Polestar joins Tesla in exiting peak industry body

Electric vehicle maker Polestar has joined fellow EV specialist Tesla in quitting the Federal Chamber of Automotive Industries (FCAI) in protest over its approach to the federal government’s proposed New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES).

Polestar head of communication Laurissa Mirabelli telegraphed the move on ABC Radio National’s breakfast show this morning.

“I suspect we are probably not far away from Tesla in making some sort of a stand against the FCAI and its position on the New Vehicle Efficiency Standard,” she said.

After the appearance it was confirmed Polestar had submitted its letter of resignation to the FCAI.

Mirabelli also predicted other brands will quit the FCAI over its NVES strategy in coming days.

“I thought it might be only the electric vehicle companies that would make a stand, but I understand there are other industry players who are assessing their own position because not everyone is aligned to the FCAI’s current narrative,” she said.

Tesla blasted the FCAI for making “false and misleading” claims in its resignation letter and Mirabelli made it clear Polestar basically agreed.

“The FCAI’s campaign so far really hasn’t represented our position at all and we believe it has done some serious damage to consumer perception and trust in this proposed policy,” Mirabelli said.

While Polestar wants the toughest Option C NVES proposal as outlined in the federal government’s impact analysis published in late January, it has opted to back the federal government’s preferred Option B.

The FCAI has argued fiercely against Option B, claiming it will lead to dramatic price hikes for new vehicles, and backed the softest Option A.

But much of the industry is falling behind Option B, albeit often asking for elements to be softened.

The federal government wants the NVES in place by January 1, 2025.

“It’s quite evident from overseas experience that we haven’t seen that sort of price increase when the standard has been introduced in other markets, say the EU or US,” Mirabelli said.

“Closer to home the Grattan Institute has actually said they don’t think the prices will increase more than one per cent and even if that happens lower fuel and maintenance costs are going to make consumers better off in the long-term.”

Mirabelli expressed frustration that Polestar, as a small player in terms of sales volume, struggled to get its point across within the FCAI. It sold 2463 cars in Australia in 2023, compared to EV leader Tesla’s 46,116 and market-leader Toyota’s 215,240.

“The way the chamber works is depending on your volume you pay according to that volume, so the larger the volume the larger your share of voice.

“There are a lot of brands transitioning at the moment and there are competing ideas about what the standard should look like.”

This is essentially the argument that the FCAI primarily does Toyota’s bidding because it is its major financier.

The FCAI hasn’t just upset some of its members with its stand. The federal government is also said to be planning to take over the chamber’s role of producing new-vehicle sales figures (known as VFACTS), removing one of its major revenue sources.

Access to those sales numbers is a major reason many auto companies are members of the FCAI.

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