The company compares the carbon footprint of the electric Polestar 2 and the regular Volvo XC40
Swedish brand Polestar, part of the Geely group, analyzed the carbon footprint of the Polestar 2 electric car and the regular Volvo XC40. It turned out that most of the greenhouse gases are emitted into the air during the production of the car and batteries – and in order to catch up with the XC40 in this indicator, a “two” must travel at least 50,000 kilometers.
On environmental issues, Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath is leaning towards open dialogue with customers: “Manufacturers are not always honest with consumers when it comes to the environmental impact of their products. It is not right. We have to tell everything as it is – even if the truth is not always pleasant. ” Ingenlat urges companies to switch to a unified method for calculating CO₂ emissions and stop talking about electric cars as a panacea for the environment.
An internal Polestar study showed that battery models are the path to climate neutrality (in theory, climate neutrality means that all greenhouse gas emissions are offset by implementing carbon-negative projects that capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, or creating products with zero emissions) – but the level of technology development is of great importance. The company analyzed the lifecycle carbon footprint of the Polestar 2 electric car and the conventional Volvo XC40 – and here’s what it turned out.
During the production phase of a crossover with a traditional combustion engine, 14 tons of CO₂e are emitted into the atmosphere (the equivalent of CO₂ is the various types of greenhouse gases, reduced to a common unit of measurement). The indicator for Polestar 2 and its battery is 24 tons. During operation, the XC40 will add another 41 tons, and the “two” – 23 tons if using mixed sources of electricity, and 0.4 tons – provided that electricity is obtained only from wind turbines.
For the XC40’s total carbon footprint to exceed Polestar 2, an electric vehicle needs to travel 100,000 kilometers in terms of global energy (taking into account various ways of generating electricity) or 80,000 kilometers, taking into account the European structure of electricity generation, which has a high share of renewables 2018). If you charge the car only with the energy obtained from the “wind farms”, then the figure will drop to 50,000 kilometers.