Coming soon: EV and battery sold separately

Polestar CEO Thomas Ingenlath says automakers may soon split the cost of their EVs from the cost of the batteries — akin to buying a laptop and paying more for a bigger hard drive.

Why it matters: The approach, already being pursued by Vietnamese startup VinFast, would enable automakers to insulate their sticker prices from volatile commodity markets.

What he's saying: "You could imagine a scenario where, 'This is the price of the car, and then here’s the battery price on top of the car,'" Ingenlath tells Axios.

It will drive two developments: "People will be more conscious and searching more about the materials that you’re putting into the battery. That will be driven, of course, by these prices."

• Also on the customer side: How big is your battery?

Hitting a ceiling on battery range: "How much capital do I put into the size of the battery for the car?"

• "The customer has to be aware that, at some point, it doesn’t make much sense to put another 100 km here and another 100 km range there," Ingenlath says.
• "We are now in the 1,000 km range. At some point, it gets ridiculous."

Bottom line: "We should at some point look at the charging infrastructure and how you charge a car."