Polestar quadruples number of partners working on climate-neutral Polestar 0 car project
15 September 2022
Polestar is welcoming twelve new partners to the Polestar 0 project to develop a climate-neutral car. (Earlier post.) Each partner will focus on certain materials, components and processes involved in the production of cars. New partners, listed below, cover areas such as plastics, composites, chemicals and metals.
The transport sector is the fastest-growing greenhouse gas (GHG) emitting sector, expected to reach a share of more than 30% of total GHG emissions in the future, according to the United Nation’s Environment Programme.
Polestar and its partners share a common goal: to decarbonize the complete supply chain and manufacturing process.
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.
—Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar
Polestar has opened a second call for collaboration, targeting transformative solutions for new technologies to create man-made materials without any GHG emissions in the field of minerals and metals, bio-based chemicals and plastics, and other base materials. Interested parties are encouraged to apply online.
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 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
Partners previously signed up include:
SSAB: Fossil free steel
Hydro: Zero-carbon aluminium
Autoliv: Safety equipment
ZF: Electric powertrain and overall systems
The Polestar 0 project is Polestar’s moon-shot goal of creating the first truly climate-neutral car by 2030. The scope of the project is to identify and eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from the extraction of raw materials to when the car is delivered to the customer, as well as the end-of-life handling.
The Polestar 0 project aims to cut carbon emissions by changing the way that cars are made, rather than using traditional processes and then planting trees to offset CO2e. This approach will encompass collaboration across the entire development process and value chain, from suppliers to retailers.
The project targets what Polestar can measure and control: zero carbon emissions in the production of the car, delivery to customer, and end-of-life.
The use phase of an electric car can already today be close to climate neutral if the car is charged with renewable energy. The timeline for launching a car in 2030 means the advanced research needs to be completed by 2025, when work with the car’s architecture begins. By 2027, the vehicle project starts, which means that the application of that research, the advanced engineering required to take a research project into industrial production, needs to be completed.
I did a deep dive into Polestar's analyis of the lifecycle emissions of their Polestar 2 against one of their sister company's Volvo ICE offerings.
https://www.polestar.com/dato-assets/11286/1600176185-20200915polestarlcafinala.pdf
Unlike engineering, cost and works accounting is something which I have some, although ancient, professional knowledge of.
And I am often more than somewhat sceptical of over-blown claims of the efficiency and costs of fully electric transport.
The upshot was that I could not fault Polestar's analysis, although of course this sort of thing is necessarily somewhat fuzzy at the edges, with the details for instance of the energy sources leading to considerable variation in the outcomes.
In short, I trust Polestar if they claim climate neutrality.
The Chinese management has been acute enough to realise that what made Volvo Volvo was the incorporation of Swedish values and virtues, and Polestar remains an excellent example of them.
Posted by: Davemart | 15 September 2022 at 02:51 AM
Polestar seems to be doing everything right (well, except autopilot and that kind of software things). I
Unlike all European car makers, GM and Ford...
Posted by: peskanov | 17 September 2022 at 09:02 AM