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Polestar 2 gets a fresh design with sustainability and ethical sourcing in focus

Credit: Polestar

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Polestar announced today that its award-winning electric vehicle, the Polestar 2, is receiving sustainability and design updates to minimize climate impact and increase material sourcing transparency as ethical sourcing remains a primary focus of the Swedish automaker.

The Polestar 2 is receiving design updates to its interior, as well as new colors and wheel options for drivers to choose from when ordering the all-electric vehicle. Additionally, numerous improvements to vehicle range ratings will be applied to future builds of the Polestar 2 thanks to the expansion of blockchain traceability for ethical mining practices and a reduced carbon footprint due to the use of renewable energy.

“We have revisited the materials and processes that go into making Polestar 2, introducing updates that reduce climate impact and increase the material traceability of this award-winning car,” Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath said. “These are important additions to how we can improve cars over their lifetime – not just with functionality and design updates but addressing sustainability and carbon footprint as well.”

The most crucial improvement to the Polestar 2 is to its batteries, thanks to a partnership with traceability leader Circulor, which now includes blockchain accountability for mica in addition to cobalt, “both of which are critical battery components of an electric car,” the automaker said. The use of blockchain technology allows Polestar to trace where its battery materials and risk materials are sourced from, ensuring they are obtained through ethical mining and manufacturing processes. One of the key arguments against the transition of electric vehicles has been how automakers and battery suppliers obtain the metals and materials necessary for the production of the cells.

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Polestar 2 receives top marks in crash safety tests, living up to its Volvo roots

Companies have fought for years to alleviate the idea that EV batteries are not sustainable and that they are obtained in unethical ways. Tesla, for example, detailed in its most recent sustainability report that it uses a series of due diligence processes and randomized checks at its mines across the world to ensure the materials are mined and obtained with ethical practices.

The use of these blockchain accountability programs also translates to better emissions ratings in the Polestar 2, the company says, as the aluminum tray carrying the battery pack will reduce carbon emissions of 1,653 pounds (750 kilograms) per car. This was made possible by purchasing only the aluminum for the tray from suppliers that utilize renewable energy. A low-carbon aluminum is also being used in the Polestar 2’s wheels to increase sustainability metrics.

“In our program updates, we want to take action on improvements that can make a positive sustainability impact quickly, rather than traditional mid-cycle facelifts,” Polestar Head of Sustainability Fredrika Klarén said. “Product optimization programs are common in the car industry, but we are taking an extended approach at Polestar, combining these with CO2e reduction programs as well. A first pilot has been rolled out, replacing the aluminum in the wheels with low-carbon aluminum that is produced using renewable energy. We expect this to result in a 1,322lb (600 kg) CO2e reduction per car for Polestar 2 in the second half of the year. Together with the improvements to aluminum in the battery tray, we’re expecting to see a total reduction of around 2,976lbs (1,350kg) per car.”

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Other improvements, like the use of cruelty-free interior materials, are being added. Polestar parent company Volvo announced that it would use “vegan” leather in all of its EVs, starting with the C40 Recharge. The Polestar 2 will also have two new exterior colors, Space (Metallic Black) and Jupiter (Gold-Grey with Red Flake).

Here are each of the changes that will be applied to the Polestar 2:

  • New exterior colors: Space (metallic black) and Jupiter (gold-grey with red flake)
  • New designs for the standard 19-inch and optional 20-inch wheels
  • New Zinc grey color for ventilated Nappa leather upholstery, available with a new Light Ash deco trim
  • Removable sunshade for the panoramic glass roof (also available as an accessory for all Polestar 2 with glass roof)
  • The mechanical heat pump (included in Plus Pack) has an improved optimal temperature range, now between 20°F and 77°F (-7°C and 25°C), increasing real-world vehicle range in adverse conditions.
  • Introduction of an advanced cabin filter and upgraded interior particulate matter sensor with new in-car app that quantifies exterior air quality improvement in the cabin

Pricing, updated range ratings, and availability for the North American market will be announced in the coming weeks, Polestar said.

I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.

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Joey has been a journalist covering electric mobility at TESLARATI since August 2019. In his spare time, Joey is playing golf, watching MMA, or cheering on any of his favorite sports teams, including the Baltimore Ravens and Orioles, Miami Heat, Washington Capitals, and Penn State Nittany Lions. You can get in touch with joey at joey@teslarati.com. He is also on X @KlenderJoey. If you're looking for great Tesla accessories, check out shop.teslarati.com

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SpaceX (SPCX) IPO is live today at $135: Here’s exactly what you need to know

SpaceX priced its historic IPO at $135 per share today, raising a record $75 billion.

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SpaceX officially priced its initial public offering at $135 per share, offering 555,555,555 shares of Class A common stock and raising $75 billion in what is the largest IPO in stock market history. Shares are set to begin trading on the Nasdaq Global Select Market on Friday, June 12, under the ticker symbol SPCX. The previous record holder was Saudi Aramco’s 2019 offering at $29 billion, followed by Alibaba’s $22 billion offering in 2014.

At $135 per share and roughly 555.6 million shares, the implied valuation sits near $1.75 trillion, which would make SpaceX roughly the seventh largest company in the United States, just above Tesla’s current market cap. Regular investors can request shares at the IPO price through Robinhood, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, SoFi, and E*TRADE, though the deal is heavily oversubscribed and most retail allocations will be partial or unfilled. Once trading opens June 12, anyone with a brokerage account can buy SPCX on the open market.

SpaceX’s amended S-1 is sparking a major Tesla merger conversation

 

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The valuation is anchored primarily by Starlink. Starlink crossed 10 million subscribers as of February 2026 and is adding 750,000 to 1.5 million new users per month, with the connectivity segment already posting a $1.19 billion profit last quarter. The offering also bundles in xAI following SpaceX’s all-stock merger earlier this year, adding Grok and the Colossus supercomputer to the investment thesis. As Teslarati reported, Starlink ended 2025 with $10 billion in revenue, a figure analysts project could reach $24 billion by end of 2026.

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives has been vocal in his support. “I think the time is right,” Ives said, adding that the offering expands the Elon Musk ecosystem rather than competing with Tesla. An average 12-month price target of $165 per share represents roughly 22% upside from the IPO price. Not everyone agrees – Motley Fool noted xAI is spending $1 billion per month playing catch-up to OpenAI and Anthropic.

Musk founded SpaceX in 2002 with a single stated purpose. “Elon founded SpaceX with a goal to change humanity, to make us a multi-planet species,” CFO Bret Johnsen said in the company’s retail roadshow video this week. Musk himself has been more direct: “We are building the systems and technologies necessary to provide global connectivity on Earth and beyond, to understand the true nature of the universe, and to extend the light of consciousness to the stars.”

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Tesla unfolded its first European “folding Supercharger”

Tesla’s folding Supercharger just arrived in Europe and it changes how fast charging expands.

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Tesla’s Folding Unit Supercharger has officially landed in Europe, with the company teasing a new installation in its effort for a broader rollout targeting major motorway rest stops across the European continent in Q3 2026. The arrival marks a notable shift in how Tesla is thinking about network expansion, moving from hardware performance alone to engineering the logistics chain itself.

While Tesla did not reveal the exact location for the new folding Supercharger in Europe, the photo shared on X heavily suggests that this maybe somewhere in Norway. Historically, whenever Tesla rolls out an entirely new infrastructure architecture in Europe, whether it was the original Supercharger stalls years ago or these brand-new modular V4 “Folding Units”, Norway is almost always the designated launch pad because of its unmatched EV adoption rate and supportive infrastructure

The Folding Unit, introduced in March 2026, is a factory pre-assembled V4 charging station built on an industrial hinge system mounted to a heavy-duty concrete base. The entire assembly arrives on site ready to unfold and connect. Tesla confirmed the units feature telescopic light poles specifically designed for easy transportation and fast on-site deployment, a detail that signals how carefully the logistics chain has been engineered alongside the hardware itself. The design allows 33% more stalls per delivery truck, cuts installation time roughly in half, and reduces overall deployment costs by more than 20% compared to traditional installations.

Tesla’s newest “Folding V4 Superchargers” are key to its most aggressive expansion yet

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Tesla also noted telescopic light poles which provide benefits over traditional Supercharger installations that require fixed-height poles that are awkward to ship, slow to position on site, and often require separate crews and equipment to erect before charging hardware can even be staged. By engineering poles that compress for transit and extend on arrival, Tesla has removed one of the quieter bottlenecks in the physical deployment process. Every hour saved on a light pole installation is an hour redirected toward getting stalls energized. At scale, across dozens of new sites per quarter, those hours add up to a meaningful acceleration in how quickly a location goes from approved permit to serving its first customer.

Each Folding Unit pairs a single V4 power cabinet with eight charging posts. The V4 cabinet delivers up to 500 kW per stall for passenger vehicles and up to 1.2 MW for the Tesla Semi, supporting twice the stalls per cabinet at three times the power density of its predecessor. Longer cables make every new station immediately usable by non-Tesla vehicles, a priority as Tesla continues opening its network to Ford, GM, Rivian, Hyundai, Stellantis, and others.

As Teslarati reported when the Folding Unit was first unveiled, Tesla’s Gigafactory New York produced its final V3 Supercharger cabinet in March 2026 after more than seven years and 15,000 units, completing a full pivot to V4 production. The European arrival of the folding design is the next chapter in that transition.

Faster and cheaper deployment means Tesla can justify building in markets and corridors that were previously too expensive to serve, filling the coverage gaps that have slowed EV adoption outside major urban centers.

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Tesla stuns with another FSD approval in Europe, its second in two days

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Tesla has stunned by gaining yet another approval for its Full Self-Driving suite in Europe, its second in two days and its fifth overall.

Belgium will be the latest country to allow Tesla owners to utilize FSD on public roads in Europe, joining a quickly growing list that started with the Netherlands, Lithuania, and Estonia.

On Tuesday, Denmark announced its approval of the FSD suite, which has now been followed by Belgium just one day later.

The country’s Minister of Mobility, Annick De Ridder, announced the approval on her X account, stating that she had just signed the approval of Tesla FSD. It now goes to the country’s homologation department for the last step of the approval process.

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The Belgian approval is one of mighty importance because it truly shows how quickly countries in Europe could greenlight the FSD suite consecutively. Approvals are already coming in relatively quickly, which is a great sign.

Perhaps the next big development that could come from FSD approvals in Europe is an approval from a country like England, Italy, France, Spain, or Germany. It would be something to see how FSD would perform in a major European metro, such as London, Barcelona, Madrid, Paris, Rome, or Berlin.

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Full Self-Driving does an excellent job of roaming around major U.S. cities like New York and Los Angeles, but other high-profile international cities of significance would truly mark a line in the sand for Tesla, which can simply enable any vehicle in its customer-owned fleet to run FSD with the correct approvals.

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