Project AimZero
Environmental clean-up is more fun than you think. That it’s important isn’t up for debate. That it’s necessary for the planet is obvious. But for too long, it’s been seen as a dirty job that nonetheless needs to be done.
Erik Rådström Acnell felt that it could be better. More fun. More inspiring. And he wanted Polestar to be a part of it. “I saw an explosion of ocean cleaning projects around the world, which are great for the environment, but they’re creating their own carbon footprints,” he explains. “I wanted to do an environmental project with zero emissions. I also wanted to make it cool to inspire future generations, by collecting an electric fleet James Bond could only dream of.” And if one of the zeroes in “007” stood for “zero emissions”, this would indeed be the fleet of everyone’s favourite secret agent.
Acnell’s idea was to collect divers in Stockholm’s Östermalm district to recover waste from the ocean, and that all vehicles involved would be electric. Polestar provided a Polestar 2. CAKE brought one of their modular Ösa electric motorcycles. Awake made their electric motorized surfboards available. X Shore showed up in one of their fully electric boats. Personnel from all four Swedish electric brands helped to haul in and empty the nets.
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And given that such a tempting fleet of electric vehicles were on hand, everyone took turns taking test drives.
“I took the (Polestar 2) to a road full of curves and slopes, and it drives like butter melting on corn,” says Acnell. “This car has no competition, it’s in a category of its own.”
The mission was an unqualified success according to Acnell, both showing that a zero emissions clean-up was possible, and that it could be a lot more fun than previously thought. “We showed people how cool things like this can be, by having the best of the best in electric vehicles with us.”