The Polestar 5 makes its road debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this year. Images: Polestar

Polestar is showing a development prototype of the Polestar 5 in public for the first time at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed (23-26 June). Polestar 5 is an evolution of the Precept concept car first shown in 2020.

First, the numbers. Polestar claims 650 kW (884 hp) and 900 Nm are the targeted output figures. That’s good. The Polestar 5 will sport a dual motor setup, but a new rear electric motor will provide superior output, along with 800-Volt architecture and a high-output front electric motor.

Pete Allen, Head of Polestar UK R&D, says: “Polestar 5 is shaping up to be a superb 4-door GT and a true Polestar at heart. The platform combines low-volume performance car attributes with modern technological advances to bring light-weight, high-rigidity sports car chassis technology into mass production.”

Jörg Brandscheid, Polestar’s CTO and Head of R&D, says: “The new powertrain we are working on will set a new brand benchmark in our high-performing cars. Combining strong electric motor engineering ability with advances in light-weight platform technology is leading to truly stunning driver’s cars.”

While the automaker didn’t reveal performance specifications, we do know that Polestar UK has been working on the car’s bonded aluminium chassis, said to develop a true performance car driving experience, with exceptional dynamics and reduced overall weight.

We expect the Polestar 5 to house a battery somewhere in the 100-105 kWh range, utilising an 800 Volt electrical architecture; a first for the brand. This will allow the four door GT to charge at speeds comparable to Hyundai’s IONIQ 5 and Porsche’s Taycan.

While the Polestar 5 appears to largely resemble the Precept concept car, there are a few design elements that are now more production ready. The front end has been simplified, and appears to leave room for the promised Lidar and sensor array of the Polestar 3 and 4. Expect the halogen lights on this Goodwood car to be replaced by full Pixel LED arrays. There’s a charge port on the front left fender, instead of just behind the front wheel, and the side mirrors appear to be lifted straight from the Polestar 2 (no bad thing).

Gone are the “suicide” rear doors in favour of regular pieces, and its possible that there is some active aero front and rear.

Polestar has also published this video below, following the successful SPAC listing with Gores Guggenheim, Inc. on the NASDAQ last week. We can see a workshop full of Polestar 5 prototypes:

In the below photo, we can see what is presumably the final shape of the chassis and body; The Polestar 5 looks to have a spacious interior, with seats set low around the vehicle’s battery modules. The large, side body panel with door openings and rear fender are spot welded to the bonded aluminium chassis.

In the background, we can see a Polestar 5 prototype without a front hood; from this image, it looks like the vehicle is packed full of motors and cooling equipment, and that there won’t be space for a front storage compartment.

Expect the Polestar 5 to be unveiled mid-2023, ahead of a market introduction in 2024. While not confirmed for Australia and New Zealand at the time of writing, we fully expect Polestar to bring its full model range down under.