The first car without a rear window is set to make its way on to British roads.
The Swedish-made Polestar 4 will be fitted with a high-definition screen that shows a real-time feed from a roof-mounted rear camera instead of a rear-view mirror.
The car manufacturer, which is owned by Volvo, has taken the back window out completely to give more headroom and replaced it with a camera.
It said it would give motorists a “unique experience” and a better view of the road behind them.
Pic: Polestar
Motoring journalist Quentin Willson told Sky News: “Rear windows on cars have been getting smaller and smaller, and as more consumers want more voluptuous shapes… you have a problem, because the window gets smaller and smaller and you have to have more headroom.
“So Volvo have done a really clever thing and got rid of the rear window completely and given us this new rear window on the world.
“The car has been out in China since December and there have been no discouraging words.
“The argument is, I think, it actually gives you a better view because the camera is high definition, it’s a wider arc, and you see more than you would than through that grimy rear window.”
Pic: Polestar
It isn’t without precedent. Many vans don’t have rear-view windows, and many trucks are now using cameras instead of wing mirrors.
“We see so many cars on the roads with obscured windows because the car’s full of stuff and you get one passenger in the middle, it’s hard to see out,” said Willson.
“So it’s not something we should howl in terror that we’ve lost.
“It’s just the stylistic evolutionary process of the motor car.”
He added: “It’s bold, it’s challenging – that’s what we need in car design.
“We’ve been through a stage where everything was homogeneous and boring, and this is actually very revolutionary, so let’s welcome it rather than decry it.”
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The starting price of the Polestar 4 will be £59,990 and it is expected to go on sale in the UK from August.
Maximilian Missoni, head of design at Polestar, said: “With Polestar Precept we previewed a stunning new occupant experience by removing the rear window and pushing the rear header, which plays an integral safety role, further back. This means that now, rear occupants can have a unique experience in our SUV coupe.”
