Polestar
Redefining the In-Car Experience
- Company
- Polestar
- Role
- Senior Digital Designer (freelance, Volvo Cars)
- Team
- +50
- Year
- 2017–2018
- Market
- Mobility, B2C
With the advanced interior team at Volvo Cars, I helped shape the in-car experience that defines Polestar, blending physical and digital interfaces. Key projects: Polestar 3 (in production 2024) and Volvo C40 (in production 2021).
Challenge
Polestar is a Swedish electric performance car brand, built on minimal design and sustainability. I joined the advanced interior team at Volvo Cars as the brand was being defined, working on how its cars should feel from the inside.
Define the in-car experience for the brand’s future, where digital and physical interfaces meet, with a strong focus on digital experience and sustainable materials. The work set the visual, interaction and spatial logic for Polestar’s in-car experience. It fed into the Polestar 3 (in production 2024) and the Volvo C40 (in production 2021), and gave a base that could scale to future models.
Key solutions
Digital experienceAndroid Automotive OS, voice and touch, two screens, over-the-air updates.
Sustainable materialsRecycled PET, ECONYL® carpets from fishing nets, natural fibre panels.
A calm spaceA floating dashboard, few buttons and ambient light.
1. Digital experience. A central infotainment system on Android Automotive OS, with voice and touch control, two screens splitting live data and entertainment, personal driver profiles and over-the-air updates.
2. Sustainable materials. Bio-attributed MicroTech and animal-welfare certified wool upholstery, recycled PET headlining, ECONYL® carpets made from ocean waste, and natural fibre composites for panels and trims.
3. A calm space. A slim, floating dashboard, few physical buttons, and ambient lighting that supports both looks and wellbeing.
Impact
This was a rare chance to help shape a new electric car brand from the start. With the advanced interior team, we defined how digital and physical parts work together in a premium electric SUV, guided by simplicity and clarity.
What I learned
I joined Volvo Cars in 2017, the year Polestar was relaunched as a standalone electric brand. Building the foundations of a new car brand meant deciding how its values show up in everything a driver sees and touches. Sustainability turned out to be the core of that: recycled PET headlining, carpets made from discarded fishing nets, natural fibre panels. The lesson I kept is that in an electric brand, sustainability is not a material choice made at the end. It’s a design principle from day one, and the digital experience has to tell the same story as the materials.