In 2021 Polestar ran the Polestar 2 Experimental car up the hill at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. Despite protestations that the car was just a bit of fun, it’s now a little over 12 months later and I’m driving a full production version of that prototype. It’s called the Polestar 2 BST edition 270, and it’s one of the automotive world’s first performance EVs.
What is the Polestar 2 BST Edition 270?
BST is an abbreviation of ‘Beast’ – a nickname that the original prototype gained – while the 270 equates to how many examples of this performance EV that Polestar will build. Think of the BST 270, then, as a limited-edition toe-dipping exercise from Polestar rather than something you’ll see on price lists forever. The small production number is to be split between Europe and North America, so if you’re elsewhere in the world you’re out of luck. Forty cars are due to come to the UK, and the word is they’re all already spoken for, underlining that Polestar’s tentative testing of the market for such a specific model has some merit.
You might think of the BST as the equivalent of an Audi RS or a BMW M car. Perhaps, even, the equivalent of the original E30 M3, being as it is one of the very first genuinely enthusiast-orientated electric cars – the Porsche Taycan and a handful of multimillion pound hypercars notwithstanding.
Polestar 2 BST edition 270 Power and 0-62mph
If you’ve ever sat in or driven an electric car, even one with a single motor and a modest horsepower output such as a Volkswagen ID.3, you’ll quickly realise that performance is rarely lacking. Instant torque means all EVs feel brisk, to the point where traditional measures like 0-62mph times mean very little (if you really need to know, Polestar says the BST will cover 0-62mph in 4.4 seconds, though that seems a little conservative). Power output from the dual-motor drivetrain is 469bhp, while torque stands at 502lb ft (680Nm).
Clearly this car is quick, and it feels it thanks to how the immediacy of the drivetrain is allied with mighty traction from its all-wheel-drive system. Indeed, it has the pace to humble all but the most potent of internal combustion-engined alternatives.
Ride and Handling
The key differentiator over similarly accelerative electric cars is the BST 270’s chassis, which should mean it’s got the potential to genuinely exploit its pace. Polestar has spent its time and efforts on making tweaks to the car’s dynamics.
To that end, the BST gains some very special Öhlins dampers complete with dual-flow valves, which offer 22 differing settings across compression and rebound. That might sound familiar if you’ve been on the Polestar configurator and specified a Polestar 2 with the optional Performance Pack, though the BST 270’s setup is even more special (you can read our full Polestar 2 review here to hear how the base car fares). That’s because the front suspension now features adjustable dampers with remote reservoirs to improve response and control. It’s an upgrade that’s more motorsport than motorway in specification, although it has benefits to both.
The BST 270 also includes a performance software upgrade and Brembo brakes (complete with a cool Swedish Gold finish on the calipers), both of which are also part of the Performance Pack offered on any new Polestar 2. Bespoke for the BST 270 is a 25mm drop in ride height, 20% stiffer springs, and a front strut bar (or ‘rally bar’ as Polestar describes it) linking the suspension top mounts.
Pricing
The car is offered in either Snow (white) or Thunder (black) with fully painted bumpers and side skirts, or for an additional £5,000 you can have it in a Battleship Gray wrap. If you want the stripe that’ll be an extra £1,000, thank you. What you don’t have to pay extra for, outside the increased list price, are the 21-inch wheels, which are forged alloy and borrowed from the Polestar 1.
The Pirelli P Zero tyres wrapped around those wheels are specifically tuned to suit the somewhat conflicting requirements of the BST 270, namely high grip and low rolling resistance. Pirelli has also added a sound-absorbing sponge inside the tyre to keep road roar to a minimum.
Road Driving
Joakim Rydholm, Polestar’s chassis guru, suggests a damper setting of 7, 7, 7 for road driving to balance poise, comfort and control. On the admittedly smooth tarmac at the launch venue in Spain, the Polestar 2 BST edition 270 feels well resolved, and rides with commendable comfort, yet fine control. The steering, which gives a choice of three settings of varying lightness, delivers little in the way of information, though the 2’s nose can be trusted to go where it’s pointed.
Traction is mighty, and the way the BST 270 can be made to catapult out of a corner is hugely entertaining. Reaching a corner there’s no hiding the car’s mass, but at least it’s situated low and between the axles, while those Brembo brakes do a good job of washing off the easily gained pace. Or you can exploit the regeneratve braking in the drivetrain, which can be switched between settings. These range from being strong enough for near one-pedal driving at one extreme, all the way to coasting along using the car’s gathered momentum at the other.
In terms of performance, the Polestar feels just as accelerative above 60mph as it does below it. Its overtaking ability is confidence-inspiring to put it mildly, although driving this car quickly will take big chunks out of the 78kWh battery’s 287-mile WLTP range.
Circuit Driving
It’s unlikely that you’ll be attending a track day in your Polestar, but in the interests of experiencing just how clever the BST 270’s dampers really are, our test drive also took in the twists, turns and undulations of Race Resort Ascari’s circuit. There we’d drive using the dampers' baseline 7, 7, 7, setting, before describing to chassis engineer Rydholm how we’d like the car to feel, and adjusting the dampers to suit.
Sure enough, what felt like a good chassis setting on the road doesn’t work as well on track. There’s too much body roll, plus I tell Rydholm I’d prefer more immediacy on the front axle and a looser rear end. Rydholm suggests 3, 3, 5, and the effect is apparent from the first long left-hander. The BST’s nose is more alert, it turns in with greater purpose, and the rear axle feels a more mobile, allowing the car to rotate slightly in the bend. Another session has me asking for more of the same, and the dampers dialled in to 2, 2, 3.
The result is a scruffier lap, for while the turn-in is still quick the rear end is now too mobile, transitioning too quickly to oversteer. I ask for a bit of stabilising understeer, which I get on the next session, using a 2, 2, 1 setting. The chassis delivers what I’ve asked from it, making the BST edition 270 enjoyable around the track, and part of that fun, and engagement, is unquestionably down to the ability to set up the car exactly how you'd like it. No doubt it’s instructive, and impressive, to see just how much adjusting the damper settings can transform the dynamics of an electric car to suit your requirements.
Admittedly, changing those settings isn’t the work of a moment, even if you have a team of trolley-jack-wielding Polestar techs and a chassis engineer at your disposal. But it is possible, and gives you, the driver, the opportunity to tailor the car to just how you like it, rather than stick to a few pre-selected parameters on an electrically adaptive suspension system.
Verdict
That the Polestar treads a peculiarly old-school route to driver engagement is hugely commendable. That's not least because its sophisticated dampers afford it the potential to deliver a tailored blend of poise, agility and comfort despite it also having performance car features such as larger wheels and tyres, a lowered ride height, and increased spring rates.
Whether the changes are transformational enough to justify the £14,440 hike in price over a long-range dual-motor Polestar 2 with the optional Performance Pack is arguably moot, given the car is already almost sold out. What is undeniable, though, is that Polestar’s philosophy of delivering driving pleasure by focussing on dynamics is to be celebrated, and gives hope to EV enthusiasts who might still be seeking out something enjoyable to drive.
Fact File
Polestar 2 BST edition 270
Price: £68,990
Fuel type: Electric
Powertrain: Dual electric motors, all-wheel drive
Power: 476bhp
Torque: 502lb ft
0-62mph: 4.4 seconds
Range: 287 miles (WLTP)
Verdict: An interesting take on a performance EV that matches huge potential pace with endless configurability – provided you have the tools and patience.