Thursday 24 February 2022

Polestar seeks collaborations for ‘groundbreaking’ climate-neutral car

Automotive company Polestar is calling on organisations for potential collaborations to develop a "groundbreaking" climate-neutral car by 2030.

It is seeking to reduce emissions in the supply chain “rather than simply planting trees to offset CO2”, with collaborations to include researching and eliminating technical sources of CO2 equivalent in the entire supply chain, from the smallest components to vehicle handover and end-of-life.

The 'Polestar O' project seeks to “operate and co-operate to an extent never seen before” aiming to change the view on manufacturing cars in a sustainable way.

It has launched the first of several open calls for collaborations, with a pitch phase running for four weeks until 23rd March 2022.

Letters of Intent to collaborate on research have so far been signed with Autoliv, Hydro, SSAB, ZF and ZKW to provide understanding and insight of key areas as steel, aluminum, electronics, safety and driving systems.

One of the projects include Polestar and Autoliv conducting research to find climate-neutral solutions and innovations related to automotive safety such as pyrotechnics, textiles and new generation of materials for airbags and seatbelts.

Hans Pehrson, Head of the Polestar 0 project and former Head of Research and Development at Polestar said: “We need to dig into global problems that are yet to be solved. I’m confident that through research and collaboration, we cannot only recast great innovations of the past, creating the same or similar end results without any greenhouse gas emissions but tap into solutions that are still in the ideation stage.

“A fully sustainable society requires us to work together in unprecedented ways. That’s why a shifted focus is needed and we want to join forces with those who are equally determined to make this vision a reality.”