Polestar has teased the upcoming performance version of the Polestar 2 on social media. Though you might ask if that was the 2023 Polestar 2 BST Edition 270 that I reviewed a few months ago, but this is actually a different car based on the updated Polestar 2 that was unveiled in January.
According to the teaser, it does use some parts that look directly lifted from the BST Edition 270, like the black Polestar 1 style wheels, body-colored lip and fender garnish, the central stripe, and even what looks like the specialized Pirelli tires from the BST. Clearly, this new performance model will be tangentially based on the BST, which is interesting considering that the BST was limited to 270 units.
The BST did get specialized hardware, however, including its own set of remote-reservoir manually adjustable Öhlins suspension and minor chassis bracing. It wasn’t extreme nor was it a comprehensive retune of the Polestar 2. But it was a return to the Polestar brand roots of taking a Swedish car and making it go faster. Truthfully, EV tuning is difficult and requires expensive hardware updates to make more horsepower, and the BST retained the normal Polestar 2’s motor and battery pack.
This updated Polestar 2 benefits from a new 82 kWh battery pack, up from the 78 kWh that powered the BST. With that comes new battery chemistry and technology, which Polestar has said comes with better charging rates. Logic says that the opposite may be true, and that the new pack can flow more energy, supporting more powerful motors. But whether this new pseudo-BST will get more power is yet to be seen. The car could also benefit from a limited-slip differential in the rear, or some kind of electronic limited-slip.
Point being, there’s plenty of room for Polestar to make this updated performance 2 a real contender. We’ll have to wait just a few days until March 21.
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