Polestar to build true zero emissions car by 2030

Your electric machine might have zero tailpipe emissions, but manufacturing cars can be a dirty business and all those rare elements that go into batteries have to be dug up somewhere. Then of course there’s the small fact that all that electric power flowing out of all those charging points has to be generated somehow.

In the past these background emissions have been offset by planting trees, but now the Volvo-inspired and Chinese-owned brand says that’s old hat and has set itself a “moonshot” target to create the first entirely climate-neutral car by 2030.

“Offsetting is a cop-out,” Polestar chief executive Thomas Ingenlath tells us. “By pushing ourselves to create a completely climate-neutral car, we are forced to reach beyond what is possible today. We will have to question everything, innovate and look to exponential technologies as we design towards zero.”

Polestar’s initiative is called Polestar 0 and is based around a product sustainability declaration, already used in industries such as food and fashion. It means that in the future all Polestar cars will bear a label disclosing carbon footprint and traced risk materials.

Sustainability targets to eradicate emissions from the production process have even been incorporated into the employee bonus scheme.

Currently Polestar’s main offering is the all-wheel-drive 402PS (300kW) Polestar 2, with a Polestar 3 electric SUV to be launched next.

“Today, Polestar 2 leaves the factory gates with a carbon footprint. In 2030 we want to present a car that does not,” adds Ingenlath.

Save the planet, plant a tree? Not in Polestar’s world.