Polestar has chosen the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed to reveal a new high-performance concept model that could make production from 2026 and beyond. It’s called the Concept BST, which is an abbreviation of ‘beast’, and it follows on from more driver-focused versions of the existing Polestar 2 which have worn the BST lettering.
Where does the concept fit in?
For the first time since the short-lived but utterly glorious Polestar 1 went off sale, the Swedish electric-vehicle (EV) company has more than one model line in production. So, joining the long-serving and still-excellent Polestar 2 on the company’s Goodwood stand are also the Polestar 3 and Polestar 4 SUVs.
However, it’s the Concept BST which takes pride of place. The next car up the ramp for Polestar will be the 5, a rapid and discreet electric saloon designed to take on the likes of the Audi e-tron GT and Porsche Taycan. But a convertible spin-off called the Polestar 6 has already been confirmed, and the Concept BST is a more focused version of that machine.
To that end, it features big, muscular, flared wheel arches to accommodate a wider track, all of which is complemented by a set of 22-inch forged alloy wheels.
Up front, the bonnet is vented, which is obviously not for the purposes of either cooling or extracting hot air from the engine bay - given the Polestar 6 Concept BST doesn’t have an engine - but is instead to aerodynamically optimise the front end of the vehicle.
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The Concept BST also has an aggressive-looking front splitter, which is balanced out by the giant rear spoiler which sits on motorsport-like swan-neck mounts. That motorsport theme is continued by the cool silver paint, which is remarkably free of Polestar’s trademark Swedish Gold signature colour (but you can see that shade peeping through the 22s, thanks to the brake callipers being finished in gold), and also a set of decals which are said to be inspired by racing liveries.
No official word has yet been put out by Polestar on the Concept BST’s performance figures or its electrical architecture, but there’s a very good chance it will share the 800-volt system seen in the Polestar 5 and regular 6, which will not only mean rapid charging but huge performance courtesy of up to 887hp and 900Nm. Expect that to be split over dual motors for four-wheel drive, and also don’t rule out the possibility that Polestar might even tickle the outputs higher for the BST.
Will it be in action in Goodwood?
Following its debut in the first-glance paddock, the Polestar Concept BST will do a demo run up the hillclimb at Goodwood in front of the festival’s crowds.
Thomas Ingenlath, the CEO of Polestar, said: “Now we are a brand with three models in production, it’s great to see them here together for the first time at a global event.
“Goodwood Festival of Speed is full of the most exciting cars and the most enthusiastic crowds, so it’s the perfect place for us to tease our Polestar Concept BST.
“This car is a demonstration of how far we can push our performance brand - Polestar turned up to 11, if you will - and a demonstration of how we could apply the BST formula to our line-up in the future.”