Tesla release Environmental Impact Report, busts several myths

Tesla has released its environmental impact report for 2019 today, and the report does a lot to address several myths which portray electric vehicles as actually more damaging to the environment than petrol cars.

The report notes for example that it is a myth that batteries in electric vehicles, the most expensive component, needs to be replaced during the average life of the car, nothing most vehicles get scrapped for other reasons well before the conservative 200,000-mile usable life.

The report also notes that the full lifecycle emissions (from raw minerals to scrappage) of a Tesla charged from the average grid was still several times less than that of an average mid-range petrol car.

Tesla says even the amount of emissions embodied by the manufacturing process is now approaching that of a regular car. Tesla was also working to use more renewable energy in their factories and promises to cover their roofs with as many solar cells as practicable.

The company was also planning on recycling their batteries and recovering the precious metals in them, but notes this has not been addressed to a significant extend yet because their batteries last so long that very few have been returned to the factory so far.

The full report can be read here.