Polestar, in a press release, notes that the base model Polestar 4’s production emits 19.4 tons of carbon dioxide, according to Polestar’s Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). “LCAs, published since 2020, consider a range of factors in a car’s life cycle,” the automaker explains, “from supply to manufacture and recycling, and summarize the climate impact in one easily understood number.”
Polestar said that it’s able to lower its carbon emissions by relying on cleaner energy during the production of its vehicles, such as its factory in Hangzhou Bay, China, which utilizes hydroelectric and solar power, as well as recycled materials when building the EVs.
Long range and cheap, easy ways to charge the battery are great for getting EVs to have mass market appeal and use and are vital parts of the equation. But the environmental impact is one of the most important factors of EVs. It’s almost the entire point of the segment in the first place.