High-performance Polestar 2 prototype teased with 21-inch wheels, big brakes

Images posted by Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath on Instagram show a white Polestar 2 electric sedan with body-coloured wheel-arch and bumper trim, and 21-inch black alloy wheels and large gold-painted brake calipers from the hybrid Polestar 1 coupe.

Photos shared on the Polestar 2 Owners Club page on Facebook provide a more in-depth look at the mystery prototype, confirming it rides lower to the ground than the high-riding, standard model, and appears to feature wider front and rear tracks.

Above: Polestar 2 prototype's 21-inch wheels. Photo credit: Polestar 2 Owners Club on Facebook.

Captions below Ingenlath's Instagram posts include "Experiment" and "PS2BST 1(7)" – with the meaning of the latter particularly unclear, though unsubstantiated speculation online suggests 1(7) could refer to a full reveal on July 1.

The executive has also tagged a number of hashtags beneath the posts, including #akebono, #ohlins, #brembo, #prototype and #tuning.

The Akebono hashtag likely refers to the high-performance brakes worn by the prototype – borrowed from the coupe – while Ohlins and Brembo supply manually-adjustable sports suspension and performance front brakes for regular Polestar 2 models equipped with the optional Performance package.

There's no indication any changes have been made to the sedan's electric powertrain, which in standard guise combines two electric motors and a 78kWh battery to send 300kW and 660Nm to all four wheels.

However, it's unclear whether the prototype has any chance of making it to production – in which it would square up as a natural rival for the Tesla Model 3 Performance – or whether it will remain a test car restricted to a life in the basement of the brand's engineering centre.

The standard 2021 Polestar 2 will go on sale in Australia later in 2021.