STILRIDE partners with Polestar to produce world’s first climate-neutral car

STILRIDE - the Swedish startup rewriting the design rules for sustainable electromobility using origami-inspired steel folding robots - is joining forces with electric performance car company Polestar to produce a climate-neutral car by 2030, without carbon offsetting.

Renowned for pushing the boundaries of sustainable vehicle design and innovation, STILRIDE is one of twelve industry leaders who have been specially selected to work with Polestar to bring the ambitious Polestar 0 project to life.

The aim is to bring a genuinely climate-neutral car to market by 2030, without relying on low-carbon solutions or offsetting schemes. Instead, Polestar is bringing together experts in plastics, composites, chemicals, materials and metals to decarbonise the car’s entire supply chain, manufacturing process and end of life.

STILRIDE will bring its unique sustainable manufacturing expertise to the table, playing a leading role in the development of innovative manufacturing solutions to produce the car’s frame (known in the industry as the ‘body in white’) whilst eradicating emissions.

The STILRIDE team has already developed pioneering sustainable manufacturing technology, called STILFOLD, which significantly lowers the environmental impact of EV production. The technology, dubbed “industrial origami”, involves the use of robotic arms to fold sheets of steel over curves to form intricate new structures using minimal materials and components. The technique is currently being used to build a fleet of sustainable steel e-motorcycles.

For the Polestar 0 project, STILRIDE will build on its existing inroads into sustainable and low-emission manufacturing to understand how their origami-inspired steel folding technique can be advanced to produce Polestar’s ambitious climate-neutral car. The startup will explore how origami folding can be used as an alternative to welding, as well as which chemical reactions in the car’s supply chain are generating greenhouse gasses and how these reactions can be altered or avoided to eliminate emissions.

Jonas Nyvang, CEO and co-founder at STILRIDE, comments:

- “We are always looking for new ways to advance our STILFOLD technology and reduce the automotive industry’s impact on the planet. The Polestar 0 project is a dream collaboration and is an incredible opportunity for leading minds to come together and work out how we can completely rethink vehicle manufacturing to benefit people and the planet. The journey to electrification is only just getting started and this landmark project has the potential to set a new gold standard for carbon-neutral e-mobility. We can’t wait to get started.”

Thomas Ingenlath, CEO of Polestar, comments:

- “The real potential of electric cars will be fulfilled when we as an industry can say goodbye to not just tailpipe emissions, but also production-related emissions. We made a bold commitment 18 months ago when we launched the Polestar 0 project, and these strong partnerships show the steady progress towards our goal.”

Hans Pehrson, leader of the Polestar 0 project and former Head of R&D at Polestar, says:

- “Our new partners will help develop solutions that don’t currently exist, and they embrace the challenge of finding new technologies. The next five years will be critical, and we need partners that will engage with the Polestar 0 project to ensure its success. We will also see spin-off effects across various industries when we address the challenges in the automotive sector with innovation and the development of climate-neutral supply chains throughout a wide array of base industries.”

STILRIDE is the only electromobility manufacturer to be brought into the project so far.

Notes To Editors

Partners and their focus areas in the Polestar 0 project:

• Pensana: Rare Earth supply, including mining
• Boliden: Copper (including mining) 
• Papershell: Bio-based material from paper
• Sekab: Bio-based chemicals 
• Bulten: Screws and fasteners 
• Hexpol: Soft polymer compounds, TPE 
• Plasman: Bumpers and similar materials 
• YFPO: Bumpers and similar materials 
• Ovako: Steel from recycled material 
• Mistra Carbon Exit: Research consortium to analyse and demonstrate how supply chains of buildings, infrastructure and transportation can be transformed and decarbonised.
• Stilride:
• GG Group
• Partners under Letter of Intent include:
• SSAB: Fossil free steel
• Hydro: Zero-carbon aluminium
• Autoliv: Safety equipment
• ZF: Electric powertrain and overall systems

Jonas Nyvang
CEO
+46707663022
jonas@stilride.com

STILRIDE is a Swedish technology and design company that will soon launch its first product, the electric motorcycle SUS1. SUS1 is also the first product to take advantage of the company's own and unique manufacturing process STILFOLD, where an origami-style process is utilized to shape advanced constructions from sheets of steel. The process not only creates extremely durable constructions, but also enables environmentally friendly and local production. STILRIDE was founded in 2020 by Tue Beijer and Jonas Nyvang.