Polestar 3 EV uses sustainable upholstery developed by INEOS

Electrification alone can’t change the course of climate change. The best way to understand the breadth of tasks to be conquered is to look at the supply chain of electric vehicles (EVs) and understand where all components come from. 

The more we look into the EV, it becomes increasingly clear that the umbrella of sustainability is much larger than anticipated. This is the result of many factors, including circular economic design—developing solutions with the waste cycle in mind—as well as the emissions involved in production, and the overall carbon footprint of materials in the value chain. 

As more companies arise to tackle the electrification challenge and present innovative solutions for automotive, businesses are working collaboratively to bring sustainable designs into the industry. 

Polestar EVs are sustainable by design 

Following the release of the latest Polestar 3, the company shared continuous improvement in line with its sustainable design principles to ensure that the materials that go into the car come from responsible sources. 

Working with INEOS, a British multinational chemical company, the Swedish carmaker will put sustainably-designed car seats into the Polestar 3. The innovation is known as BIOVYN—a micro-technology that is used for Polestar seat upholstery. 

“We decided that we wouldn’t choose the easy way of quoting old paradigms of traditional car design,” says Maximillian Missoni, Head of Polestar Design. 

“On this path, we asked ourselves how we could combine the benefits of vinyl upholsteries with a better process to achieve our sustainability target, and the solution is MicroTech. 

The upholstery comprises a 100% renewable feedstock, which supersedes fossil-based materials. The MicroTech uses the crude tall oil, which is a byproduct of coniferous tree pulping—i.e. wood pulping for the production of paper. 

The product has the same properties as the traditionally used polyvinyl chloride (PVC), and acts as a sustainable alternative with a reduced carbon footprint of over 70%. 

“It’s a great honour for our company to be associated with a brand as ambitious and forward-thinking as Polestar. This shows just how much the automotive industry is evolving and how INEOS Inovyn’s continuous innovation and investments in more sustainable processes and products are paying off,” says the CEO of INEOS Inovyn, Geir Tuft.

INEOS and Polestar 3 showcase EV for use in wider industries

According to INEOS, the MicroTech presented in the Polestar 3 can be found applied to various industries already. BIOVYN was first released in 2019 and has since received a lot of interest among companies that require sustainable alternatives to PVC. Some of those companies come from industries like construction, consumer goods, electrical, leisure, clothing, and even healthcare. 

As a new generation PVC grade, BIOVYN is capable of meeting the rigorous product quality and performance needs of INEOS’ customers, and marks a sterling effort from the company to produce materials that fit into the circular economy across various sectors. 

INEOS also explains that it demonstrates the ability to substitute virgin fossil feedstocks for durable, flexible, and recyclable PVC without compromise.