Polestar is one manufacturer that gets it. 

Polestar 2040 climate roadmap

They have published its Sustainability Report for 2023. The Swedish electric performance car brand continues to make significant progress on its climate targets, achieving a reduction of 9% in relative greenhouse gas emissions per sold car in 2023.

This equates to a reduction of 3.4 tCO2e compared to 2022 and was achieved by a focus on three main areas: the use of carefully chosen materials with lower climate impact, renewable electricity in car and battery production, and energy efficiency in use phase. The achievements in 2023 and future ambitions illustrate that it is possible to decouple growth from increased emissions.

Fredrika Klarén, Polestar’s Head of Sustainability, says: “Our vision is clear – we want to accelerate the EV-transition while bringing in more sustainable and innovative solutions to make electric cars even better. We need to acknowledge that our industry still has a huge potential for improvement when it comes to disclosing concrete plans for achieving its climate pledges. This year we are sharing the work we do to make our 2040 climate roadmap more concrete, as we navigate towards our 2040 climate goal.”

Polestar also focused on enhancing its traceability practices

In 2023, Polestar also focused on enhancing its traceability practices and expanding the number of battery risk minerals tracked. A significant advancement is the ability to trace lithium and nickel used in Polestar 3’s batteries, adding to cobalt and mica that have been monitored with blockchain technology since 2020 and 2021, respectively.

The sustainability report transparently discloses how Polestar is adopting a due diligence approach to improve the ability to identify and remediate sustainability related risks. During 2023, Polestar introduced a digital platform to streamline the collection of sustainability related data to support transparency and compliance with standards and regulations.

Find the report here

Note about Polestar 

Polestar has a goal of reaching climate neutrality by 2040. Becoming truly climate-neutral means eliminating all greenhouse gas emissions across operations, and all phases of a car’s life cycle. This includes emissions from supply chain and manufacturing, as well as energy use during the car’s use phase.

Polestar’s LCAs, published since 2020, consider a range of factors in a car’s life cycle, from supply to manufacture and recycling, and summarise the climate impact in one easily understood number. This enables consumers to make quick and educated decisions when buying a car. The LCA figures stated in this release 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. The LCA figures related to the vehicles’ cradle-to-grave carbon footprint present a total carbon footprint of the car adding use phase and end-of-life on top of its cradle-to-gate carbon footprint.

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Installation started today at the Bentley Motors carbon neutral ‘dream factory’ in Crewe to increase the number of on-site panels to 36,418.

Quick Solar Highlights

• Work begins on next generation of solar panels at UK headquarters
• Installation will take the number of panels on the Crewe factory to 36,418
• Total area of 60,911 m2 – equal to nine football pitches
• Able to generate 10 MW of power in total – enough to power 2,370 homes per year
• Capable of delivering up to 75 per cent of the plant’s daytime electrical demand on average and can peak at 100 per cent
• Announcement is part of Bentley’s Beyond100 strategy to be end-to-end carbon neutral by 2030
• New panels installed in collaboration with 3ti – UK’s leading designer of solar car parks

10th Anniversary

The announcement coincides with the 10th anniversary of the first solar panels at the Pyms Lane site, where all Bentley models are built. The solar panels cover an area of 60,911 m2 – the equal to nine football pitches or 311 tennis courts.

The additional state-of-the-art panels are highly efficient and produce nearly 60 per cent more power per panel as the original units, which date back to 2013. They will add another two megawatts to energy generation on the Bentley site, bringing a total of 10 MW of generation capacity. It is estimated that the combined systems with 36,418 solar panels will produce up to 75 per cent of Bentley’s daytime electricity demands on average, based on May 2023, and can peak at 100 per cent. This is equivalent to the energy needed to power more than 2,370 homes per year. The new panels are due to be operational by November, reducing the equivalent CO2 emissions by 407,477 tonnes per year.

Solar Panels harness the power of the sun

The installation on ten existing roof structures at the plant is just the latest phase in Bentley’s efforts to harness the power of the sun. In 2019, the UK’s largest solar-powered car port was installed at the Bentley site in Crewe. All electricity used to manufacture Bentley cars is solar, or certified green. The panels are being installed in collaboration with 3ti – the UK’s leading designer of solar car parks.

Sebastian Benndorf, Director of Production Planning at Bentley Motors, added:

“The exciting addition of further solar panels at our Crewe headquarters support Bentley’s ongoing commitment to its Beyond100 strategy, to ensure the highest levels of luxury sustainable mobility. It is part of a vision to transform a 103-year-old luxury car company into new, sustainable role model for the entire automotive industry.

“Beyond100 is the culmination of two decades of innovation and achievement. The transformation across Bentley’s entire operation and product range is gathering pace as we move towards end-to-end carbon neutrality by 2030.”

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• As part of the company’s Beyond100 strategy, the Bentley Environmental Foundation represents the luxury marque’s long-term commitment to supporting global sustainability initiatives
• The Foundation will drive next generation solutions to environmental challenges
• The three confirmed launch partners include Project Drawdown, The Biomimicry Institute and Sustainable Surf
• The public as well as Bentley employees have the opportunity to make donations from 13 June onwards
• The unveiling of the Foundation comes in the wake of the launch of the Bentley Sustainability Council

Bentley Environmental Foundation

The Foundation supports a wide range of initiatives. The initial launch partner projects include Project Drawdown, The Biomimicry Institute and Sustainable Surf, with more partners to follow. Anyone can support the Bentley Environmental Foundation and its partners through donations big or small in order to increase the environmental impact of these projects.

Based on extensive research and analysis of existing initiatives, Bentley has developed a distinctive, innovative approach to modern grant-making in the environmental space. Built around its new Environmental Foundation, the company will help to create next generation solutions to environmental challenges, aiming for rejuvenation and regeneration and going beyond carbon neutrality. The launch of the Foundation has been aided by strategic advice from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF).

The company is supporting the Foundation directly by initially donating £3 million this year. This is a first step to support carefully selected charities and non-profits who will work in partnership with Bentley to deliver lasting, effective environmental change. The Foundation takes a three-pronged approach to grant-making – accelerating decarbonisation (‘drawdown’), supporting environmental changemakers and reimagining sustainable luxury.

Beyond 100 strategy

“Our Beyond100 strategy is amongst the boldest in the industry,” says Adrian Hallmark, Bentley Motors Chairman and CEO. “We will reinvent Bentley, and create a fully electric car business by 2030, which will already be taking a huge step to reduce our environmental impact.”

“However, without parallel changes to global renewable energy production, carbon capture and reduction in raw material usage, this benefit will be relatively small – it is not all about the car itself. Therefore, the Bentley Environmental Foundation will fund pioneering, discovery-led initiatives that can make a positive impact beyond our own business needs, engaging customers and innovators to seek out breakthrough technologies and solutions that lead the way on reversing the effects of climate change. The opportunity to act and innovate has never been more exciting than now.”

Bentley Environmental Foundation partners

Christoph Hohmann, Head of Global Brand Communications and responsible for the foundation, adds:

“We are very excited to launch the Foundation with these three partners. Co-creation is part of our brand DNA and we’re now applying this approach to implementing projects with real, long-term impacts for the environment. With Project Drawdown we aim to significantly increase the efficiency and effectiveness of billions of pounds worth of environmental donations and investments globally. With The Biomimicry Institute we’re supporting changemakers who are creating and scaling nature-inspired solutions to address our most pressing environmental and social challenges. And with Sustainable Surf we’re helping to strengthen blue carbon ecosystems in Africa and Europe through the massive forestation of seagrass and mangrove trees.”

“Project Drawdown is thrilled to receive this support from the Bentley Foundation and partner on the launch of the Drawdown Labs Capital Accelerator,” says Dr Jonathan Foley, Executive Director at Project Drawdown. “As a result of this collaboration, we will be able to help philanthropists and investors around the world — elevating the scientific rigor of their portfolios and significantly increase investments in the most effective climate solutions. Thanks to the founding investment by the Bentley Environmental Foundation, we are building a program that will influence tens of billions of dollars in climate investments, accelerating the world towards effective climate action.”

Charities Aid Foundation (CAF)

The Bentley Environmental Foundation has been set up with strategic advice from the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), a not-for-profit organisation with nearly 100 years of expertise in philanthropy. CAF is partnering with Bentley to ensure their investment achieves the maximum impact, providing advice on the Foundation’s structure, governance, reporting, and selecting charity partners.

The Bentley Environmental Foundation will follow a Funding Plus model, leveraging the company’s reach and standing to help push environmental innovation that might otherwise be overlooked, harnessing new technologies to combat climate change rapidly and effectively. The Bentley Environmental Foundation is committed to radical transparency, inviting the public to get involved and focusing on delivering measurable impacts. The public as well as Bentley employees have the opportunity to make donations from 13 June onwards by visiting BentleyMotors.com.

The three confirmed launch partners are:

1) Project Drawdown

Project Drawdown, the world’s leading resource for climate solutions, has identified staggering disconnects between today’s climate funding and the science-based solutions needed to effectively address climate change.

In response, it is building the new Drawdown Labs Capital Accelerator. The first of its kind, this initiative enables philanthropists and investors to aggregate their impact and learn from the world’s leading scientists and engineers, with an open-source plan for increasing impact.

The Capital Accelerator is expected to influence up to $100 billion in capital flows to climate solutions by 2025.

2) The Biomimicry Institute 

The Bentley supported “Ray of Hope Fellowship” aims to support and amplify changemakers leading the way towards a nature-inspired future, helping innovators to scale their solutions in the face of competition from established, extractive businesses.

The Fellowship seeks to shorten and flatten this process through programmatic support and content creation, enabling more nature-inspired solutions to make a meaningful impact.

The project intends to support 10 startups or around 30 changemakers per year. In the past over 30 per cent have been women-led.

3) Sustainable Surf: Restoring Blue Carbon Ecosystems (Ocean Regeneration)

Sustainable Surf is a California-based non-profit that uses the power of surfing to regenerate the health of our ocean planet and reverse climate change.

Mangrove trees, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests have declined drastically due to climate change and human activities. Funding for Sustainable Surf’s SeaTrees programme will be used to expand their restoration projects currently operating in Kenya, where 1 million mangrove trees have already been planted, into Europe for the first time with seagrass and kelp projects in Portugal and Spain.

The project will support the planting and protection of mangrove trees, seagrass meadows, and kelp forests through three local restoration partners.

The unveiling of the Foundation comes in the wake of the launch of the Bentley Sustainability Council, a team of global experts, created to both challenge and aid the company’s pursuit of sustainability excellence outlined in its Beyond100 strategy, as well as the launch of Bentley’s first-ever Sustainability Report.

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The plant at Herøya Industrial Park, Norway will produce anode graphite for around 20,000 electric vehicles (EVs) per year, and is the first phase of a larger expansion plan. The construction of the initial facility will be carried out in parallel with preparations for a second-phase larger plant which is the next step to deliver on Vianode’s ambition to provide battery materials to approximately 2 million EVs per year by 2030, to meet the demand from a significant share of the global EV market.

Vianode will establish the plant in an existing building at Herøya to ensure a rapid ramp-up of production and deliveries to customers. Over the recent months, the building has undergone extensive refurbishment in preparation for production of Vianode’s advanced battery materials, which provides unique performance characteristics that improve battery properties. This includes faster charging, increased range, longer service life, as well as increased safety and recyclability.

“Having the keys to the building which will house our first industrial scale production signals that we are on track towards market leadership within advanced battery materials. Several Vianode employees will be onboarded during the first half of 2023. The employees will receive training at our industrial pilot in Kristiansand, which has been in operation for two years, to prepare to receive the production equipment when it arrives at Herøya later this year. Our employees will also participate in installation and start-up at Herøya as a part of the training,” says Steinar Talle, plant manager at Vianode.

The production equipment is expected to be installed starting from May 2023 and the plant, which uses renewable energy, is scheduled to start delivering sustainably produced anode materials to customers in 2024.

Vianode is investing approximately NOK 2 billion in the new facility which will create up to 100 sustainable industrial jobs in Norway and provide critical materials to a fast-growing Nordic and European battery value chain. Vianode’s active anode materials are produced with up to 90 percent lower CO₂ emissions than today’s standard materials.

About Vianode
Vianode is built upon technological advancements and decades of industry experience, backed by Elkem, Hydro, and Altor. Following successful pilot production, the company is now scaling up toward full-scale production in Norway. Vianode’s range of anode graphite products offers unique performance characteristics and are produced with up to 90 percent lower CO2 emissions than today’s standard materials – supporting the ambitions of leading battery cell and automotive manufacturers while accelerating the green transition. www.vianode.com

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Polestar is proving that business growth and climate goals are compatible, as it targets to create a truly climate-neutral car by 2030, to halve carbon emissions per sold car between 2020 and 2030* and reach climate neutrality across its value chain by 2040.

Thomas Ingenlath, Polestar CEO, says: “We work with each step we take to support our climate strategy. Goals set 10 or 20 years ahead in time might feel fluffy. That’s where proper reporting comes in – making us accountable for the steps taken every year towards that goal. This is the climate decade. Change and improvement must happen all the time, now, and we can’t afford to wait. I’m proud to say we reduced greenhouse gas emissions per car sold by 6%.”

The 2021 report revisits another ground-breaking year that saw the launch of the Polestar 0 project – Polestar’s moonshot goal to create a truly climate-neutral car by 2030 – and the announcement of the first partner companies joining forces with Polestar towards achieving that goal.

“What gets measured gets done,” comments Fredrika Klarén​, Head of Sustainability at Polestar. “Sustainability reporting is key to the transparency we abide by at Polestar. Through annual reports, we monitor our direction towards our ambitious goals and show that we do what we say.”

Further promoting transparency on carbon footprint and risk materials, in 2021, Polestar introduced an industry-unique product sustainability declaration, clearly displaying sustainability information for Polestar 2 in all retail environments. Polestar’s continued partnership with Circular now includes blockchain traceability of mica, in addition to cobalt that is already traced in Polestar 2 batteries from material source to finished product.

2021 also saw the appointment of expert leads for all four of Polestar’s strategic sustainability areas: climate neutrality, transparency, circularity and inclusion. Employees across the world took part in several engagement and education sessions on said areas throughout 2021, with plans to continue in 2022.

Polestar was the first automotive brand to join the Exponential Roadmap Initiative, the science-led cross-sector collaboration alliance, committed to halving global emissions by 2030. In addition, Polestar is committed to the UN’s Race to Zero.

The report is available at https://reports.polestar.com/2021.

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