Tesla has published its annual Impact Report for 2020, highlights the importance of “designing and manufacturing a complete energy and transportation ecosystem that is fully vertically integrated” and particularly the low life cycle emissions of its electric vehicles.
According to the report, Tesla customers helped avoid 5 million metric tonnes of CO2-equivalent emissions thanks to a range of factors, inlcuding the significantly lower lifecycle emisions of the company’s EVs compared to their internal combustion engine (ICE) rivals.
Tesla says the average ICE vehicle emits 69-tonnes of CO2-equivalent over its lifetime, but Tesla vehicles are just a fraction of this, particularly if they are “ride-sharing” and solar charged.. But even a Model 3 for personal use, charged on the US grid, will deliver one third of the emissions than a mid-sized ICE car.
In Europe, which has a cleaner grid, the difference is more profound.
Even in China, where much of the country’s grid is powered by coal, the gains are still noticeable, if not quite of the same scale.
“Charging a Tesla Model 3 in any of our major markets is more environmentally friendly than burning gasoline,” Tesla says.
The gap remains significant even between elecrric vehicles, according to Tesla’s own figures.
Tesla claims that its “cars can convert electricity into power more efficiently than other equivalent EVs” – as highlighted below.
Tesla’s battery packs, according to the company, “are designed to outlast the vehicle”. Tesla explains that the average car in the United States “gets scrapped” after approximately 200,000 miles of usage – which equates to around 322,000-kilometres – and around 150,000 miles (241,000-kilometres) in Europe.
But, as Tesla point out, “a battery that could instead last for 1,000,000 miles (4,000 charging cycles) would dramatically reduce the emissions per mile driven for high-mileage vehicles such as taxis, delivery vans or trucks.”
But maybe the most important headline to be taken from Tesla’s 2020 Impact Report – continuing on from the company’s focus on reducing a vehicle’s lifecycle emissions – was the claim that 100% of Tesla batteries will be recycled and that 92% of the raw materials in Tesla battery packs will be reused.
Tesla also used their 2020 Impact Report to focus in on the development of their Supercharger networks.
Over 25,000 Superchargers have already been deployed across the globe – including a heartening number of superchargers along the east-coast and south-east coast of Australia.
In 2020, Tesla customers helped accelerate the world’s transition to sustainable energy by avoiding 5.0 million metric tons of CO2e emissions
Impact Report → https://t.co/wZwv00DyWp
— Tesla (@Tesla) August 9, 2021
Of course, electric vehicles are not the only way that Tesla is helping to accelerate the world sustainable transition.
In 2020, according to Tesla, the company sold 3GWh worth of energy storage products – “roughly 25% of the 12GWh global market.”
Tesla is also using its own manufacturing footprint to help reduce its carbon footprint by transitioning towards in-house manufactured Tesla cells and cathode material manufacturing, while also using their manufacturing “Gigafactories” as home to massive solar projects.
For example, Gigafactory Nevada was designed to be covered with solar panels and, so far, solar panels with a capacity of 3,200KW have been installed – before growing to about 24,000KW by the end of next year.
Tesla is also already installing solar panels at other locations too, including their Fremont Factory, Lathrop factory, and Gigafactory New York.
The company is also focusing on using renewable energy wherever possible for all its operations, “whether its at our factories, sales, service or delivery locations, or through our Supercharger Network.”
Tesla’s 2020 Impact Report covers a dizzying array of the company’s Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) impact, all of which can’t be covered here, so if you’re interested in reading more about Tesla’s ESG impact, check out their report.
Joshua S. Hill is a Melbourne-based journalist who has been writing about climate change, clean technology, and electric vehicles for over 15 years. He has been reporting on electric vehicles and clean technologies for Renew Economy and The Driven since 2012. His preferred mode of transport is his feet.