Polestar represents amazing engineering and the beginning of a new automotive age. Volvo's premium brand the marque focuses primarily on electrification. The Polestar One came as a hybrid grand tourer, the Polestar Two an EV family car. With the Polestar Three and Four to follow soon the brand doubles down on the future of EVs. A competitor to Tesla, until recently Polestar kept a low profile, unlike Tesla's CEO Elon Musk, the brand made sure that its cars would speak for themselves. But now Polestar's CEO Thomas Ingenlath steps into the public light to criticize both businesses' and individuals' lack of action in response to the climate crisis.
Polestar's statement art piece and CEO come out against BMW, Mercedes and Audi.
Polestar Criticize The Auto Industries' Lack Of Action
The Polestar brand itself turned into a powerful piece of modern art. Attending COP26 at Glasgow Polestar were ready to take notes of every car manufacturer's climate change promises. The plan was to carve these into stone. With no announcements made this block of granite took the title "Silence set in stone". Polestar challenges every other brand to take up the opportunity to fill in these blanks at the upcoming climate conference in Sharm El-Sheikh.
1 In 3 People Support The Ban Of New Petrol and Diesel Cars
According to Polestar, 1 in 3 consumers now support the 2030 ban on internal combustion engines in 2030 if not earlier. The EV manufacturer cites a global study of 18,000 individuals. These are across 19 markets and found that 34% of those surveyed support the ban on engines. The study predicts that in 2035 that number rises to 47%. However, in this survey, they also found that 75% of participants believed that society needed to "consume differently to preserve the climate and the environment for future generations". The difference between the belief in a need to change and the support for uptaking electric vehicles is certainly concerning. A sign that although issues like range anxiety for many are no longer real. There is a new issue of infrastructure anxiety, this is on top of the sheer cost of an electric vehicle.
This study breaks down which nations support EVs more than others. The top three countries are South Korea at 48%, the United Kingdom at 44%, and Singapore at 42%. The bottom three are New Zealand at 28%, Norway at 27%, and Finland at 20%. In other words, the more rural and the lower population density a nation has, as a result of lacking infrastructure and weaker economies, fewer are in favor of EVs. The United States took 10th place with Polestar's native Sweden supporting the banning of ICEs at only 32%.
This Is What Polestar Say Need To Change
Polestar's CEO Thomas Ingenlath heading into COP27 claims, "it is clear there is climate meeting fatigue. But companies and consumers can become the antidote to that". The CEO continues to prophecize that companies have the "power to act now and drive real change". As Tesla proved this through marketing gimmicks, including the Plaid's 0-60mph time and Ludicrous mode. If EVs find other ways to be exciting the public will continue to buy them, and perhaps embrace the future. Ingenlath continues that with only "1.5 percent of the vehicles on the road being electric today, it is clear we are living in an EV bubble, not an EV boom". The CEO suggests that manufacturers need to act now and not wait for policy changes and further investment in infrastructure from the government.
No prizes for guessing that the successful EV manufacturer now carves the way forward in environmental issues. According to Battersea Power Station, Polestar will on October the 14th 2022 open a new space dedicated to furthering both the brand and its environmental mission. Battersea Power Station is one of the lesser internationally known London landmarks. A decommissioned power plant overlooking the river Thames. In a recent project, the power station has seen renovation and now is "one of the most exciting and innovative mixed-use neighborhoods in the world". With a high footfall in an upmarket part of Great Britain, this should convert to increased sales for Polestar.
Polestar as a brand was slightly ahead of the curve of many manufacturers in being EV only. After all BMW and Mercedes-Benz had made half-hearted attempts at EVs and Hybrids for the past decade or so. Last year there was an amount of EV fever with both Audi and Porsche unveiling EVs, although they were practically the same car, alongside BMW's fleshing out of the i range of cars and Mercedes launching their EQS. Mercedes plan to cut emmissions by 50% for 2030. However as rightly claimed by Polestar this could have come sooner and still does not do enough to save the environment.