Polestar publishes full carbon footprint for Polestar 5

Polestar has published a full life cycle assessment (LCA) for the Polestar 5, reporting a cradle-to-gate carbon footprint of 23.8 tCO₂e and becoming the first automaker to make such data publicly available across its entire model line-up. The company says the sourcing of aluminium from recycled sources and renewable-powered smelters avoids more than 14 tCO₂e per vehicle compared with conventional production methods.

The Polestar 5’s aluminium supply chain underpins much of the emissions reduction: 13% of the aluminium used is recycled and 83% comes from smelters operating on renewable electricity. Production facilities for the vehicle, its battery cell modules and key battery materials also run on renewable electricity.

The car’s interior incorporates natural fibre composites developed with Bcomp using flax-based ampliTex, a bio-based alternative to carbon fibre that requires 50% less fossil-based material and can be up to 40% lighter than conventional plastic composites. Other materials include Econyl carpets made from discarded fishing nets and recycled PET textiles. The front luggage compartment uses a mono-material PET construction to simplify end-of-life recycling.

In a statement, Fredrika Klarén, Head of Sustainability at Polestar, said: “You cannot reduce what you don’t measure. Making the carbon footprint of a car visible helps focus the industry on where emissions occur, particularly in materials and manufacturing. That transparency is essential if we want to scale the low-carbon materials, renewable energy and circular solutions needed to reduce the climate impact of cars.”

The Polestar 5 produces up to 650 kW and 1,015 Nm of torque, with a range of up to 678 km (WLTP) and 350 kW DC charging capability.

Source: Polestar