Polestar, the Swedish electric performance car manufacturer, is accelerating its work to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions by welcoming 12 new partners to the Polestar 0 project. These companies are committed to collaborating on the company’s moon-shot goal to produce a truly climate-neutral electric car by 2030 without offsetting.
The new and existing partners are industry leaders, now actively working on the Polestar 0 project. Each partner will focus on certain materials, components and processes involved in the production of cars. The new partners, listed below, cover areas such as plastics, composites, chemicals and metals.
New partners and their focus areas in the Polestar 0 project:
- Pensana: Independent and sustainable supply of rare earth materials
- Boliden: Copper and other metals
- Papershell: Advanced fibre composite based on paper
- Sekab: Bio-based chemicals
- Bulten: Fasteners
- Hexpol TPE: Soft polymer compounds, TPE
- Plasman: Manufacturer of bumper-fascias, grilles, exterior trim, and subsystem components
- YFPO: Bumpers and similar materials
- Ovako: Engineering steel from 100% carbon-neutral operations and 97% recycled content
- Mistra Carbon Exit: Research consortium with the objective to analyse and demonstrate how supply chains of buildings, infrastructure and transportation can be transformed and decarbonised
- Stilride: Green metal manufacturing and mobility through proprietary STILFOLD technology, dubbed “industrial origami”
- GG Group: Sustainable cables and harnesses
The transport sector is the fastest-growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, expected to reach a share of more than 30 percent of total GHG emissions in the future. Polestar and its partners share a common goal to decarbonise the complete supply chain and manufacturing process. This is a class-leading ‘Northstar project’ and will hopefully lead the way for other automakers to follow.
Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, said: “The real potential of electric cars will be fulfilled when we as an industry can say goodbye not just to tailpipe emissions but production-related emissions as well.
“We made a bold commitment 18 months ago when we launched the Polestar 0 project and these strong partnerships show the steady progress towards our goal.”
Hans Pehrson, leader of the Polestar 0 project and former Head of R&D at Polestar, said: “Our new partners will help develop solutions that don’t currently exist and they embrace the challenge of finding new technologies. The next five years will be critical, and we need partners that will engage with the Polestar 0 project to ensure its success.
“We will also see spin-off effects across various industries when we address the challenges in the automotive sector with innovation and the development of climate-neutral supply chains throughout a wide array of base industries.”
From 14 September 2022, Polestar opens a second call for collaboration, targeting transformative solutions for new technologies to create man-made materials without any GHG emissions. These are in the field of minerals and metals, bio-based chemicals and plastics and other base materials. Interested parties are encouraged to apply online.
Jonas Nyvang, STILRIDE CEO and co-founder, said: “We are always looking for new ways to advance our STILFOLD technology and reduce the automotive industry’s impact on the planet. The Polestar 0 project is a dream collaboration and is an incredible opportunity for leading minds to come together and work out how we can completely rethink vehicle manufacturing to benefit people and the planet.
“The journey to electrification is only just getting started and this landmark project has the potential to set a new gold standard for carbon-neutral e-mobility. We can’t wait to get started.”
Partners previously signed up to the Polestar 0 include:
- SSAB: Fossil-free steel
- Hydro: Zero-carbon aluminium
- Autoliv: Safety equipment
- ZF: Electric powertrain and overall systems
This follows the news that Polestar is establishing a new UK commercial head office and new test drive hub at Bicester Heritage. The company also announced it has signed a multi-year agreement to supply battery and charging systems to Swedish hydrofoil electric boat company, Candela. This extends Polestar’s efforts to drive sustainable electric mobility beyond the automotive industry.
