Polestar has cut the emissions of each electric car it produces by a quarter since 2020 – and it has done so without radical technologies or materials, instead targeting the “low-hanging fruit”.

Speaking to Autocar ahead of the publication of Polestar’s latest sustainability report, Polestar sustainability boss Fredrika Klarén explained that the substantial reduction in cradle-to-grave CO2 is in large part due to how Polestar now sources materials.

Since the start of Polestar 2 production in 2020, it has swapped from traditional sources of aluminium and steel to metal that has either already been recycled or has been smelted using renewable electricity.

These two materials are responsible for some 45% of the 2’s total greenhouse gas emissions, according to Polestar, so present significant opportunities to reduce its environmental impact.

The Swedish company also started using renewable energy at its factories; and it derives some reduction in emissions from the updated, now rear-wheel-drive 2’s greater efficiency. 

“A lot of voices want to talk about how it is technically unfeasible or financially unsound,” said Klarén, “but what we see is that there are so many low-hanging fruits you can absolutely go for.”

She added that there is “still progress to be made”, even with these “low-hanging fruits”.

For example, Polestar Zero – the company’s project to build a climate-neutral car by 2030 – recently identified a potential 10-tonne reduction in CO2 emissions in steel and aluminium sourcing alone.

Kláren continued: “Recycled content: it's not rocket science, right?

“Hopefully we can really [guarantee] that these solutions can be utilised as quickly as possible.

"When we went into the Polestar Zero project, we had the 2020 version of the Polestar 2 as a base car. That car had a 26.1-tonne [carbon] footprint, and if we use the solutions that I just spoke about, we would be down to 16 tonnes.”

Pursuing such endeavours means Polestar is now outperforming its previous forecast for decarbonising its cars entirely by 2040, according to Kláren.

“An EV is not sustainable today, but it absolutely has the potential to become that, and it is better today than the [alternative], and to also create exciting stories around these cars,” she said.