Teachers and schools can have a huge effect on the future careers of their students. Automakers are well aware of this, as they look for talented, creative young people to produce the engines of tomorrow.
Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath told me he thanks his high school philosophy teacher in Germany, Frau Tzimas, for joining Polestar as it enters a crucial era of expansion, including the launch of the new second-generation Polestar 2 from £44,950.
During a conversation at Polestar’s headquarters in Gothenburg, Sweden, he told me that his excellent grades earned him a place in a top engineering program in 1982, in a country where engineers are as famous and respected as doctors and physicians.
Clear vision: Polestar boss Thomas Ingenlath with one of his company’s designs
However, he also had a great interest in art and architecture, so Frau Tzimas urged him to give up engineering and instead follow his heart and his passion and get into design. He did.
After a design degree from Germany’s Pforzheim University and an MA in vehicle design from the Royal College of Art in London, he rose through the Volkswagen Group to top positions at Audi, Skoda (with the Yeti, Fabia and Superb to his name).
From 2012 to 2017, he was head of design at Volvo, before becoming CEO at Polestar.
His vision has given Polestar, now a spin-off of Volvo, its sleek lines and green features.
Dressed informally but smartly in a black shirt, light chinos and designer sneakers, the super-fit executive with chisel features who regularly cycles to work spoke to me in his office in ‘The Cube’, Polestar’s chic but minimalist headquarters on the edge of the city. from Gothenburg.
Whether it is the understated and minimalist look of the cars, the purist style of the showrooms or even the stylish design of the black letter fonts on a white background, the Swedish electric car company Polestar exudes cool.
But cool, he points out, it’s not something that can be designed on purpose. It must be earned and given to you by others: “You don’t create a cool brand by trying to create something cool. You’re never cool when you say you’re cool.’
But if you go out with ‘conviction and confidence’, it’s up to other people to decide ‘that’s a cool brand’.
From 2012 to 2017, Thomas Ingenlath, pictured with Ray, was head of design at Volvo, before becoming CEO at Polestar
Given his design background, he says it is a privilege to expand his career from designing one car at a time to creating and leading an entire brand, range of cars and the company behind them. He said: ‘It’s a natural progression.
‘I enjoy the creativity of designing and creating something – to create a company with this range of products. I’m really proud that people like the Polestar brand.”
It is on the cusp of a major expansion from this year as the range grows from just one car – the Polestar 2 – to five, while being joined by the Polestar 3, 4, 5 and 6 in the coming years.
Polestar 2, the electric performance fastback first unveiled in 2019 and launched to customers the following year, has just been updated and is being produced at a shared production facility in Taizhou, China.
It will be joined by the Polestar 3 SUV, which made its debut at the Goodwood Festival of Speed this summer and will go into production in the first quarter of 2024. The Polestar 4 crossover SUV coupe will be launched in phases throughout 2023 and into 2024, while the Polestar 5, an electric four-door GT and the spicy Polestar 6 electric roadster will follow.
The company’s first car – Polestar 1 – was a plug-in hybrid.
Having sold more than 150,000 cars in total (including more than 20,000 in the UK), Ingenlath says: ‘We want to set 100,000 cars a year as the new standard.’
Ultimately, there will be more than 200,000 per year, but he does not want to put a timescale on that: “Our path is not to move to mass production,” he says. ‘The cars we sell are expensive and exclusive. We want to provide that premium experience.”
Great efforts are also made to ensure that they are built in an environmentally friendly manner.
Ingenlath’s vision has given Polestar, now a spin-off of Volvo, its sleek lines and green features
‘The design language is super simple. This purist design style translates into ultra-modern product designs.’
But it is the fine-tuning that gives Polestar cars their character and individuality: ‘You have the ingredients, like any chef. It’s what you make of it – that creates the personality.’
Although the name Polestar is derived from Volvo’s performance arm, he said: ‘Polestar had to be anything but Volvo.
‘But you have to work with passion for the car and love for the product. It’s not about saying, ‘It’s just a computer on wheels.'”
The ‘Polestar 0’ project is the company’s ambitious goal to create a truly climate-neutral production car by 2030.
Polestar in the UK is based in Bicester in Oxfordshire. All cars are sold online only, but the company currently has boutique-style retail locations known as ‘Polestar Spaces’ in Manchester, Birmingham, London, Bicester and Bristol, with Glasgow on its way to eight by the end of the year.
As I left, I noticed a simple plaque in the main entrance of ‘The Cube’ headquarters, which succinctly explains Polestar’s ‘guiding star’ philosophy. It reads: ‘We are an electric performance brand, determined to improve the society we live in.
‘Our focus is on uncompromising design and technology.
‘Passion and emotion drive us, electricity and innovation drive our cars. Our products are excellent, efficient and entertaining.
“There is no room for shortcuts, excuses or compromises in Polestar’s future.”
And it ends: ‘At Polestar, the sky is the limit.’
Frau Tzimas would be proud.
- Jaguar Land Rover has launched a Schools Partnership Program to support 40 secondary schools and their teachers in Coventry, Birmingham and Liverpool to help 40,000 students build their careers. The initiative covers areas such as electrical and software engineering, digital and data roles and autonomous technologies. JLR engineers visit schools to help teachers apply the curriculum to ‘real’ careers, particularly in science, technology, engineering and maths, with projects such as building mini electric vehicles. JLR will also organize career workshops and help students submit applications. This year, 700 apprentices, students and graduates started their careers with the Midlands car manufacturer. More details on www.jaguarlandrovercareers.com
Mazda e-Skyactiv MX-30 R-EV plug-in hybrid launched
Motorists in Liverpool and North Wales may have spotted Mazda’s new e-Skyactiv MX-30 R-EV plug-in hybrid at its UK launch.
The 170 PS MX-30 R-EV combines a 17.8 kWh battery with a new 830cc single-rotor petrol engine, delivering an electric range of 85 kilometers
Priced from £31,250, the 170PS MX-30 R-EV combines a 17.8kWh battery with a new 830cc single-rotor petrol engine (Wankel) for an electric range of 85km.
But the Japanese company’s motor also acts as a generator to power the EV motor for longer “without fear of charging.”
Would you pay €25,000 for a children’s pedal car?
Zero emissions aside, would you pay £25,000 for a child’s pedal car?
That is the price of the new Austin A40 Continuation. It is a model of the classic J40 pedal car, produced between 1949 and 1971. Only 49 Legacy Editions were built by Austin Pedal Cars of Salisbury.
The new Austin A40 Continuation is a model of the classic J40 pedal car, produced between 1949 and 1971
Based on the 1948 A40 Devon and Dorset, from 1949 some 32,098 original Austin J40 pedal cars were made by Austin Motor Company Limited at the ‘non-profit’ Austin Junior Car Factory in South Wales, which employed disabled former miners .
They are made from scrap metal from Austin’s Longbridge factory near Birmingham, austinpedalcars.com.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on it, we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow a commercial relationship to compromise our editorial independence.