Tesla: Why EVs are cheaper and so much cleaner than petrol cars

Elecrtric vehicle and storage giant Tesla has once again outlined the competitiveness of its EVs against petrol cars – both on price and emissions – and declared that its global fleet of vehicles, energy storage systems, and solar panels avoided 8.4 million metric tonnes of CO2 equivalent last year.

Electric vehicles had by far the largest positive environmental impact, according to Tesla’s 2021 Impact Report, which outlines all the ways in which its operations impact not only the company’s bottom line, but also the larger environmental impacts.

The emissions saved in calendar 2021 includes 6.8 million metric tonnes of vehicle CO2e savings, which are estimated based on the net CO2-e savings during the use-phase of a Tesla vehicle compared to an internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicle with a real-world fuel economy of -24mpg.

Of these 6.8 million metric tonnes, 0.9 million metric tonnes were avoided through annual renewables matching for the global Supercharger network and home charging in California.

The remaining 1.6 million metric tonnes were avoided thanks to Tesla’s solar and storage CO2e savings, which are estimated based on CO2e avoided through generation of zero-emission electricity from the company’s solar panels, as well as energy stored and later dispatched from its energy storage projects.

Tesla also revealed that, between 2012 and 2021, the energy produced by Tesla solar panels around the world reached a cumulative total of 25.38TWh.

Electricity used at Tesla factories and other facilities and to charge Tesla vehicles around the globe amounted to 25.27TWh – meaning that Tesla has generated more renewable energy than the company or its products have used.

This includes almost 4GW worth of solar systems installed by Tesla (and including SolarCity prior to its 2016 acquisition by Tesla) over that time.

Tesla sees its biggest environmental impact as the “early displacement of ICE vehicles and replacing them with EVs” as well as the replacement of “fossil-based energy generation with renewable energy generation.”

The wider impact of Tesla vehicles in particular reports not only the lower lifetime carbon footprint, but also includes performance, cost of ownership, safety, and “fun”.

The Model 3, for example, is priced on par with other mid-sized premium sedans and yields a total cost of ownership over 5 years/60,000 miles more on par with the Toyota Camry than a comparable BMW 3 Series.

Meanwhile, Tesla also reports that its cars are being used as customers’ main car, with the Model Y racking up more average miles driven per year than the average vehicle.

This has been bolstered in large part due to the increased range of its vehicles. For example, since its introduction in 2012, the Tesla Model S has had its range increased by over 50% – from 265 miles to 405 miles of range for the long-range version.

The Tesla 2021 Impact Report is the first time that the company has been in a position to reports the specifics of its Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions (below) – having transitioned from simply reporting a lifecycle analysis (LCA) of its emissions.

Of particular note was Tesla’s reporting of the per mile lifecycle emissions of its vehicles, which it reported for the United States, Europe, and China, and which highlighted the exceptional contrast between Tesla models and the average premium ICE (considered to be the equivalent ICE vehicle to the Tesla 3).

Tesla’s environmental impact is further reduced through the recycling of the vast majority of all materials used at its factories and operations.

“The vast majority of generated waste, such as paper, plastics and metals, is recyclable,” the company explained. “At Gigafactory Shanghai, for example, just 7% of total waste generated in 2021 was not recyclable.”