POLESTAR Australia says it has already received several purchase offers for its New Vehicle Efficiency Standard (NVES) credits, but that any proceeds from such a transaction will be coordinated and held globally.

 

The NVES model allows the trading of CO2 credits between high emitting OEMs (such as those with a diesel-only range) and low emitting OEMs (including EV-only importers such as Polestar) to assist the former in reducing its Final Emissions Value, thereby avoiding, or at least minimising, any penalty that might be accrued.

 

With fleet-wide penalties of up to $100 per gram per kilometre of CO2 enforced against a predetermined cap (which becomes more stringent annually), there are several vehicle importers that could benefit from Polestar’s credits, including the likes of Ford and Isuzu that offer diesel-centric line-ups.

 

Speaking at the launch of the MY26 Polestar 2 in Melbourne this week, Polestar Australia managing director Scott Maynard said that while a number of importers had offered to purchase Polestar’s NVES credits, the decision on where these will be sold – and how the proceeds will be allocated – rests largely with head office in Sweden.

 

“We have had a couple offers (and) there is certainly interest in our credits and our ability to pass them through,” he outlined.

 

“There are a couple of brands that we are actively in conversation with that we would be happy to transact with … but a decision has not been taken on that yet.

 

“We haven’t got a final call on whether that would be disclosed,” he said in relation to which OEMs have shown interest in purchasing Polestar NVES credits.

 

“The coordination of NVES credits will be managed globally. It will still be attributed as a market earning – so (the funds) will be attributed to the Australian market – but it will be coordinated and held globally.

 

Mr Maynard said that while Polestar Australia could use its input to decide which OEM is deemed worthy of the receipt of its NVES credits, that the final say will again fall to Polestar head office.

 

“Locally, we will have input, we will have an opinion, but the final say will go to global,” he stated.

 

“That’s because there will be certain global partnerships that they will be coordinating, and I would expect to be asked to respect some of those, if it’s the right business that they want to work with.

 

The NVES came into effect on 1 January 2025 with a six-month grace period meaning OEMs were not fined until 1 July last year. From that point, emissions were penalised at a rate of $100 for every gram per kilometre of CO2 each vehicle sold is over the mandated limit.

 

Those fines are passed onto new car buyers in most cases via the increase of a vehicle’s list price, while others work to strike a deal with importers of ‘greener’ vehicles who are issued CO2 credits that may be sold on to higher-emitting marques.

 

Visit GoAuto again soon to read our Australian launch review of the 2026 Polestar 2 range.