Polestar slashes its carbon footprint per EV sold by a quarter in just four years

Swedish electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Polestar says it has managed to reduce its carbon footprint per electric car sold by a quarter.

As part of its larger “Polestar 0” goal to “eliminate all greenhouse gas emissions from every aspect of the supply chain and production” and become climate neutral by 2040, Polestar also publishes a regular annual sustainability report in which it details its relevant achievements.

Its fourth sustainability report, published this week, reveals that it had managed reduce the carbon footprint per every vehicle sold by 24.7 per cent as against levels in 2020.

Since 2020, Polestar has been able to reduce the cradle-to-grate carbon footprint of its Polestar 2 from 26.1 tCO₂e per vehicle to 23.1 tCO₂e for the 2024 model year.

Learnings from reducing Polestar 2’s carbon footprint have also fed into the design and production of the Polestar 3 and 4. For example, the cradle-to-gate footprint of the Polestar 3 at launch was 24.7tCO₂e, 1.4 tons lower than Polestar 2 at launch – although this has increased to 24.9 tCO₂e and 25.9tCO₂e, depending on where it is built.

Similarly, Polestar 4 Long Range Dual Motor model boasts a cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of 21.3tCO₂e despite being almost 250kg heavier and having 18kWh greater battery capacity than the Polestar 2. This works out to a carbon footprint 1.8tCO₂e lower compared to the 2024 Polestar 2 and 4.8tCO₂e lower compared to the launch edition Polestar 2.

The largest contributions to Polestar’s sustainability efforts include the use of low-carbon aluminium in all models, improvements in battery manufacturing, 100 per cent renewable electricity across all manufacturing elements, and more efficient logistics combined with an increased used of biofuels on certain ocean routes.

“Polestar has shown that it is possible to decouple growth from climate impact,” said Michael Lohscheller, Polestar CEO.

“In simple terms, we aim to continue to cut emissions as we accelerate sales. Even though much in the world seems to be going in the wrong direction, we are doubling down on our commitments. When the world zigs, Polestar zags.”