A new annual series of environmental rankings from a coalition of 11 sustainability organizations was first released on Wednesday, scoring 18 EV automakers according to their environmental and human rights footprints. The rankings were released by a group of 11 environmental organizations including the Sierra Club and Transport and Environment, and pro-Indigenous groups, reports Time.
On the index, the top three scoring brands included Mercedes-Benz, Ford and Volvo, while Tesla landed right in the middle at ninth.
The report looks at which EV automakers are doing the least damage to the global environment, including the atmosphere and the people who work to mine, refine and produce the new technologies.
According to the criteria for the rankings, the perfect vehicle would include “a fossil-free supply chain and the lowest possible negative impact on human health, biodiversity and resource depletion, and ecosystem resilience.”
The coalition was made up of organizations including the Sierra Club, Transport and Environment, as well as Indigenous groups such as Cultural Survival.
Among the factors that had an impact on Tesla’s score were low ranks in supply chain ethics and material sourcing, despite having better political lobbying engagement for transitioning to renewable energy.
Meanwhile, Mercedes-Benz was touted for its investments in a zero-carbon steel manufacturer, and for requiring all component suppliers to become carbon-neutral by 2039.
“This transition to electric vehicles really provides an opportunity for automakers to not only bring cleaner options to consumers, but to also clean up their supply chains,” said Erika Thi Patterson, auto supply chain campaign director at Public Citizen “We want to drive competition upwards.”
As for Tesla? The coalition writes, “disappointingly, the world’s leading EV manufacturer is also one of the worst performing automakers for eliminating fossil fuels and environmental harms from its supply chains. It has made more progress on human rights, but still lags behind many of its industry peers in this category as well. Tesla has already led the EV transition, now it needs to focus on becoming an industry leader in equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free supply chains.”
Tesla’s total score was 14% out of 100, while its Fossil-Free & Environment score was 7% and Human Rights and Responsible Sourcing at 21%.
Elon Musk’s company did generate some positives, however. Tesla “Performs marginally better on batteries due to investment in recycling and mineral mining projects that aim to reduce emissions and environmental impacts,” while it also has an “Excellent record on pro-climate lobbying from InfluenceMap.”
The top six rankings were lead by Mercedes-Benz, Ford, Volvo, VW, BMW and Stellantis. The worst six were BYD, Chery, GAC, Mitsubishi, KIA and Geely.
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