Polestar publishes full details of the carbon footprint of its latest models. The Swedish electric vehicle (EV) producer believes the car industry should be a driving force in the shift to sustainable mobility, and that transparency is a key enabler.
Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) consider a range of factors in a car’s life cycle, from supply to manufacture to recycling, and summarise this climate impact in one easily understood number. This enables consumers to make quick and educated decisions when buying a car.
Polestar already clearly displays the CO2e footprint and traced risk materials of the launch version of Polestar 2 through its Product Sustainability Declaration. The declaration will now be updated to include the new single motor versions of Polestar 2.
With Polestar being completely transparent this will make it easy and intuitive for consumers to consider the climate impact of different variants, along with price and range.
The Polestar 2 was recently displayed at the EV Summit in Oxford, where Jonathan Goodman, Polestar COO, spoke about the need for transparency in the car industry.
Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, said: “Carmakers need to take full responsibility. Every week we see a new announcement that an automaker is changing direction towards electrification but going electric alone is not enough.
“Making cars electric is not the end game, it is a starting point. We need to be honest and transparent.”
Polestar wants to go further and urges the industry to adopt greater transparency to rebuild consumer trust. Recent research proves that only one in four consumers trust car manufacturers to be transparent and to operate in the best interests of society.
Over half of consumers demand more transparency and the ability to compare CO2 footprints between cars. The adoption of an industry-wide standard could be the key.
The new Life Cycle Assessments found that the new Polestar 2 variants, including the Long range Single motor and Standard range Single motor, leave the factory with carbon footprints ranging between 24 and 25 tonnes of CO2e.
This is a number that remains flat during the use phase if the car is charged with green energy. The existing Long range Dual motor’s footprint was previously declared to be 26,2 tonnes of CO2e in 2020.
Fredrika Klarén, head of sustainability at Polestar, said: “This shows that Polestar 2 is already a climate solution. EV technology provides a car with less than half the carbon impact of an equivalent petrol car if charged with green energy.”
