Polestar cuts per-car emissions

RATHER than wait for legislative guidance on CO2 emissions reductions, electric car manufacturer Polestar has embarked on a rigorous multi-faceted program that has enabled it to cut emissions per car sold by 25 per cent over the last four years.

In its fourth annual Sustainability Report, issued mid-April, Polestar announced significant greenhouse gas (GHG) reductions and an update on its Polestar 0 project – an ambitious initiative to create a completely climate-neutral production car by 2030.

Polestar aims to achieve this by eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions from every stage of the car’s lifecycle, from sourcing raw materials to end-of-life handling.

To assist in the program, Polestar is actively seeking partnerships with companies in various sectors, including mining, bio-based materials, and high-end man-made materials, to find innovative solutions for a climate-neutral production process.

In a statement accompanying the Sustainability Report’s release, Polestar said it would continue a quest for increased transparency and more sustainable materials.

Delving a little deeper into the report’s contents shows Polestar started measuring its emissions in 2020, with the most significant contributing factors to its 25 per cent carbon reduction including an increased use of low-carbon aluminium in all models, improvements in battery manufacturing, 100 per cent renewable electricity in the manufacture of all models and more efficient logistics combined with increased use of biofuels on certain ocean routes.

Polestar partly attributes its achievement to changes within the aluminium and steel manufacturing process, key materials for decarbonisation as they represent around 45 per cent of the total cradle-to gate carbon footprint of, for example, its Polestar 2.

“Moving into its next stage, the structure of the Polestar 0 project will shift, with areas that require further research serving as input to ‘Mission 0 House’, a Polestar-initiated but collaboratively driven and funded research centre,” Polestar stated.

The research hub, located in Gothenburg, hosts scientists from academia and engineers from industry, who work side by side towards the elimination of GHG emissions in materials, products and processes.

Polestar says a key principle is the ambition to consider commercialisation of future potential solutions developed by the Mission 0 House.

“Polestar has shown that it is possible to decouple growth from climate impact,” said Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller.

He said circularity, inclusion and transparency remain key areas exemplified when Polestar joined the Initiative for Responsible Mining Assurance (IRMA) and continued the expansion of onsite audits in high-risk regions.

“Traceability of risk materials was expanded to include the mapping of manganese, among others,” he added.

“Polestar continues its efforts to increase both data availability and share of recycled content from car programs to model year upgrades and Polestar 4 now contains 10 per cent recycled material.

“In simple terms, we aim to continue to cut emissions as we accelerate sales. Even though much in the world seems to be going in the wrong direction, we are doubling down on our commitments.

“When the world zigs, Polestar zags.”