By ATN Editorial Team
Summary: Polestar has announced that batteries in the Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 now contain at least 50% recycled cobalt, alongside a broader circularity programme that includes battery refurbishment through Volvo Cars battery centres and recycling partnerships across its markets.
Key engineering takeaway: The refurbishment model creates a closed-loop flow where batteries requiring replacement are refurbished and returned to equivalent state-of-health, rather than being scrapped or downcycled. This approach targets value retention at the pack level during the vehicle use phase — an increasingly important consideration as OEMs face extended producer responsibility requirements and the cost of battery-grade raw materials remains volatile.
Why it matters: Securing recycled critical minerals like cobalt at the 50% threshold signals that closed-loop battery material supply chains are beginning to reach meaningful scale. As EU Battery Regulation requirements for minimum recycled content come into force from 2031, OEMs that establish refurbishment and recycling infrastructure now will be better positioned to meet compliance targets while reducing exposure to primary raw material supply risk.
Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 batteries now contain at least 50% recycled cobalt
Polestar continues to scale its approach to battery circularity, announcing that Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 batteries now include at least 50% recycled cobalt. The milestone reflects a broader strategy to reduce reliance on virgin materials, increase visibility across the value chain and keep resources in use for longer.
Circularity at Polestar extends beyond material sourcing. During the vehicle use phase, a key focus is to extend battery life and retain the battery’s value for as long as possible, which benefits both the environment and the customer experience.
Polestar partners with Volvo Cars battery centres to refurbish high-voltage batteries. At these facilities, Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 vehicles that require a battery replacement receive a refurbished battery, resulting in a circular flow. Customers receive refurbished replacement batteries with an equivalent state-of-health, improving battery value retention while reducing overall environmental impact.
Polestar is also establishing recycling partnerships across all its markets to meet producer responsibility requirements while extending battery lifecycles and maximising material recovery.
Fredrika Klarén, Head of Sustainability at Polestar, says: “To drive a Polestar is an intentional choice by customers who care about tomorrow. Electrification, powered by renewable energy and enabled by circular battery materials, points to a new kind of system: one where resources stay in use and abundance replaces depletion.”
Polestar aims to design premium electric performance cars that favours circular material choices with lower impact across its models, some examples being recycled aluminium and steel, base carpets and inlay carpets based on ECONYL® polyamide, and yarn made from PET waste. Combined with a strong focus on reducing material complexity, modular design, mono-material solutions and circular use, this enables customers to choose a more responsibly built car, one that lowers its impact on people and the planet without compromising performance or safety.
Since 2020, Polestar has pushed for greater climate transparency in the automotive industry, publishing Life Cycle Assessments for every model and openly reporting CO₂e emissions across its value chain. Polestar 2 was the first car to feature blockchain-traced cobalt, setting a new benchmark for supply chain accountability. These initiatives are part of Polestar’s broader sustainability strategy, which sees electrification as only the starting point. More recently, the company has introduced smart charging integration and reduced relative CO₂ emissions per vehicle by 25% since 2020, while launching four new models.
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