► Polestar Concept BST unveiled at FOS
► It’s a Polestar 6 electric roadster ‘turned up to 11’
► More from ‘Beast’ performance brand coming
If someone from the Polestar PR team hadn’t already predicted that headline we’ll be very surprised – and although we hate to be predictable, it’s also hard to get away from that fundamental truth. In Polestar-world, BST is short for ‘beast’, and the Polestar Concept BST imagines how future high-performance variants from this electric car upstart might look.
Making its global debut at the 2024 Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Concept BST certainly isn’t short of eye-catching details.
So… this is a performance concept of an electric convertible that isn’t on sale in standard form for another two years and is already sold out?
Steady on, there’s a lot to unpack in that statement. But essentially, yes.
The Concept BST is based on the Polestar 6, which had ambitions to be the first-ever electric convertible but isn’t due to reach showrooms until 2026 – and as such has been beaten to that particular punch by the MG Cyberster. The initial run of 500 Polestar 6 models did also sell out within a week of being announced.
However, the 6 is destined to be a regular production model rather than a limited edition (like the Polestar 1), so you still have some chance of getting your hands on one. Though if the rumoured six-figure price is anything to go by, you’ll need to be very keen anyway.
Since MG won the electric drop-top race, the Concept BST is at least an opportunity to grab some additional attention for the new production model.
Will the Concept BST turn into something real?
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath has this to say on that subject: ‘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.’
At a dinner on the eve of Goodwood 2024 he further explained that Polestar was already recognised for its typically ‘cool and sophisticated’ Scandinavian design. With the Concept BST ‘we wanted to show that Swedes can actually be quite loud!’
There have already been a couple of BST variants of the Polestar 2, so it seems very likely we will be seeing more of this.
You said something about being predictable?
Don’t get us wrong – the Polestar Concept BST is a great-looking machine. But the performance formula isn’t anything especially unusual here. Under the circumstances, you can understand Polestar not wanting to be too radical, however. And the whole thing is very cohesively done.
The design team has taken the Polestar 6 and added bigger wheel arches to accommodate 22-inch forged alloy wheels and a wider track. There’s an aggressive front splitter and a whacking great rear-wing on the back, complete with the now de rigueur swan-neck mounting. The bonnet is vented for aerodynamic purposes, too.
Even the silver paint is pretty basic race car, with only very subtle amounts of detailing in Swedish Gold, while Polestar describes the stickers as ‘racing-livery inspired’. It’s part Porsche Spyder, part hardcore Jaguar F-Type, but we do like the rakish roadster side graphic created by that angled window line. The crease over the rear wheel arches that intersects with the corner at the top of the rear lights is rather lovely, too.
It is a fine piece of automotive sculpture to set eyes on. Which visitors to the main Polestar stand at the Festival of Speed will be able to do. Just wipe your feet before entry – the stand’s floor is finished in white and the Goodwood ground is heavily waterlogged following all the recent rain…