Polestar boss outlines brand’s future plans

POLESTAR CEO Thomas Ingenlath has a clear vision of where the battery electric specialist manufacturer is heading. Spoiler alert: it is not the mainstream, cheap and cheerful EV market, and it is not sedans or hatchbacks.

“That’s for other brands” Mr Ingenlath told Australian journalists from Auto Shanghai this week.

Mr Ingenlath said Polestar was ‘clearly’ a premium brand but would never presume to take on the likes of Tesla producing millions of cars a year.

“We would be happy making between 200,000 and 300,000 premium cars a year,” he said.

“The Polestar 3 is a good indicator of where we are headed as the Polestar 2 was an entry ticket to the brand.

“That car does not holistically represent our direction, whereas the Polestar 3 is more representative … an edgy, fully electric, practical and premium version of a Volvo with strong environmental credentials.

Mr Ingenlath said Polestar SUVs will follow that formula and are “a much better prospect for the company” from a financial standpoint.

The Polestar 3 SUV is broadly based on the Precept concept vehicle from a few years ago and gave customers a bit more of an idea about the direction of the brand.

“This is the premium segment and pursuing that is indeed our mission within the (Geely) group portfolio, different to Volvo, sportier, more expressive, more edgy than Volvo and of course fully dedicated to electrification,” he added.

Mr Ingenlath likened Polestar’s place in the Geely Group to Volkswagen with its numerous ‘independent’ brands under the one umbrella company.

On a different tack, Mr Ingenlath was asked how Polestar was dealing with the battery repairability issue that is causing consternation with BEV owners across Europe where their cars are being written off by insurance companies because of ‘unrepairable’ minor battery damage in a collision.

“On one hand, the battery tray and the modules inside are exchangeable in Polestars,” he said.

“Over time and from experience you can address the issue more successfully as the insurance and connected repair centres become a bit more mature in how to handle individual cases.

“It is something that we have to acknowledge and that needs very cautious handling.

“Everyone needs to become a bit more educated and a bit more mature in how these cases are to be handled, and at the moment people seem to be, let’s say, over careful, in some cases.”

The Polestar CEO was asked about Polestar 3’s unconventional glass roof incorporating the rear window and whether it will become a design cue for all Polestars to which he replied, “It’s a good solution to, let’s face it, a dilemma that modern car design has ended up in giving back a perfect rear view”.

“The design gives rear vision at the same time enabling a spacious aerodynamic design of the rear compartment. This is an unconventional aesthetic that results in a very interesting, great new design.

“It says Polestar is the brand that indeed goes for this avant garde look and new ways of handling technology and design. This is where the idea of our name, Polestar comes from…. you know, the guiding star. I mean, this is about going somewhere first and exploring it is exactly truthful to the spirit of our name.

“And yes, you see it somewhere else… I mean the Polestar Precept introduced this theme and this technology as a show car and other models will use the design.”

When asked what he would like to see in relation to Australian fuel efficiency standards as they might affect Polestar’s Australian plan Ingenlath said he was not able to comment but said, “I definitely know that simply worldwide we have still a fair amount of things to do in order for us to achieve the goal to stop climate change … the 1.5 degree target that the world has set for itself in order to stop climate change at a halfway bearable level.

“It is still something which we have not managed to guarantee, and I think that each and every government in the world should be responsible and act responsible in terms of making this possible to achieve that goal.

“It is something that we from other side (manufacturers) try to promote by giving great and desirable products to the customer that make the journey a delightful and interesting one. But we all know as well that economics and legislation have to support as well as for us to get on that way, and there is no easy way out of that. The electrification of the automotive sector is to our belief a pure necessity in in order to get to that goal.”

During the roundtable interview, Mr Ingenlath said he thought the price of EV components including batteries had peaked and would now ease, making electric cars more affordable along with market forces of supply and demand.

He concluded by saying he was not concerned by Tesla and other manufacturers discounting their products as Polestar was focussed on the premium luxury segment.