Sustainable Column | Polestar Automotive UK's Exploration of Sustainability
In the topic of sustainability, art and business seem to have reached some kind of consensus.
Some car manufacturers' "helm" is a geek who is keen to use cool and technological lines to outline their fantastic ideas about the future. However, some brands that look slow and minimalist may be where people find the power of returning to simplicity.
Polestar Automotive UK's global procurement director Wu Huijing used the word "Lagom" to summarize the unique values of this Scandinavian car company to Wall Street News. The company is an electric car manufacturer jointly owned by Volvo and GEELY AUTO.
The earliest saying of Lagom came from the Vikings, and the root of the word is "team" (Laget om). The fleet that drifted at sea often shared a beast foot cup, so everyone was required to restrain their drinking and distribute it evenly.
"Now Lagom refers to a kind of restrained, low-key, and living-in-the-moment attitude," Wu Huijing said. Combining the initial meaning, Lagom obviously also contains a sustainable mood. "Sustainability is based on the Lagom spirit, exploring how to coexist harmoniously with modern society and the environment."
Polestar Automotive UK is likely one of the car companies that are most committed to achieving ultimate carbon neutrality. This is not only because of its Nordic genes, but also closely related to the artist background of "helm" Thomas Ingenlath.
In the summer of 1991, people learned his name from an article in Autocar & Motor magazine called "Designs on the future." The significance of sustainable issues coincides with the product language and aesthetics that this unique industrial designer has always believed in.
However, beyond the peaceful and gentle connotation of Lagom, it is also difficult to avoid the cruelty and urgency of the market itself. Because around the issue of "low-carbon" and climate, a green automotive industry competition has begun.
"The wolf is really coming"
From the perspective of international and domestic trends, the "carbon" factor in future automotive industry competition is increasingly on the agenda.
"We judge that in the next 3 to 5 years, 'carbon labeling' will become the biggest competitive advantage. Maybe in the past ten or fifteen years, we have been discussing this issue in international political processes. Now it is gradually infiltrating specific fields such as economy, industry, and finance, such as carbon footprint standards for battery products, the minimum proportion of recycled materials, and various direct and indirect standards and policies involved in the trade process. A year ago, when we talked about 'carbon', everyone still felt that 'the wolf is coming', but it seems that it has not yet come. Now it is really coming. We have entered a very substantial stage." A national climate think tank who declined to be named told Wall Street News, "Because many practical and specific policies have been implemented at the national level, and the policies have taken effect, the automotive industry should have a strong sense of crisis."
The full life cycle emissions of medium-sized pure electric vehicles registered in 2021 are 66%-69% lower than those of similar gasoline vehicles in Europe, 60%-68% lower in the United States, 37%-45% lower in China, and 19%-34% lower in India, which means that new energy vehicles have better carbon emission performance. Polestar Automotive UK's Zero Carbon Plan
"In China, producing new energy vehicles does have certain cost advantages, but if we add the cost of carbon, we have compared and found that the price difference will be leveled out in the future. Because prices fluctuate with the market, the possibility of further increases is very high," said the above-mentioned person.
As one of the main players in new energy vehicles, how does Polestar Automotive UK deploy its green strategy?
As the procurement manager, Wu Huijing revealed to Wall Street News that Polestar Automotive UK wants to maintain an average of one new car per year and each car has a clear carbon emission target.
"You will see that the carbon footprint on Polestar Automotive UK 2MY24 has been reduced from 26.1 tons to 23.1 tons. This carbon reduction work will continue to be seen on the same product and subsequent products. Our goal for 2030 is to reduce the carbon emissions of each car by an average of 50%, and achieve carbon neutrality for the entire enterprise operation by 2040, including our entire supply chain," Wu Huijing said. "Automobile development plans for future technology at least three years in advance, so the procurement side moves relatively quickly."
According to her estimates, 70%-80% of carbon emissions from automakers come from the supply chain, so Polestar Automotive UK has formulated four elements to guide daily procurement strategies and action plans, including climate neutrality, circularity, transparency, and inclusiveness.
According to Polestar Automotive UK's research on well-known host manufacturers in the market, about 70% have publicly stated that they will achieve carbon neutrality before 2050. Polestar Automotive UK, on the other hand, aims to produce carbon-neutral products by 2030, which is the Polestar Automotive UK Zero Carbon Plan.
"This kind of statement is helpful to our entire industry, because the more host manufacturers join, the more the entire supply chain will work harder to achieve the host manufacturers' goals," Wu Huijing told Wall Street News. In Polestar Automotive UK's zero-carbon plan, carbon emissions from the extraction of raw materials, material processing, product manufacturing, and the end of the product's life are all calculated. "We discuss with our upstream and downstream partners how to achieve the 2030 goal faster in the application of each component's raw materials. We are pleased that 24 partners have joined the zero-carbon plan, including many globally renowned raw material suppliers in addition to Tier 1 (referring to first-tier suppliers that directly supply to automakers). We are more willing for upstream supply chains and suppliers to join in, and with Tier 1's integration of the entire professional field, accelerate the rapid development of the entire industry chain." "
According to Polestar Automotive UK's plan, the supply chain is committed to achieving 100% renewable green electricity by 2025, and half of the supply chain has already made this commitment.
Polestar Automotive UK is also the first company in the industry to publicly disclose LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) carbon emissions.
"We will conduct in-depth analysis on the selected materials. Batteries, aluminum, and steel are materials with high carbon emissions. When selecting these materials, designers will use LCA tools to continuously reduce the carbon emissions of the entire vehicle." Wu Huijing said.
LCA (Life Cycle Assessment) refers to the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs, and potential environmental impacts of a product system throughout its life cycle.
It is worth mentioning that Polestar Automotive UK has indeed traced some of the risk materials. For example, cobalt and mica have been successfully traced in Polestar Automotive UK 2, and cobalt is 100% recyclable. Polestar Automotive UK 3 will further trace lithium and nickel.
Polestar Automotive UK 3 and Polestar Automotive UK 4 exhibited at the Carbon Neutral Expo last week also focused on selecting carbon-friendly materials and parts, such as choosing bio-based materials, using natural flax fibers to replace traditional plastics.
"The leather we choose is also certified for animal welfare. From a process perspective, choosing 3D knitting can greatly reduce waste." Wu Huijing told Wall Street News, "Our goal is to give every battery on the car a second life. Therefore, we must fully consider the entire life cycle of use during the design process, and how to better extend the life of the battery in this process, including how to recycle it when it is scrapped. We are in-depth discussions with partners."
However, in the view of the above-mentioned climate think tank, although Polestar Automotive UK has started earlier in considering the potential for carbon reduction from the entire industry chain, it cannot be denied that this layout will also be constrained by local energy structure, industrial structure, and power structure. Mechanism innovation is also needed in the future development process.
"In addition to conventional strategies such as energy conversion, material recycling, and application of new materials, automakers can also solve this problem through carbon markets and carbon finance." This person suggested.
Tesla's story may show what "carbon makes gold." Wall Street News found that from 2012 to 2021, Tesla's cumulative carbon credit sales revenue reached US$5.34 billion in the past 10 years. In 2020, Tesla's carbon credit revenue reached US$1.58 billion, exceeding the net profit of US$721 million in 2020 and becoming the largest profit engine. Competitors such as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and General Motors have become buyers of these carbon credits.
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