A pilot study by the University of Oxford’s SDG Impact Lab in collaboration with Polestar has attempted to measure “performance” on electric vehicles (EV) without internal combustion engine noise.
Twelve drivers experienced two versions of the Polestar 4 – the rear motor and dual motor with performance pack – in both calm and dynamic driving conditions at the Gotland Ring in Sweden.
Researchers combined vehicle telemetry with heart-rate monitoring, eye tracking, psychological assessments and interviews to explore the relationship between what a performance car does and how the human driver responds.
Throughout the study, drivers described performance as more than physical excitement, combining heightened bodily responses with trust, control and intense focus.
The study suggests that feeling in control while pushing personal limits behind the wheel enhances the thrill of driving, with several participants comparing the experience to a “controlled roller coaster”, it said.
Key findings from the pilot included:
· Deeper focus: During dynamic driving, participants blinked less, their pupils became larger and they held their gaze longer – patterns consistent with deeper attentional engagement.
· Car and driver connected: Vehicle telemetry could be linked to changes in drivers’ physiological activation, allowing researchers to examine the driver’s response alongside what the car was doing.
· Greater performance, less effort: On matched fast laps, the Polestar 4 Dual motor with Performance pack (400 kW/544 hp) delivered 32% higher peak acceleration than the Rear motor (200 kW/268 hp), while requiring 15% less steering effort.
· Higher loads: The Performance version also generated greater cornering loads and more frequent hard-acceleration events.
· Higher driver ratings: On the study’s Performance/Dynamics scale, the Performance version scored 89.2 out of 100, compared with 67.7 for the Rear motor.
· Better overall experience: The Performance version also scored higher for overall experiential quality, at 93.0 versus 77.9, with most drivers rating it higher on both measures.
One participant captured the feeling by saying the car “makes you feel like a better driver than you are.”
Researchers found that participants tended to associate the Performance version more consistently with this combination of thrill, trust and control.
These findings lay the groundwork for a larger Phase 2 study, which could deliver a more developed way to measure the thrill of driving an electric car.
Christian Samson, Head of Product Attributes at Polestar, said:
“As electric cars redefine what performance can be, we wanted to understand something that can’t be captured by a specification sheet alone: the human experience behind the wheel. Working with University of Oxford allows us to look at performance through a different lens – connecting the engineering of the car with the experience of the person driving it.”
Maxwell Klapow, MPhil scholar, SDG Impact Lab, University of Oxford, said:
“Performance is not simply about going faster. It is about giving the driver a sense of confidence and control through predictable vehicle responses. Our research takes a step towards measuring that human experience, by connecting what the car does with what happens to the driver.”
