Electric Vehicles: Jake Powell (Polestar)

History Of Polestar

Jake Powell, Assistant Space Manager of Polestar presented at our annual INEED event, 2024. Jake began by introducing the history of Polestar. Polestar was initially started as a Swedish racing team in 1996. The team was approached by Volvo, who proposed a partnership; Polestar would become the performance arm and racing team for Volvo, both representing Volvo in races, while developing high-performance vehicles. 

After decades creating vehicles together, in 2015, Gearly Automotive, a Chinese company, bought both Volvo and Polestar. Volvo and Polestar became 2 separate entities. Now their own company under Gearly Automotive, Polestar continued to maintain a close relationship to Volvo. 

Polestar had a new focus - to create fully electric, performance-based vehicles, with a commitment to sustainability. Sustainability became a pillar of Polestar’s brand, and to this day, this commitment spans every aspect of Polestar’s operations. This applies not only to the production of EVs, but also for sourcing sustainable materials, making manufacturing process as sustainable as possible by working with other companies who share same ideals. 

Performance

Now, Polestar aspires to be a leading force for the EV sector, showing world environmental impact through transparency and accountability, while prioritising performance. But Polestar is not just an electric vehicle brand - they are a performance brand. They pride themselves on being at the forefront of sustainable EV innovation and pioneers in automotive industry. They have led advancements in performance, range and sustainability which have been adopted in the automotive industry across the globe.

Each of their models provides instantaneous torque delivery and acceleration. The Polestar 4 is the fastest Polestar production vehicle to date, with a 0-60 of just 3.7 secs and 686 newton metres instantaneous torque. The all-wheel drive Polestar 3 is modelled around luxury and performance, with a 111kWh battery, 510 break horse power, 920 newton metres torque, and a 0-60 of 4.5 seconds.

Unlike many electric vehicle brands, Polestar goes beyond just efficiency. They are committed to delivering performance and overcoming the traditional barriers associated with electric vehicles. Polestar has eliminated ‘range anxiety’, and transformed it into charging confidence. The Polestar 2 has a 82 kWh battery with a WLTP test figure range of 406 miles, enabling customers to feel confident in their vehicle’s ability to handle long driving ranges. 

Sustainability

Polestar uses sustainable materials in all their models, carefully considering materials on social and environmental impact. They challenge themselves and their suppliers each year to create and source more innovative and sustainable materials, for example, their Weave Tech and Bio-Attributed Microtech vegan alternative to leather. Their Weave Tech is recycled PVC and Bio-Attributed Microtechnology is 100% recycled polyester. The Tailored knit upholstery on Polestar 4 is 100% recycled PET plastic from ocean, while their wood decoration option is 100% recycled birchwood. Even the floor mats on Polestar models 3 and 4 are made from recycled fishing nets taken from the ocean floor. 80% of the aluminium used is fully recycled, while 100% of their steel is recycled from consumer and industrial waste. 

And Polestar are committed to animal welfare too - their animal welfare wool can be traced back through to yarn production stage, and their Nappa leather is made from hide held to highest standard by animal protection index. 

Future Goals

In 2021, Polestar published their Polestar Zero Project. Their goal is to have a fully carbon neutral vehicle on roads by 2030, by eliminating all greenhouse gases through all aspects of supply chain and production from conception to delivery. They are well on their way with their Polestar 4 model, which is created in a plant that uses 100% renewable energy.

Polestar are committed to being fully transparent. They provide customers with the information they need to make informed, ethical choices by disclosing all policies procedures, commitments, goals, successes and impacts. Polestar make all their data regarding their greenhouse gas emissions fully visible to public, maintain trusting and upholding accountability by ensuring full transparency.