‘Fatalistic’ Europe handing China control of electric car industry, warns Polestar boss

Howard Mustoe
Thu, June 22, 2023 

Mr Ingenlath says he is shocked by the lack of a ‘let’s-do-it-and-develop-it mindset’ on the Continent - Polestar

European negativity is handing China control of the electric vehicle industry, Swedish carmaker Polestar has warned.

Thomas Ingenlath, the chief executive of Polestar, said Europe had adopted a “fatalistic” attitude towards electric vehicle production, adding: “I always feel a bit frustrated how Europe generally is so quick in saying, ‘Oh, there’s a big problem finding the materials that we need for electrification’.”

“I’m always shocked about how little the let’s-do-it-and-develop-it mindset exists.”

China has more than 100 gigafactories, making batteries for electric cars and other uses, while Europe and the US each have a handful, which limits domestic efforts to gear up production. Polestar’s cars are currently manufactured for sale in China.

Mr Ingenlath, speaking at the firm’s research centre near Nuneaton, warned the infrastructure to supply the plants with minerals was also needed in Europe.

However, he said the region could catch up by building factories, supply chains such as refineries and even mines, as China has done.

Mining and refining the likes of lithium – a critical part of a battery – is “a tedious and sometimes not so clean process, but guess what, you can with modern methods make it clean,” Mr Ingenlath said. He added that European competitors should be looking at the growth of battery makers in South Korea for inspiration.

“Chinese and South Korean companies are coming and putting the factories here in Europe. Of course you can produce battery cells here in Europe... European companies, you can go and establish your own mining and sourcing.”

The electric car chief said companies dragging their feet over electrification should consider how they would pitch the combustion engine, which spews pollution into the nearby air, to customers today.

“People will laugh at you, they will think are you crazy? Are you crazy to put such a thing in a car?”

Polestar has grown its presence in the UK to 500 engineers, many of whom are working on its latest Polestar 5 model, a grand tourer which will go on sale in 2025.

He praised the UK’s pedigree in luxury and high performance cars, which has helped the company develop its latest luxury model, adding: “There’s a high competence of what I call low volume engineering and production.”

The company has built and tested its early prototypes in Britain.