henry Payne, The Detroit News

Honda’s push comes despite dramatic changes in the U.S. political environment, with EV sales slowing, Congress’s elimination of the $7,500 tax break, the Trump Administration’s rollback of emission regulations, and billionaire global warming financier Bill Gates’ dismissal of a climate crisis.

“Electrification now is a little bit different from what we were expecting before,” said Mibe, who has previously projected that Honda would end ICE sales by 2040. “Maybe (we’ll see a) five-year delay as compared to our first expectations. And probably that means from 2040 on, the electrification will have to go faster. But as long as humankind has not abandoned efforts for global warming innovation, we have to keep up with our responsibility.”

Honda’s mobility presentation at the Japan Show was striking for its parallels to Elon Musk’s companies — not just in EVs, but in its commitment to a moral mission statement and the pursuit of reusable rockets.

“Before making a profit, there is one important condition: whether something is ‘right’ or ‘not,’” read a slide in Honda’s corporate presentation on rocket development. “We think ‘What can I do for society and for others?’ Since its founding, Honda has driven technological innovation and product development fueled by this very passion.”

That passion, says Honda, has driven its Second Founding to address global warming. The commitment dovetails with Honda’s belief that electric motor-driven technology is superior to ICE, and that customers will ultimately choose the former.

Both Japan and U.S. customers have proven resistant to EVs, but the company has forged ahead with electrification plans. The commitment is not dissimilar to that of Toyota Motor Corp., which aimed to pioneer hybrid vehicles 25 years ago with the Toyota Prius. Once a nerdy outlier, Prius today is the halo car to a hybrid-focused model lineup.

“Honda has a long-term plan, but they are smart enough not to sacrifice their current profitable ICE vehicles to get there,” said iSeeCars.com Senior Analyst Karl Brauer. “Unlike some other automakers — Porsche, Dodge — you haven’t heard Honda say they are sunsetting ICE models to make EVs. Honda is going to make ICE Civics and CR-Vs as long as there is demand.”

Indeed, Honda gave the media a sneak peek of its next-generation midsize sedan and SUV platforms — the basis for its best-selling ICE Civic, Accord, and CR-V models — at its Toshigi Proving Grounds.

Tesla has been the pioneer of EV technology, accounting for 40% of U.S. EV sales. But Honda is determined to catch Tesla with its radical O Series vehicles. First up, the O Series SUV in 2026, which looks like something that drove off the set of a “Blade Runner” sci-fi movie. It will be followed by the O Series Saloon, which looks like a Lamborghini sedan, and is due late next year. The third, the O Series Alpha, debuted on Honda’s sprawling stage here in Tokyo.

The SUV and Saloon will be produced in Marysville, Ohio, which Honda has dubbed its EV Hub. The sub-compact  Alpha will be made in India for Asian markets.

The 43-year-old facility is in the midst of a major manufacturing upgrade, so it has the flexibility to produce EVs, hybrid, and ICE vehicles. The reconstruction is part of a $26 billion Honda investment in its U.S. operations.

“The future is to bring something to market that people are really going to be excited about,” said Lance Woelfer, vice president for North American sales, who was in Tokyo for the Japan Show. “We showed these vehicles to our dealers not long ago and got a tremendous response. They are excited by the new design theme and how we differentiate our design from others.”

O Series production in Ohio comes as the Trump Administration has erected a 15% trade barrier to Japanese imports and 25% tariffs against Canadian imports, where Honda makes some of its Civic sedan and CR-V SUV models.

“Flexible, non-union manufacturing is Honda’s sweet spot,” said analyst Brauer. “It costs more up front than saying you’re just going to build, say, a single platform EV. But in the long run, they can build what the market demands, and it doesn’t risk a plant with no capacity, which is really expensive.”

Mibe was blunt about where Honda’s investment will be in the new tariff era: “We did consider a large investment for EV for Canada, but we’ve already decided to freeze this. For us, the U.S. market is the main market, and …  we are making yearly investment of $2.5 billion into the U.S., which we plan to continue into the future as well.”

In addition to the Marysville line upgrades, Honda has begun plans to remake production of its East Liberty, Ohio, plant for more flexible production. That flexibility matches Honda’s flexible approach as it transitions to all-electric. With EV sales challenges, Mibe said the company is focused on hybrids.

“I believe that (hybrid) volume would continue to increase until 2030,” said the CEO. “Currently, we (sell) 0.8 million units (per year). Our prospect is that the number would go over 2 million units by 2030. The thing is, hybrids are not going to give us complete carbon neutrality . . . so the question is: how far can we continue using them? What we do after that will really depend on what the U.S. regulations might do.”

Though there are subcompact EVs in the U.S. market like the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Bolt, Mibe does think Alpha is viable here.

“Unless the battery cost is significantly lowered, the total cost of the EV cannot be reduced significantly. That’s the reality,” he said. “We are aware that there is a need to provide affordable EVs for the North American market, (but) the 0 Series Alpha size is probably too small.”

Honda and performance cars have been synonymous for decades, including the S2000 roadster and Acura NSX. But don’t expect an EV sports car anytime soon.

“I’m afraid that we will not have any option for you to drive an EV sports car,” said Mibe, though he is bullish on hybrid performance cars like the Prelude. Honda’s hybrid Formula One drivetrain will power the Aston Martin team next year.

“We will be driving (with Aston Martin) our power unit — half of which will be engine, half (from) electrification,” he said. “This is the opportunity for us to demonstrate on electrification technology.”

As a stepping stone to its O Series models, Honda collaborated with GM to make its $50,000 Prologue EV. Mibe said such partnerships will be common in the electric era.

“Our first objective in collaborating with GM was to expand the volume so that we could reduce the cost,” the Honda CEO said. “We are continuing to talk with GM. Software development cost is very high. The more partners we work with, the more we can allocate all the development costs, and then all the costs can be absorbed.”

In addition to EVs, Mibe and North American President Kazuhiro Takizawa also pointed to Honda’s off-road and performance vehicles as a source of growth.

“With some models, like (Civic’s track-focused) Type R we have a sports image,” said Takizawa. “We really want to enhance our . . . off-road capability for light-truck models. Electrification is not our only challenge. We’re challenging in this field, too.”

Brauer was at the Specialty Equipment Market Association show in Las Vegas when the Japan Show opened: “It’s telling that, the same week Honda is previewing O Series EVs in Tokyo, they are also rolling out new parts from Honda Racing Corporation in Vegas to complement their gas-powered Passport and Civic models.”

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or Twitter @HenryEPayne.

Tokyo — The Japan Mobility Show is an ocean, 6,397 nautical miles, and a world away from the Detroit Auto Show.

The vehicle mix inside the Tokyo Big Sight convention center — and the streets outside — are as different from Motown’s Huntington Place as the fish in the salted Pacific Ocean versus unsalted Lake Michigan. Except the whales are in Huntington Place.

Where the streets of Metro Detroit are dominated by huge Detroit Three pickup trucks and three-row SUVs, the byways of Tokyo are awash with tiny, boxy, so-called kei cars. You won’t see the best-selling vehicle in the United States, the Ford F-150 pickup truck, because Ford doesn’t sell here — and rural pickups are small. The best-selling SUV in America, the Toyota RAV-4, is also a rare sight due to its large (by Japanese standards) size and price. Japan’s $4.25-a-gallon gas prices aren’t outrageous like Europe ($7 a gallon), but city streets are Euro-narrow.

Six-lane Route 20 runs thought the heart of Tokyo and is the city’s Woodward Avenue with a variety of supercars, European exotics and historic vehicles preening for attention. But most metro areas are a tangle of small roads and alleys with citizens crammed into tall apartment buildings.

Japan is deeply nationalistic, and the Top 10 brands here by sales are Japanese and right-hand drive. Only four non-Japanese brands stocked booths in Tokyo. Like U.S. shows, however, the floor was awash in EVs despite low Japanese consumer demand.

Here are highlights from the show floor — and the streets beyond.

1) Kei cars. These shoeboxes on wheels are made by every mainstream manufacturer. Encouraged by government tax policy since World War II, they are an affordable class of vehicle that fit a defined footprint and put out no more than 63 horsepower (usually from a three-cylinder gerbil wheel). Suzuki, nonexistent in the U.S. market, is the No. 2 automaker here thanks in part to prodigious kei car production. Its Tokyo show headliner? The electric Vision e-Sky Kei car.

In Tokyo drivers ride coach in kei cars next to First Class Porsches, Mercedes and BMWs. Go further out into Tokyo’s suburbs and small cities like Tochigi and Kei cars dominate thanks to their ability to shoe-horn into tight spaces, sidewalks, and garages.

China’s BYD made a splash here by introducing a Kei car, showing its commitment to the market. Eighty percent of Honda’s Japan sales are Kei cars like the N-Box. Its second-best seller? A small minivan called the FREED. Sightings of the Civic, Accord and CR-V (Honda’s No. 1 sellers in the States) are rare.

2) Chevy Corvete C8. Tokyo’s elite enjoy supercars like Ferraris, Mercedes-AMG GTs and Porshe 911s. Add the Corvette C8 to the list now that Chevrolet exports it from Kentucky with right-hand drive. Heads swiveled on Route 20 in downtown Tokyo as a red C-8 sauntered past.

3) Honda Super-One Prototype EV. If the U.S. market gets hot-hatch versions of the Honda Civic (the Si and Type R), then Honda decided Japan’s market deserves a performance version of its Kei car, the N Box. Honda calls it the Super-One and it’s a roomy, electric cutie.

The front-wheel-drive hot box debuted at the Japan Mobility Show, and though Honda has yet to publish specs for the Super-One, the little Rottweiler has a lot more grunt than the typical Kei car. That grunt gets audio in BOOST mode. GRRRRR! It most closely resembles the poor-selling Fiat 500e in the U.S. market, and Honda won’t export it.

4) Honda Prelude. What you will see in Japan and Detroit is the 2026 Prelude, a legendary performance car not sold since 2001. The new model is a sleek hybrid hatchback that shares its powertrain with the Civic Hybrid. Push the S-shift button and the Prelude will growl, but there is no manual transmission like the good ol’ days.

5) Jeep Wrangler. The best-selling U.S. model in the Japanese market, Wrangler is also an icon. Credit Jeep’s long history here beginning with the post-WW II occupation (Mitsubishi manufactured the original Jeep Willys here). Foreign makes are a hard sell, but Jeep has status — and Stellantis makes the effort to produce them with right-hand drive.

6) Mercedes-mania. Germany’s luxury brand is another icon with serious cred here. I saw everything from G-Wagons to CLAs to S-Class land yachts cruising Tokyo. Customers don’t care much for EVs — and government doesn’t mandate them — but they are fashionable among Japan’s elite, and Mercedes’ Japan stand was packed with EVs. Front and center was the gorgeous Porsche Taycan-beating, 1,341-horsepower AMG GT XX EV.

7) Subaru WRX STI. U.S. government emissions rules deep-sixed the beloved WRX STI pocket rocket, but with a new sheriff in Washington, Subaru appears optimistic about bringing it back. The STI hatchback concept looks ready to rumble.

Subaru didn’t tease powertrain specs, but its huge rear wing, swollen fenders and redesigned grille look production-ready. Subie’s best-seller in Japan isn’t an Outback, Forester or Crosstrek — it’s a Levorg. Le-what? Levorg is a station wagon built on the expired Legacy’s platform.

8) Honda O-Series. Honda showed its commitment to an all-electric future — internally called the Second Founding — with a third model for its battery-powered, radical-looking 0-Series sub-brand. The 0-Series Alpha will be produced in India and sold in Asia.

Though it shares proportions with the gas-powered HR-V, Honda CEO Toshihiro Mibe said Alpha won’t be sold in the United States due to battery costs. Alpha’s Ohio-made siblings will be sold in the States: the O-Series SUV and Saloon sedan, the wildest looking EV this side of a Cybertruck.

9) Toyota Corolla. Corolla is the vanilla of compact cars — until now. Toyota is determined to change that image with a sharp-edged concept that debuted at the Tokyo show. It looks like a Polestar and Lamborghini had a baby — powered by a trusty ol’ Toyota hybrid drivetrain.

10) Mazda Vision X-Coupe. Mazda stunned with the Vision X-Coupe — a sleek, long-hooded show car featuring a hybrid rotary drivetrain. But the most important Mazda in show was the new 2026 CX-5 SUV. Ditching its cursed, rotary infotainment remote-controller for a proper touchscreen, CX-5 will be even more appealing as the best performance SUV in the compact class.

Coming soon to the USA.

Henry Payne is auto critic for The Detroit News. Find him at hpayne@detroitnews.com or @HenryEPayne.

Tokyo — President Donald Trump arrived here this week for a wide-ranging state visit with new Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi — the same week the Japan Mobility Show opened to media. With its tariff policy, the Trump administration has been determined to open foreign markets like Japan to U.S. automakers.

It’s not easy.

In exchange for a 15% U.S. tariff on goods — lower than the previously threatened 25% — Japan this summer agreed to allow the import of American-made cars without its usual, unique safety standards and testing. “Perhaps most importantly, Japan will open their Country to Trade including Cars and Trucks,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.

But as Japan’s premier auto exhibition demonstrates, Japan’s nationalistic, right-hand-drive, compact car market is unlike that in the United States, with its large pickups and SUVs. Not a single U.S. brand showed here. Unique safety standards or not, foreign markets can be rocky soil for U.S. automakers to seed sales, say industry insiders, because of vastly different market conditions.

Henry Payne, The Detroit News

It’s not just Japan. From Tokyo and China to Europe and the United States, countries have different customers and national priorities.

China, for example, has prioritized the manufacture of electric vehicles for geopolitical reasons because the nation is home to 80% of rare earth minerals needed for battery construction. The United States, on the other hand, has the world’s largest fossil fuel reserves, which the Trump administration has encouraged use of to feed popular trucks and SUVs. The European Union has targeted 2035 to eliminate the sale of gas-fired vehicles because of climate-change concerns.

Here in mineral-poor Japan, small gas-powered cars are popular despite the country’s dependence on foreign oil.

“It’s (the) nature of a country where you have large, dense cities where a lot of people live in apartments. People don’t have access to off-street parking (with charging stations) which makes owning an EV challenging,” said Sam Abuelsamid, auto analyst with Guidehouse Insights. “So gas-electric hybrids represent a significant portion of the Japanese market. They are a fuel-efficient technology without having to worry about where to plug in.”