Tesla Sustainability: A Deep Dive into the Environmental and Ethical Impact of the Electric Car Leader

Is Tesla Environmentally Friendly?

When it comes to discussing cars, it is impracticable to not mention Tesla as it is one of the best companies in terms of luxury and high-quality vehicles. With its impressive battery range, stylish intriguing designs and affordability for running the car, it is nearly impossible for any person to dislike Tesla having so many benefits. The real question is Sustainability and Tesla. Does it really fit together? How sustainable is Tesla? Everyone is cognizant that Tesla has been contributing its part to the sustainability of the planet by helping to avoid five million metric tons of carbon emissions.

Tesla, founded in 2003 by a few engineers with the aim to make sustainable transportation has almost disrupted the entire automotive industry and is worth more than $440B.

Electric cars like the ones produced by Tesla are defined as zero-emission vehicles despite using greenhouse gas techniques during the production process. Examples of zero-emission vehicles are animal-powered transportation such as carriages, electric trains and hydrogen-fueled vehicles.

Is Tesla Ethical?

Tesla cannot be considered a fully ethical brand. So, if we dig a little deeper into the sustainability section of Tesla, in previous years, the company was rated the best one under Ethical Consumer’s Carbon Management and Reporting category because of its keen focus on manufacturing environmentally friendly products. 

In spite of coming under Ethical Consumer’s Carbon Management as the best-rated one, Tesla got the worst rating for its environmental reporting due to not mentioning and highlighting the toxins that they use in the manufacturing process. The customers are very keen and conscious to know what all chemicals are being used in the production process. The brand lacks this section and hence should start maintaining adequate toxic chemical policies.

Tesla faced a lot of problems in the year 2021, the Bay Area Air Quality Management District issued 33 notices of violation against Tesla for epic failure in conducting emission testing and exceeding the usage of emissions which was permitted for everyone. Also in the year 2018, a fine was issued against Tesla for the usage of malfunctioning burners that spread large amounts of dangerous nitrogen oxides into the air making the air very harmful for humans as well as for animals.

Tesla was also rated as the best company for Conflicts Minerals policies. According to an article in the year 2019, a lawsuit was filed against Tesla by human rights on behalf of 14 parents from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. As accused by Siddharth Kara, an anti-slavery economist, Tesla with companies like Google and Apple were accused of injury and deaths of workers who were working in the mining department of their supply chain.

According to a Corporate Human Rights Benchmark report 2020, Tesla was recognised as the company with the worst scoring factor as this report identifies environmental and human rights performance of more than 229 companies globally where out of 10%, Tesla scored 0.

Tesla has also failed to improve its work and has not revealed their waste level. Their report only mentions that they are currently working to improve their water and waste cycles. It is important for a brand to be transparent about itself and it is a key factor to win customers’ trust but Tesla lacks transparency and without transparency, sustainability never exists.

So, circling back to the topic, is Tesla really ethical? We can conclude that Tesla is not fully sustainable. For many years, in the growing market, Tesla has made its position as the saviour and hero of the environmentally friendly automobile industry with stylish designs. No doubt why Tesla is so loved by everyone, thanks to Elon Musk.

Despite Tesla’s great marketing strategies and its reading demand and the fact that electric cars are the future which automatically gives Tesla a big advantage, it is important to know the sustainability of Tesla instead of being green, it looks like grey, unlike its slogan colour.

 However, the practises that Tesla is adopting are not so effective and not so sustainable and making it questioning and confusing for the people whether they should

Prachi Bishnoi

Prachi, an accomplished Chief-Editor at The Sustainable Brands Journal, has 15+ years of experience in Europe, the Middle East, and India, managing 90+ global sustainable brands. She’s a prolific writer in sustainability, contributing to various publications. Prachi’s unwavering passion and expertise make her a recognized authority, driving positive change and inspiring a sustainable future.