Mercedes-Benz GLC vs Polestar 4

The Mercedes-Benz GLC costs £1,110 more than the Polestar 4. For that premium it adds 130 kW faster peak rapid charging and 160 kW more power. On EVcarsguide's combined category scores, the Mercedes-Benz GLC comes out ahead overall.

The Polestar 4 is £1,110 cheaper to buy. Running costs are almost identical - about £176 a year either way, at 8,000 miles on an off-peak home tariff. Add 5 years of charging and the Polestar 4 comes out roughly £1,030 cheaper overall. These figures cover list price and home charging only - insurance, servicing, tyres and depreciation will move the real total.

EVcarsguide estimates a real-world motorway range of about 297 miles for the Mercedes-Benz GLC and 277 miles for the Polestar 4 - both below their WLTP figures, because sustained high speed is the hardest case for an EV. The Mercedes-Benz GLC goes roughly 21 miles further between charging stops. A rapid charge to 80% takes around 22 minutes in the Mercedes-Benz GLC and 30 in the Polestar 4, so the Mercedes-Benz GLC loses less time at each stop. That makes the Mercedes-Benz GLC the stronger long-distance car.

The Mercedes-Benz GLC is the easier car for tight UK car parks: it is 95 mm narrower than the Polestar 4. In a standard 2,400 mm bay that leaves about 487 mm of total clearance for the Mercedes-Benz GLC and about 392 mm of total clearance for the Polestar 4. The Polestar 4 also turns in a 0.5 m tighter circle, which helps with U-turns and multi-storey ramps.

Over a 8-year ownership window EVcarsguide's degradation model projects roughly 84% battery health for the Mercedes-Benz GLC and 84% for the Polestar 4. That is close enough that capacity loss should not decide between them. Both use NMC-type cells, so for daily use keep the charge limit near 80% to slow degradation.