Polestar 4 LCA shows lowest carbon impact of all Polestar vehicles at launch

Polestar has published the first Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) for Polestar 4. The LCA ahows that Polestar 4 has the lowest carbon footprint of all Polestar cars to date—as low as 19.4 tons of CO₂e at launch.

Polestar 4 is produced in Geely Holdings’ SEA factory in Hangzhou Bay, China, which combines green electricity that carries the I-REC hydro power certificate, with photovoltaic electricity from the roof of the plant. A higher use of low-carbon aluminum from smelters using hydropower electricity helps reduce the climate impact further.

In addition, data regarding the share of recycled aluminum has been included in the assessment for the first time.

Available initially in China, the Polestar 4 Standard range Single motor comes with a carbon footprint of 19.4 tCO₂e. The Long range Single motor version has a carbon footprint of 19.9 tCO₂e, while the Long range Dual motor has one of 21.4 tCO₂e. Aluminum represents 23-24% of the carbon footprint, while steel and iron constitute 20%, and battery modules account for the highest share of the carbon footprint of materials production and refining at 36-40%.

To support our net zero goal, we set carbon budgets for all our cars. Throughout the product development of Polestar 4, its carbon budget has influenced everything from material choices to factory energy sources. Sharing the LCA enables us to show that we can strive for net zero—one ton of CO₂e at a time.

—Fredrika Klarén, Head of Sustainability at Polestar

Polestar publishes full details of the carbon footprint of all its models. The Swedish EV-maker believes the car industry should be a driving force in the shift to sustainable mobility, and that transparency is a key enabler.

Polestar’s LCAs, published since 2020, consider a range of factors in a car’s life cycle, from supply to manufacture and recycling, and summarize the climate impact in one easily understood number. This enables consumers to make quick and educated decisions when buying a car. The Polestar 4 LCA figures disclose the cars’ cradle-to-gate carbon footprint which includes material acquisition through the production of the product and excludes the use and end-of-life stages.