Geely-owned electric performance brand Polestar says it will publish ‘full details of the climate impact of its electric vehicles’.
It has published a breakdown of Polestar 2’s carbon footprint compared with the ICE-powered XC40 (read here).
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Polestar’ says its complete Life Cycle Assessment shows the total climate impact of the car over its life cycle.
“Car manufacturers have not been clear in the past with consumers on the environmental impact of their products,” says Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO. “That’s not good enough. We need to be honest, even if it makes for uncomfortable reading.”
Using its own analysis, Polestar found the new Polestar 2 leaves the factory with a 26-tonne carbon footprint. Compared to a Volvo XC40 with a petrol internal combustion engine, Polestar 2 has a larger footprint in the manufacturing phase, mainly due to the energy-intensive battery production process.
Once the EV reaches the customer, if charged with green energy, further CO2 emissions are negligible. After 50,000 km of driving, the fossil fuel car surpasses the EV in total CO2 emissions.
“The message is clear,” says Thomas Ingenlath. “Electric vehicles offer a route to climate neutrality and we will use the insights from this report to reach that goal.”
Polestar also pointed to the ‘disturbing lack of transparency across the industry’, as it is today impossible for a consumer to compare the climate impact of different cars.
One significant issue is that there is a range of different calculations used for Life Cycle Assessments by various car makers. Polestar is sharing its entire methodology and is now asking other car makers to open up and be more transparent.
“Fragmentation will only lead to confusion. Car manufacturers have to come together and be more transparent,” says Fredrika Klarén, Head of Sustainability at Polestar. “What we’re saying at Polestar is, As an industry, let’s help consumers make the right choice.”
The full methodology for Polestar’s Life Cycle Assessment and the analysis of the Polestar 2 carbon footprint can be found here.
