Polestar Explores Cool And Radical Sustainable, Vegan Fabrics And 3D Print

Any carmaker on the lookout to capture the zeitgeist and win the admiration of the next generation of drivers should invest in cutting-edge sustainable materials. This is what Polestar has been doing. The electric performance brand from the Volvo and Geely is furthering its research into innovative eco materials for its future production cars.

Last year, the marque introduced its first vegan interior to feature as standard in its second product, the Polestar 2 city commuter. Now, the carmaker has said its future models will utilize Bcomp’s natural fiber composite solutions to help reduce plastic content and cut weight, use 3D-print knitted fabrics made with recycled PET bottles for seats, as well as reuse cork products and make carpets from recycled fishing nets.  

This, the marque says, is its next steps towards achieving genuine sustainability for its family of vehicles which currently include the Polestar 1 and 2. The company will work towards reducing the weight of its cars, cut back on plastic content within the vehicles and lessen waste material in general with the aim of achieving the pinnacle Gold LEED sustainability rating for its Chengdu manufacturing plant in China.

“It’s clear that to be truly sustainable we have to evaluate every element that goes into our cars,” explains Polestar chief executive Thomas Ingenlath. “For Polestar, sustainability is not just about the electric powertrain. With the development of these innovative new solutions that we will introduce in our future cars, we make a strong statement of our intentions.”

The list of materials is pretty exciting too. Bcomp’s powerRibs and ampliTex technologies, for instance, can help turn natural fibers into lightweight interior panels for future production models within the Polestar range. The composite utilizes flax, which differs from many biomaterials in that it is both ideal for use in crop rotation programs without directly competing with food crops. Furthermore, with a reduction in overall weight of 50% and some 80% loss in plastic content compared to traditional interior panels, Bcomp works well by being both stronger and lighter than traditional plastics used in car interiors.

Ingenlath’s team are also working with similar 3D-print knit material used in the fashion and active footwear industries. It works well when applied to seating surfaces to be durable, breathable, reduce waste and promote recycled material sources. A single thread is used to produce a three-dimensional individual component in its entirety and the base material is 100% recycled yarn derived from PET bottles. What’s more, waste is removed in the production process since the material is made exactly to size with no offcuts.

We’ve already seen some talk of winemaking finding its way into car interiors with Bentley exploring residue from the grapes for sustainable materials. Polestar too is working with the wine and fishing industries, with cork and fishing nets being recycled and incorporated within car interiors. Waste material from the cork manufacturing process and even whole bottle stoppers can be integrated into PVC interior components. Recycled Nylon 6 from discarded fishing nets will be transformed into woven carpets. Polestar says it will be gather these waste materials through an international collection network and will accept returned end-of-life products from customers and consumers.

Head of design Maximilian Missoni says he doesn’t feel his team need to sacrifice design and luxury with these materials either. “If anything, they enable even more premium, cutting-edge, modern and stylish executions which elevate our design-led products. It also presents a positive challenge, giving new meaning to interior design. We are able to derive new aesthetics from new contexts and technologies, allowing society to move on.”

See the Polestar 1 on the road, read my interview with Thomas Ingenlath here, plus learn about the Polestar Cube here.