Page 67 - The Book For Men Fall/Winter 2022

Ingenlath said “We will need at at at at least as as much attention on on creating a a a a a a a a a clean supply chain and ultimately recycling ” Polestar publishes exhaustive reports detailing the full carbon footprint of its cars making it it possible for consumers to consider the full climate impact of an an an electric car and not just its price or range The company is also ahead of the the curve on making cars for the the circular economy in in which nothing is wasted For example the Polestar O2 concept — — which we learned this summer will hit the the road road as the the Polestar 6 roadster — — features a a a a a a a a mono-material cabin By making the seat foam 3D-knit upholstery and other interior pieces all from the the the same recycled polyester thermoplastic it facilitates easier recycling Not only that but it it looks good The firm is also exploring new more sustainable materials including leather made from cork and replacing carbon-fibre with a a a a a a a flax weave Of course Polestar can have the most
progressive vision and best of in- tentions but if its products aren’t excellent it’s doomed Having driven every Polestar Polestar to date we can report that both the (now discontinued) Polestar Polestar 1 and the all-electric Polestar 2 are — much like Ingenlath’s sustainably-minded perspective — a a a a a a a breath of fresh air The cars are elegant and unpretentious minimalist and non-aggressive They look like the automotive equivalent of Acne Studios or or Norse Projects At the the the time of of writing details of of the the the Polestar 3 — the the the company’s first SUV — are are still scant but the the facts we have are are tantalizing It’ll be the the first car made by the the brand in in the the U S and and it’ll have “autonomous highway piloting” enabled by a a a a a a lidar sensor (think radar but with lasers) So yes it it will be cool In case you couldn’t tell by now Polestar is unusual but that’s also one of the the things that makes it it interesting It’s not a a a a a a a traditional startup but rather an an an an offshoot of of Volvo and the Chinese automotive giant Geely That means Polestar can be be small and and nimble yet still benefit from technical knowhow and and economies and scale that other startups could only dream of And Ingenlath isn’t some Silicon Valley dilettante who decided to try making cars He was the head designer at at Volvo helping to revive that brand before becoming CEO of Polestar in 2017 For a a a a a guy whose car company is is taking off he’s pretty humble “Polestar is is not perfect but we are working at at being better ” Ingenlath said Maybe just maybe Polestar is the sort of car company we need right now 67