Polestar 2 and 3 boost battery sustainability with recycled cobalt
Polestar has reached a new landmark in its aims to be the world’s most sustainable car maker, with its Polestar 2 fastback and Polestar 3 SUV batteries now produced with at least 50% recycled cobalt.
The Swedish brand is focused on improving its so-called “battery circularity”, which ensures battery materials and components are reused, repurposed, or recycled as opposed to being discarded, helping reduced the need for new extraction of materials such as cobalt, and cutting a vehicle’s lifetime emissions.
As well as achieving new levels of recycled cobalt usage in new batteries, the EV-only performance brand has partnered with Volvo Cars battery centres to refurbish existing high-voltage batteries. Across these sites, Polestar 2 and Polestar 3 cars in need of a new battery receive a refurbished unit with an equivalent State-of-Health (SoH) as the one it replaced.
In addition to achieving a circular flow, this approach aligns with Polestar’s sustainability goals, which aim to be as environmentally friendly and transparent as possible.
For over half a decade, Polestar has published a Life Cycle Assessment for each model and openly reports its CO₂e (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions. In sustainability terms, the Polestar 2 proved a landmark vehicle: it was the first car to feature blockchain-traced cobalt (pictured above) in its battery. Cobalt is a key material in EV battery production, offering high energy density, thermal stability, and longevity.
As part of its sustainability drive, Polestar also uses recycled aluminium and steel in selected models, as well as nylon-derived inlay carpets and yarns from repurposed PET waste. On the back of its battery circularity achievement, Polestar’s sustainability head, Frederika Klarén, said: “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.”
Launched in 2020, the Polestar 2 was the Gothenburg-based carmaker’s first vehicle as a standalone brand following its split from Volvo. In 2025, Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller promised that the next-generation ‘P2’ would live on as a fastback, and not an SUV as once rumoured. The new Polestar 2 is scheduled to arrive by the end of the decade.
