Camilla Jessen
The company says the vehicles were never meant for the road.
It’s the kind of scene you’d expect after a recall—not straight from the production line.
Dozens of brand-new Polestar electric cars, including the sleek Polestar 3 and 4, have been spotted in scrapyards across Norway and Sweden.
Some still have plastic on the seats. None have driven a single kilometre.
According to Boosted, the Swedish EV brand confirmed that these are early production models built for internal testing and exhibition purposes.
Despite looking fully finished, the vehicles are not legally allowed on public roads.
“They lack type approval and cannot be sold or driven,” said Kristin Fjeld, Polestar’s head of communications in Norway. “These cars must be treated as environmentally hazardous waste.”
Why These EVs Are Being Scrapped
The affected cars include dozens of Polestar 2 and 3 models, as well as several Polestar 1s and 4s.
In one scrapyard near Oslo, four pristine Polestar 4s—three gold, one white—sit parked next to a batch of Jaguar I-Paces, all awaiting disposal.
Because they were never connected to the central software systems or equipped with final safety features, these cars can’t be sold to private owners.
Their usage has been limited to closed test environments and controlled events.
“We are constantly working with test cars, which by law must stay within the company,” Fjeld explained. “Once their purpose is served, they go to scrapyards equipped to dispose of them properly.”
Recycling Not an Option
That might seem like a waste—and it is.
Fjeld confirmed that the cars cannot be recycled. While batteries, fluids, and other hazardous materials are removed, most of the cars’ advanced parts cannot be reused.
“It’s not about recycling,” said Anders Greftegreff from the scrapyard Bil1Din. “We only do what is required by law.”
Bil1Din and other scrapping companies say this level of disposal for unused, new-looking vehicles is unusual. Most manufacturers find ways to reuse or repurpose display and test models.
How Many Cars Are We Talking About?
Data from car.info reveals that, in Sweden alone over the past year, Polestar has scrapped:
- 45 Polestar 3s
- 38 Polestar 2s
- 3 Polestar 1s
- 1 Polestar 4
These numbers don’t include the additional cars scrapped in Norway, suggesting the practice is more widespread than initially believed. The explanation may lie in the location of Polestar’s central development team, which is based in Sweden.
Still, the high number of destroyed vehicles—many of them near-identical to customer-ready models—has raised eyebrows among industry watchers.
While a few lucky vehicles occasionally escape this fate, most are not so fortunate. Once marked for disposal, test and display EVs are stripped of usable parts, documented, and destroyed—no matter their condition.