- [Narrator] If you're in the market
for a vegan, eco-friendly car, there have never been
more options available.
In the first 10 months of 2019, electric vehicles
were worth more than 2% of the global vehicle market.
- The actual operating costs of a electric car
are much less than a gasoline car.
- [Narrator] It may not seem like much,
but the market is growing.
It's projected to reach a value of $1.5 trillion by 2025.
By then, it's estimated that 36% of cars
on the road could be electric.
Consumers are concerned about the climate crisis
and the impact that car transportation
is having on the planet.
An average car emits around 4.6 metric tons
of carbon dioxide every year.
Electric cars though, are far better for the environment.
In 2019, a UK study revealed that the lifetime emissions
per kilometer of driving an electric Nissan Leaf
were three times lower than a conventional car.
But there's another aspect of the automotive industry
that is detrimental to the environment, leather.
For decades, leather has been used in vehicle interiors.
It used to signal luxury, but now, several car companies
are waking up to it's environmental impact.
Around 3.8 billion cows and other bovine animals
are used in leather production every year.
Leather is responsible for deforestation,
pollution, and significant amounts of water and land usage.
After leather is made, it must be tanned.
This process uses toxic chemicals, including chromium,
which is carcinogenic.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services,
the International Agency for Research on Cancer,
and the Environmental Protection Agency.
Many tanneries across countries like India and Bangladesh
are unregulated, and toxic waste
can run into nearby waterways.
It's also harmful to workers,
who can experience skin and lung irritations.
- [British Newsreader] Despite the boss's claims,
the workers have many health issues.
They say they get frequent eye infections
and skin allergies among other problems.
- [Translator] There's acid in this water,
but worse when they add another chemical product,
which gives us fungal infections.
- [Narrator] In India, there are more than 2,000 tanneries.
They produce more than two billion
square feet of leather annually.
But there is an alternative finding its way
into climate-friendly cars, vegan leather.
- The entire interior is vegan,
also made from materials
that's produced in a sustainable way.
- [Narrator] Car companies are beginning
to try out the new leather-free options in their interiors.
Some use fruit-based leathers,
and others use recycled materials,
made with old fishing nets and bottles.
The coming years will see innovations in this area.
By 2025, the vegan leather market is predicted
to be worth $45 billion.
For most of us, it's neither possible, nor practical
to avoid cars for the rest of our lives.
We need them to get from Point A to Point B.
And public transport is not
a practical option for everybody.
However, what you can do is look for a car
that minimizes your impact on the animals
and the environment.
Here are some of the most eco
and vegan friendly cars on the market.
Number one, the Tesla Model 3.
- Even the base model three will do
zero to 60 miles an hour, or zero to 100 kilometers an hour
in less than six seconds.
(audience cheers)
- [Narrator] Tesla eliminated leather seating in 2016,
opting for a vegan alternative.
But the steering wheel was not so easy to alter.
In 2019, Musk revealed that
the electric car company was close
to developing a leather-free steering wheel option.
He said at Tesla's annual shareholder meeting
in June 2019, "There are some challenges when heating
the non-leather material and also
how well it wears over time."
- It's an easier proposition to solve it for our seats
than it is for the steering wheel.
So there's actually a remarkable amount of effort
to solve the steering wheel.
But it is a thing that we're working on
and hope to release soon.
- [Narrator] In August, it announced the Tesla 3
was completely vegan.
Along with a short video, Tesla tweeted,
model 3 interior is now 100% leather free.
The car has a non heated steering wheel.
It's not confirmed when the Tesla Model Y
will be fully vegan.
Musk has also expressed that he isn't sure
when the model S and X will be completely leather free.
- [Woman] Can you confirm that model Y
will be vegan as promised?
- (laughs) Yes, it will.
We have a lot of things to solve.
But I think we can, for sure, the model Y
and the model 3 soon.
And then you can also special order for the SNX.
- [Woman] Thank you very much.
- [Narrator] Number two, Nissan Leaf.
Nissan's Leaf is the best selling electric car of all time.
"The family-friendly, affordable electric vehicle is quiet,
comfortable and surprisingly fast."
says website Buy a Car.
Vegan customers can order the leaf without leather seats,
steering wheel or gear shift.
Nissan also unveiled a prospective design
of a new electric car last year.
The car, which the company hopes will be available
in the next few years, features a futuristic design,
kind of like a magic carpet with a flat floor
and no B pillar between the side windows.
It also has vegan leather.
Giovanni Arroba, the program design director
at Nissan said the prospective design was a step forward
for the car company.
He said, "We're looking at this for 2022 and beyond.
We wanted to get a premium feel
and that's usually always leather.
We captured that, I think, with a synthetic version.
We're going into the realm of vegan leather and synthetics,
but celebrating it and making it cool."
Number three, BMW i3.
The BMW i3 is one of the most environmentally friendly cars
you can buy at the moment.
It's made largely from carbon fiber instead of steel
and it is up to 85% recycle.
- [Translator] This enables us to achieve approximately half
the weight of steel or 1/3 that of aluminum.
That gives us enormous benefits in terms of efficiency,
consumption and dynamic performance.
- [Narrator] Each car reuses around 27 plastic bottles
to help form parts of the seats and the doors.
While there is a leather-free option
for the M performance electronic steering wheel,
it does contain wool.
Number four, Fisker Ocean created
by former BMW designer, Henry Fisker.
The electric Fister Ocean has a completely vegan interior
made with recycled, abandoned fishing nets
and other plastic pulled from the ocean.
- We're using something that kind of feels like suede.
Up here was sort of an ocean diamond pattern.
It's very soft, very high quality, but it's actually made
from recycled tee shirts and other type of things.
So it's kind of cool.
All the carpets in the Fisker Ocean, and including
in the trunk, is made from recycled plastic bottles
and fishing nets from the ocean.
- [Narrator] The car has been dubbed
the world's most sustainable vehicle.
The Fisker Ocean has a range of between 250 and 300 miles,
and it's available with four-wheel drive
and high-performance dual motors.
If you'd like, you can opt for a full length solar roof.
It's not available until 2022 but you can reserve it now.
Number five, Volvo's Polestar 2.
The new five-door, leather-free vehicle
from Volvo subsidiary Polestar named the Polestar 2
is now available for reservation.
Equipped with a 78 kilowatt per hour battery pack,
the car can accelerate from zero to 60 miles per hour
in under five seconds.
The interior features WeaveTech, a water-based dirt
and moisture resistant modern PVC material.
According to the company, WeaveTech was inspired
by the material used in divers sweatsuits.
"Our commitment to the protection of the environment
does not only include the electric drive,"
said Thomas Ingenlath, the CEO of Polestar in a statement.
"With the Polestar 2, we have now also developed
an interior design that promotes and accelerates
the conversion of the automotive industry
to a leather-free interior."
Number six, Land Rover.
Land Rover recently unveiled leather-free
and vegan materials designed
for the 2020 Range Rover Evoque, and Range Rover Velar,
and Jaguar I-Pace.
The cars debuted at the New York International Auto Show
in April, 2019.
Massimo Frascella, the vegan creative director
of Land Rover told The Economic Times
that 50 years ago a leather couch was the height of luxury.
Now, in the best hotels and homes, you'd never see that.
The new materials are made from plastic bottles,
eucalyptus fibers, and a leather-free wool blend
called suede cloth.
Frascella added, "Going forward, sustainable design
is providing the framework for change."
Number seven, electric Ford Bronco.
The Ford Bronco is an American classic.
The Detroit-based car manufacturer first introduced
the SUV in 1965 and made it until 1996
when it was discontinued to make room for new vehicles.
After over two decades, a small number of people
will be able to drive a vegan-friendly Bronco thanks
to LA-based design studios, Zero Labs.
The new all electric vehicle based
on the 1966 to '77 Ford Bronco model
features a carbon fiber body, walnut,
and bamboo interior paneling,
and the option for vegan seat coverings.
Zero Labs will make 150 electric Broncos all handmade in LA.
The company claims that its SUV will have 400 times
more horsepower than its predecessor.
It's now available for reservation.
Number eight, Bentley EXP 100 GT.
Luxury car manufacturer, Bentley unveiled
a new electric concept car last summer.
- This car's designed to be sustainable, high performance,
and fun to drive.
- [Narrator] It features sustainable materials
like vegan leather made from grape skins.
The British car brand released the design in honor
of its a 100-year anniversary last year.
The EXP 100 GT is a 19-foot, two-door electric vehicle
with self-driving capabilities.
The design is both a nod to the brand signature look
and what the company imagines the Bentley GT
will look like in 2035.
The vegan leather used is manufactured in Italy
from leftover wine grape skins.
There's currently one company
that makes animal-free leather this way, Vegea,
a Milan-based brand founded in 2016.
- [Woman] We have patented an innovative technology
that allows us to transform grape skins, stalks, and seeds
into an eco-sustainable material, an alternative
to synthetic ones for fashion, furniture,
automotive, and packaging.
- [Narrator] The doorframes are made
with ancient bog Oak carbon.
The material is dated to 3000 BC.
The exterior uses recycled copper
and paint made with rice husk ash, a byproduct
of the rice industry that's typically thrown away.
That lease concept car isn't completely vegan.
It makes use of animal-based leather as well.
But head of interior design, Brett Boydell sees a future
for sustainable ethical materials
like reclaimed Oak and grape leather.
"We know that for some sustainability
is part of luxury now,"
design director, Stephen Sielaff noted in an interview
with Broad Report, that consumers
are increasingly seeking cars that match their ethics.
"We all want to be sporty,
we want to look younger than we are.
Maybe you eat everything organic, sustainable,
vegan, animal-free, and yet we're using 15 hides
of leather for our cars.
This is obviously the extreme and things change bit by bit,
but some people will want a car
that better aligns with their belief system."
Number nine, Porsche.
Porsche's new Taycan electric car
has a vegan leather interior option.
The Taycan model has two interior options,
tanned club leather, and a vegan version
with race texts microfiber, a textile partly made
from recycled polyester fibers.
The cruelty free leather generates 80% less CO2
than its animal-based counterpart, according to Porsche.
The Taycan flooring features econ Nova cycled fiber,
which is made from recycled fishing nets.
Number 10, Subaru.
Subaru's new 2020 Outback model features
a water repellent vegan seating option
that's even stronger than leather named StarTex.
The material is also free
from polyvinyl chloride, salates, and chlorine.
The backing is made from 25% recycled polyethylene
and terephthalate, A K A, PET.
StarTex won't absorb moisture, keeping in mind customers
who might get caught in the rain.
It's also easy to scrub clean of dirt and debris.
The vegan friendly seating is available as an option
for the Annex edition XT Gray.
Number 11, Volkswagen.
At the end of 2019, Volkswagen debuted
its Space Vizzion concept at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
- But we are, in fact, changing everything
about the way we do business,
from the very fundamentals of making a car
to how they operate.
The company has already set our target
of reducing CO2 output by 30% by 2025.
- [Narrator] The electric car boasts vegan leather interior
and uses Chrome-like paint instead of the real deal.
Chrome tanning was invented in 1858.
It quickly became popular as it is cost effective
and more efficient than other methods.
However, Chrome has dire impacts on the planet.
Chrome, as well as other substances like led,
can enter local water supplies.
The Space Vizzion concept can launch
from zero to 60 in just five seconds.
It can reach up to 109 miles per hour.
The vehicle's 82 kilowatt hour battery pack
could keep it running for 590 kilometers or 366 miles.
The car has a 15.6-inch touchscreen,
which appears to hover in midair.
According to VW, drivers can control
most of the car's functions with their voice.
VW Space Vizzion is currently just a concept.
However, the German automaker says it will launch
the vehicle to market in the next few years.
Number 12, Toyota Prius.
After Tesla, Toyota's Prius is probably the next car
that comes to mind when you think eco-friendly.
- Basically, it's a hybrid that you can plug in.
Thanks to its large battery pack, you can charge it up
and drive more on electricity
all the way up to car chasing speeds.
- [Narrator] It's gained a reputation for itself
in the electric vehicle world and for good reason,
According to website, What Car,
With every generation of the Prius, Toyota just gets better.
Toyota uses a material called soft-tex in the Prius.
Its synthetic fabric that mimics the look
and feel of real leather.
Number 13, Ranault Twizy.
Raynor's unique Twizy looks sort of
like a two-seater go-cart.
The French automobile manufacturer says
it's unlike anything else on the road today.
The design is 100% electric with zero emissions.
And the plastic interior is leather free.
Steel use is also kept to a minimum
as the lightweight steel chassis is encased in plastic.
Steel production impacts the environment
in a number of ways.
It is one of the most energy-consuming
and carbon emitting industrial activities.
Do you own any of these cars?
Which one would you buy?
Let us know your thoughts on eco-friendly, vegan vehicles
in the comments below.
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