Why Polestar wants you to buy its electric cars, and how it differentiates itself from Tesla

Electric car brand Polestar believes it needs to offer more than tailpipe emissions-free motoring to Australians to stand apart from others like Tesla, and will highlight its sustainability credentials as it finds its footing.

Having just started deliveries of the Polestar 2 to Australian customers, local boss Samantha Johnson told CarsGuide that being aligned with Volvo has been a boon so far.

“We’ve done a lot of things to create brand awareness in Australia, there already was a little bit of niche market before we started with the Polestar history in Australia,” she said.

“Having that nearly 100 years of heritage with Volvo, you’ve got the engineering, you’ve got the safety, you’ve got the corporate knowledge, and then bringing that over and saying we want to be something new and something different.

“I think if we were a new brand coming in on our own, that’s very difficult for customers to know ‘who are they, how long will they be here?’

“But coming in with that heritage and saying we’re exciting, we’ve got this environmental work that we’re furiously working through to get to where we need to be.

“The design, the safety, the technology, the connectivity, everything that’s in the cars – and that’s Polestar, it’s different to other brands.”

With plans to introduce new models every year after the Polestar 2, the Swedish brand will build out its portfolio with the SUVs, a large sedan and even a sports car – if the 02 concept is anything to go by.

However, Ms Johnson said Polestar needs to do more than offer a slew of all-electric models, especially given the fact that almost all major brands will dive into the EV space soon, and will take a holistic approach to its environmental impact.

“[Polestar will have a] big focus on sustainability … Life Cycle Assessment Report and net zero vehicle 2030,” she said.

“People really resonate with those stories, and you’ve got a real momentum in EVs that has just absolutely taken off in the last six months, you’ve got high petrol prices and people are thinking ‘my next car, I am not buying a petrol car, I want to buy an EV’ … and the brand is something different to what’s out there in the market.”

Polestar has spoken in the past about its sustainability credentials, highlighting the recycled materials it uses in the Polestar 2, as well as offering a Life Cycle Assessment Report that details the carbon footprint of the vehicle during production.

Its net zero vehicle 2030 plan also aims to deliver the world’s first carbon neutral vehicle by the end of the decade.