Polestar bosses insist that large electric SUVs such as the new Polestar 3 can be sustainable and responsible, by helping switch buyers from combustion-engined versions and “decoupling” the link between a vehicle’s size and its environmental impact.
The firm’s second production vehicle, the Polestar 3 was revealed last week with a twin-motor powertrain producing up to 380kW and a 111kWh battery that offers up to 379 miles of range – while weighing at least 2584kg.
The environmental impact of large premium SUVs was recently questioned by Citröen boss Vincent Cobee, who said they were “not the answer” to creating truly sustainable machines because of the resources needed to make such big cars and large batteries.
Vincent Cobee Q&A: 'Ideally, Citroën won't launch another big, heavy SUV'
Polestar has put a major focus on sustainability, publishing a report that shows the emissions created in the production and lifetime of the Polestar 2 saloon, and launching the Polestar 0 project to put a “truly net zero” car into production by 2030.
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Asked by Move Electric if a large SUV weighing more than 2500kg could be truly sustainable Fredrika Klarén, Polestar’s sustainability chief highlighted the ongoing sustainability efforts with the Polestar 3 – and the need to provide alternatives for buyers of combustion-engined large SUVs.
“There’s a shocking report from the International Energy Agency that shows SUVs were the second biggest driver of the rise in carbon emissions over the last decade, only behind the power industry," said Klarén. “SUVs have a large carbon footprint, but for that reason we need electric alternatives for customers who need these types of vehicle. So it’s clear that we need to get into the segment.
“Our question is to really decouple both the growth of our company and variations in cars size, [battery] kilowatt hours and other things from environmental impact. We can do that through circular solutions, for example, using more recycled content or sourcing materials produced with renewable energy. We can decouple heavyweight cars from the environmental impact it would have had if we’d gone on with business as usual.”
Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath added: “The whole ethos about Polestar is about showing a sustainable lifestyle doesn’t mean you just have to reduce: a luxurious product like an SUV can help you to bring your own personal CO2 footprint close to zero. The joy of charging your car with solar power and then having a really nice, sporty and fast driving car is a fascinating combination.”
The Polestar 3 features a number of recycled material in the interior and body, and the firm is also working to reduce the carbon emissions from its production facilities and the vehicle usage. Polestar has also said that, as it did with the 2, it is committed to producing a lifecycle carbon analysis for the Polestar 3.
Ingenlath added that he still wanted to agree an industry standard for all firms to publish lifecycle carbon analysis reports for all their cars, and admitted it was “frustrating” that the car industry had so far shown little interest in doing so.
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