At the EV Summit held on Dec 12 in Oxford, UK, Jonathan Goodman, head of Polestar UK, said electrification of car was "just the start" and the carmaker has committed to becoming "climate neutral" as a company by 2040.
The carmaker has also introduced the "Polestar 0 Project" last year to manufacture a truly climate neutral car coming out of the factory gates without offsetting by 2030, Goodman said. He called the project an "unparalleled" goal for the global automotive industry and it's open for others to come and join.
Goodman said Polestar believes that simply introducing an electric car is just the start, "because we know that the electric car of today comes with a carbon footprint." He continued that "it's crucial for the industry to offer transparency to the customer, so that customers can judge the cars for themselves."
Currently, there are 25 companies from different industries that are working with Polestar towards the goal. Goodman said, "it's an ambition that mobilizes everybody within the Polestar organization - from designers, procurement, R&D, and the commercial forces, with clear agenda and commitment." However, much more need to be done across all elements of society to ensure that this move to electrification happens.
In his speech, Goodman urged both the public and the private sectors to "face up to their responsibilities to speed up development and to create the regulatory framework that encourages and accelerates infrastructure investment" that can match the new electrified, zero-emission products and the demand for these products.
Polestar is a Swedish EV brand co-founded by Volvo Cars and China's Geely Holdings in 2017, according to Reuters. Goodman said the carmaker has welcomed the 1,000,000th customer into their showrooms around the globe last month and has hit the production target of 100,000 pure electric Polestar 2 within two and half years. According to Polestar, the 100,000th Polestar 2 was produced in Luqiao, China last month.
All Polestar factories are currently located in China and the carmaker is opening up a new manufacturing site in the US for the local market.
The brand also promotes a new way of retailing cars. Its online direct consumer model is intended to "make buying a car fun again," Goodman said at the Summit. Each car-buying contract is signed directly with Polestar, instead of through commissioned agents at the dealer.
He added that the product experts in their showrooms in the city center have only one job: to provide all information about electrification and charging to customers and help them make the right decision.
As EV rises, more OEMs are also moving towards the direct consumer business model. Goodman said they are changing what's been the same process of selling cars for the last 90 years, and he is "delighted to see the change happening."
