Tesla, Tariffs & Taking Opportunities – Polestar’s CEO Tells All! | Fully Charged Show Podcast

Better to not mension that Nikola role ... 😂🙏

Sorry polestar is not really a Scandinavian brand it is owned by the Chinese and it's only made in Volvo factories and not all of them so technically it is like to say it's Scandinavian but in really nope sorry but I do like polestar but it is over priced and losing money unfortunately.

That’s very cool that Polestar are decreasing labor costs and providing jobs in the state. Awesome!

However CEOs saying that people don’t consider geopolitics with respect to car purchases is not true. Boomers look at how long the sea change to EVs took and we know several things as a result. They lost many of us as participation is realistically almost impossible, especially in light of tariffs. The oil industry is still the most subsidized behemoth, very much a lumbering beast of extinction, theirs and ours—politically, yes, but also economically and medically (trauma and pollution), as well as effecting larger structures, all difficult to bring along simultaneously.

The grip is understandable considering that energy is absolutely central to modern civilization. It’s an actual hard problem to cooperatively solve for, to coordinate for. It’s taken so long.. decades.. to develop technology for EVs because the auto industry fought to block EVs. And they suck for that!! It hurts all of us. Will we learn from that hard problem? Probably not and future problems will be just as tough to get past.

I’m very glad to see technological advances. When we support and navigate them by involving more stakeholders instead of only listening to industry and investors. These things effect everyone.

Really. We do think deeply how geopolitics effects us lowly consumers of products and services. We know.

Imogen looking classy as always. Incisive questions and clear answers from the guest.

Bro geely like Burning money to invest in the latest technology

I just wanted to add my, Congratulations to Imogen and the Everything Electric Show for this interview with Michael Lohscheller.
I must say I did enjoy the cheeky what would your 8 month review be? Question.

😀
It seems Michael appreciated it too, this was a good interview to watch!

There is no question about the hyped Polestar 6 that they showed years ago. Are they still planning on bringing that vehicle to the market, or will it be like the Tesla Roadster, a much delayed no-show? I like Polestar, but with that lack of buttons and doing most on a screen, like Tesla is copying Tesla. I hope Polestar will look different from Volvo and Tesla from the interior sense.

fireside chat minus the fire. no word that the writing is on the wall. good luck, polestar.

This guy can talk hot air . Meaningless boardroom speech.
Also great at stating the obvious as though it is an insight.
Learn nothing from hi.e he should get a payrise when he is head huntes by another business he has no real knowledge of.

She is so pretty.

Everything he says is generic. No insight or value offered.

Great to hear that Polestar are doing all they can to use renewable energy as well as parts.

Really hoping this company survives here in the US market.

Nikola ,vinfast both not exactly stunning record of profitable companies. Psny stock holders want a profitable future. How is nio,vinfast,rivian all more profitable than polestar ? What we want is transparency,and path to profitable company mabey faster charging with better software will help 😅

Polestar is owned by Geely Co., which is a Chinese company owned by the Chinese Communist Government. You should disclose this fact before promoting communist products on the show. Furthermore, you should mention the human rights atrocities committed by the CCP against the Falun Gong and Uyghurs and others. Or, simply change the name of the show to "Fully Charged Communist", full transparency.

Indeed "remember the environment ", well said that man. There's no Planet B.

The presenter is very knowledgeable

Ah, the Financial Times Future of the Car event. No wonder Imogen had to add at least a couple of early jibes at Təsla, since they don't buy advertising in the FT. I wonder if it makes Robert happy too, because "Təsla bad" and "Eløn man bad" has become the new leftist trend, annoying half his viewership, but gaining him points with his lefty lovies. Grow a pair.

This political posturing taints the start of the interview, and Imogen can and should do better. Hint: if you can't find anything good to say about Təsla, then you probably shouldn't say anything.

Why cheap out on rear windscreens for expensive cars?

Welcome to France Polestar!

Did he say he was at Nicola?!? LOL
And I thought highly of Polestar...

Integrity and honesty are the things that stand out here, rather than the lies and hype that the likes of Musk’s companies exude from every pore.
I give full credit to Tesla in driving the electric renewables agenda but the American attitude to the business doesn’t run well in European minded countries.
I wish Polestar all the very best - I’ve seen one or two and they appeal to me if I ever get another car.
However, I’ve not been able to properly see inside a Polestar, and reading this
>> Polestar is known for its minimalistic and stylish designs, coupled with a focus on using premium and sustainable materials in the interiors<<

Is disturbing.
The reason my next car won’t be a Tesla is just because of the minimalism - it’s difficult enough trying to operate things through the screen in my present car (a Model S) when stationary and impossible when moving. Just bloody dangerous. Polestar take note - buttons and stalks are what many of us need.

I’d have a polestar no problem, they look great and solid but they are priced as a luxury Car and to me just stupidly dear. I test drove a £58k polestar two fully loaded, had it for the afternoon for a few hours. Mixed the driving and thought it was great. Took it back and left it. Ok this was not the current gen that was just coming out as I tested the Car. But six months later and 3000 miles on the clock was offered the exact Car for £29k. 😮 So bargins are out there but my first thought was if it’s lost that much in six months what is it going to be in a few years. Granted it took a hit because it was the old gen but still scary.

Overpriced /Unknown history and yet to prove its quality and durability.
Sustainability is important to some not all.
Quality and durability is important to everyone.
Brand snobbery gome over time after runs on the board.

Michael is truly kick ass!

As a Polestar owning Canadian, im really disappointed we only have 3 showrooms across the huge country and cant even service at Volvo. We need the model with Volvo found in Europe for sales and service.

Rome wasn't built in a day. I think that a 25 percent reduction in CO2 emissions is a major step.

When you buy a Polestar, profits support the Chinese government and their military. I will not support the CCP and you should avoid them too.

Great interview Imogen - as always your are prepared and professional. Just giving your 'average Joe' impression here of Polestar though - I nearly didn't even watch this video because, to me at least, I have Polestar pigeon holed as a brand that is expensive and to be honest just out of any realistic range in my purchasing options. Of course I may well be ill informed. Having said that I didn't hear anything in the interview that would make me feel any different. Do they have any plans to make a truly affordable electric car. If they did - or have plans to do - they may well succeed over the BYDs that are soon to be flooding the market because people might veer more toward a local dealer/provider that can help with repairs etc.

Anyway - just putting my tuppence worth in, in case someone at Polestar is listening, but I'm not holding my breath because I'm old enough now to know that the tail cannot wag the dog. The question is; Do Polestar know that they are considered a 'premium' brand and not for the 'common man' or do they know this and are happy that is not their target audience? Just wondering.

Very interesting discussion, in the next couple of years they need to make a car for £20,000-25,000 - relying on business users with contract hire is going to prove increasingly difficult. I can afford one of their cars but won't, simply because it's just too damn expensive and makes zero financial sense.

Nicely done Imogen, and I take from this interview that the Polstar brand is in good hands with Michael Lohscheller. You covered just about all the points except one. Is the brand supporting bidirectional charging. This piece of the jigsaw puzzle in the transition is to my mind an import piece, and has everything to do with efficiency. If I was to ask a CEO of EV's car manufacturer, what is the one single important marketing strategy that EV's have compared to its ICE alternative. I would suggest that the 60kWh to 100 kWh of energy sitting on peoples driveways would be a huge advantage over a tank of fossil fuel. I believe FullyCharged has even done market reach on this topic, and it came out as one of the top 10 request. Yet we don't talk about it WHY?

Polestar make great looking and well designed EVs. The Polestar 2 and 4 are great. Even the Polestar 3 (SUV) is well designed, it’s amazing inside. BUT: for their design (sedan), their cars are quite inefficient. I don’t know if it’s the electric motor or too big batteries or what, but real 3.5 miles/kWh or under for sedans is bonkers. The Polestar 3 is a good SUV, but it’s over 2 tons. By lowering it, reducing the space for the legs a little bit at the back (at the moment, you can almost stretch your legs completely 😅), and reducing the size of the wheels, they would have made it so much more efficient.

Plus no one needs more than a single 150-180kW electric motor.

Bear in mind: reduce motor size, make your EVs more efficient = reduce battery size and overall cost so sell more.

Instead of having big batteries (100kWh 🤯), just have a maximum of 60-65kWh, 800V architecture and a good charging curve to charge 10-80% SoC in 20 min. At the moment, your EVs are 400V, charging 10%-80% (~245 miles) in 30 minutes…

She destroyed him with the question about the Platform he wasn’t ready to explain how to be profitable with five different platforms

I gotta be honest, as a Polestar owner of 4 years, now on our second Polestar, that did not instill any form of confidence in me, particularly being in the US.

Not that I expected him (or any CEO) to divulge any sort of revelations, his responses were so non-insightful that it came off like he's not really all that engaged. And this seems to be a pattern. Maybe he's completely different in the day to day workings, but any time I see him speak, it feels like a CEO that knows he's not long for that role, and so he puts in zero effort.

So Polestar 7 is an EX30

They need work out the software issues these things have. As a polestar tech these things are so insanely behind tech wise.

Someone please get Imogen an autocue!

Great podcast! Thanks! 😎👍

Polestar is the new Saab! 
😀Keep an eye on your costs, sales prices, and customer experience with the brand Polestar.

For the lowest emisions you would definitely not walk, you would take a bicycle. My bike is 55 years old, in case you want to factor in the production costs.

CEO from Nikola is not the flex he thinks it is…

You heard it here first (or maybe not) - polestar will remain unprofitable and scuffle towards bankruptcy or becoming a pure 100% Chinese Geely subsidiary.

Fantastic episode and great to hear Michael’s vision and plan. I absolutely love my RWD LR Polestar 2 and last year became the first Polestar/Volvo car to do the pure electric 15,000km lap of Australia, also drove to your last 2 Everything Electric Sydney Shows. Polestar is the best car company with the best product, service and ethics. My next car will be another Polestar!

Imogen has become a very good - respectful but also pressing - interviewer. However, this CEO just hasn’t got what it takes to turn Polestar to profitability. He always tries to avoid topics on profitability and gives no strategy on how to achieve it.

What about promised expansion to CEE?

As the one who lives in China through recent few years, I have a strong feeling that people here simply don't know why they should choose this brand over Zeekr or Lynk&Co. Polestar definitely have cards in their hands, but they need to bring the message to the customer

Great cars lousy share price. Surprised Apple hasn’t bought them as they area good fit

Insightful discussion once again. Well done 👍

Love this. Thanks for the insights and the good interview.

Don’t buy from China, brands like BYD, Volvo, Polestar, MG, and so on, giving a dictatorship our money will backfire, just like EU learned by doing business with Putin.