The attractive, white, all-electric four-door coupe spent most of Wednesday morning hidden under glittering gold dust at the New York International Auto Show before Polestar unveiled its new four-door EV, the Polestar 4, and presented an innovation conundrum: Does a car need a rear window ?
This was Polestar’s big innovation for its new EV: removing the rear window and placing an HD screen camera on the spoiler and projecting that image onto the interior mirror. Of course, that mirror is now a display.
“It’s not just about the cool look and design of it,” said the CEO of Polestar Thomas Ingenlath in his presentation, “it actually has an incredible functional advantage.”
Ingenlath explained that, unlike more spacious SUVs, a coupe like the Polestar 4 would naturally have a lower roof and the center structural beam would move over the heads of the rear passengers. The space behind that can only be reduced so much because you need a clear line of sight from the rear view mirror to the rear window. However, when you remove the rear window, you can move the bar back while giving your passengers more headroom.
Converting the rear-view mirror into a display offers another advantage. Instead of looking into a mirror and seeing the interior of your car with a relatively small portal to the outside world in the middle, the entire display only shows what’s happening behind your car.
It’s not a crazy idea and not even that new. Years ago, I was in a concept car with a rearview mirror that could switch between a traditional mirror and a video feed from one of the car’s many cameras.
A better view and more interior space sounds like a win-win situation.
However, reactions online ranged from disbelief to disappointment. Most insisted that the $54,900 EV, expected to hit the market later this year, would be inherently less safe than a car with a rear window.
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Some wondered if the Polestar 4 would even be street legal. There are laws on the books of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration effective as of 2014, expanded the required field of view for all passenger cars. This was mainly done to reduce the number of accidents where drivers chased children because they could not see them playing behind their car.
However, the rules do not apply to the rear windows, but only to visibility. This measure would allow the Polestar 4 to exceed safety requirements.
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Others worried that the camera would become covered in snow, damaged or even less visible by rain. I would counter that the rear window of my sedan, which has no wiper, is also quite powerless against the rain.
Seems unsafe. Wonder if the United States has any laws about this? For example, I know that vehicles must have side mirrors, even though cameras can display the same information on a screen similar to the rear view mirror in the Polestar 4.March 27, 2024
I’m not saying I like this idea. I can’t imagine teaching a new driver how to drive the Polestar 4. Part of what you’re teaching them is not to rely on your mirrors. Yes, use them as a backup to ensure you are aware of your physical surroundings and not about to change lanes to another car or that no one is behind you, but nothing beats it see things immediately. Turning your head to look out the rear window while backing up is good training for green drivers. It is also the only way they will learn about their car’s blind spots.
I understand that modern cars, especially electric cars, have a lot of cameras. I was in a Lucid Air Grand Touring and saw cameras that could show me every wheel. Cameras like these, including all the cameras on the Polestar 4, provide valuable information that you can’t get by simply looking out a window, and they can help with driver assistance features. However, once we remove windows, we depend on those cameras for crucial safety information. They may provide a better, clearer view of the world outside our cars, but I’m not sure they should ever provide the only view.
Finally, when Ingenlath first started describing the lack of a rear window and a “virtual view,” I assumed that perhaps the rear window glass had been replaced with a giant screen that made it seem like you were looking out of the back of the car watched. car. I know, the rearview mirror display makes more sense, but I think I still like the idea of a giant display in the back, one that you sometimes have to look over your shoulder to check.
@techradar
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