EV maker Polestar (PSNY) is looking for new partners in an effort to boost electric vehicle adoption and decarbonize the auto industry’s supply chain.
Electrification alone will not be enough
Polestar is emerging as a pioneer in the fight against climate change. After delivering over 51,000 vehicles last year, Polestar looks to keep the momentum going, forecasting between 16% to 46% YOY growth in 2023.
However, it isn’t all about growth for Polestar. It’s more about consumption. Despite vehicle sales climbing from just over 10,000 to over 51,000 since 2020, Polestar managed to reduce relative emissions on a per-vehicle basis by 13%.
To advance its mission of achieving a sustainable future, Polestar is developing a completely climate-neutral EV by 2030 in the Polestar 0 project, including all phases of the car’s life cycle and charging.
Polestar’s head of sustainability, Fredrika Klaren, explains electrification alone is not enough. More needs to be done to reduce carbon emissions in the auto industry, as Klaren said:
Electrification alone is not enough and pure EV-makers like Polestar have a lot of work ahead of us. Our focus remains unchanged as we double down on cutting emissions in our supply chain.
The EV maker is working to eliminate all emissions from its supply chain, manufacturing processes, and end-of-life without relying on common offset methods. To do so, Polestar is taking several actions, including:
- Improving resource efficiency and circularity.
- Using materials that have the potential to have a fully decarbonized supply chain.
- Working to reduce GHG emissions from all phases of the vehicle’s life cycle, including material production, battery modules, manufacturing, and charging.
- Using renewable energy sources. For example, the building where the Polestar 2 is built now runs on 100% clean energy sources.
A significant portion of Polestar’s mission involves partnering with those in other sectors to reduce emissions further, limit the effects of climate change, and promote EV adoption.
Polestar looks for partners to promote EVs, climate change
At the Reuters Automotive Conference in Munich, Polestar’s chief operating officer, Dennis Nobelius, explained the EV maker was looking to collaborate, saying:
If we align with partners and say this is how we decarbonise the supply chain… we can make an impact… we would like to team up.
Polestar and fellow EV startup Rivian backed the “Pathway Report” earlier this year, saying the auto industry is on track to overshoot the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPPC) pathway by at least 75% by 2050 and calling for the entire industry to collaborate to get back on track.
Nobellius added that automakers, suppliers, and other partners must work together to promote traceability in the supply chains, establish a greener grid, and track battery health.
Furthermore, Nobellius said that to succeed in the quickly expanding EV market, adapting to new technology will be key, pointing to battery cell tech.
Polestar revealed its decision to stop exporting EVs made in China in favor of them being made in the US in 2024 was partly due to its efforts to lower its carbon footprint (as well as shielding itself from geopolitical tension). The EV maker’s COO continued:
We’ll produce in China for China and in South Carolina for the rest of the world. That means more investment but less carbon footprint and increased robustness.
Polestar aims for all cars that roll out of its factory to be climate neutral by 2040.
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