For people living a vegan or eco-friendly lifestyle, owning a car is one of the last necessary evils that it’s just not possible or practical to do without.
So to help people choose a car that helps them to limit their impact, money.co.uk analyzed cars currently sold by major manufacturers in the U.S. to find if/where leather is used in the interior and each vehicle’s CO2 emissions to rank them based on their overall kindness to the planet.
We’ve highlighted some of the top performers below, but you can find the top 50 kindest cars in the U.S. in this Google Sheet as well as a guide to veganism and car ownership as part of the original study on the money.co.uk website: https://www.money.co.uk/guides/kinder-cars-index
Top 10 kindest cars
- Nissan Leaf
- Tesla Model 3
- Kia Niro EV
- Ford Mustang Mach-E
- Tesla Model Y
- Toyota Mirai
- Hyundai Nexo
- Polestar Polestar 2
- Honda Clarity
- Toyota Prius Prime
Top 10 most affordable leather-free cars
- Chevrolet Spark – $13,400
- Nissan Versa – $14,830
- Hyundai Accent – $15,292
- Toyota Yaris – $15,650
- Kia Rio – $15,850
- Honda Fit – $16,190
- Kia Soul – $17,490
- Kia Forte – $17,890
- Subaru Impreza – $18,695
- Volkswagen Jetta – $18,895
Top 10 cheapest zero-emissions vehicles
- Nissan Leaf – $31,600
- Hyundai Ioniq Electric – $33,045
- Chevrolet Bolt EV – $36,620
- Hyundai Kona Electric – $37,190
- Tesla Model 3 – $37,990
- Kia Niro EV – $39,090
- Ford Mustang Mach-E – $43,895
- BMW i3 – $44,450
- Tesla Model Y – $51,190
- Toyota Mirai – $58,550
What about and Tesla Model S and Model X?
Originally manufactured with a leather steering wheel, both the Tesla Model S and Model X sit slightly lower in our ranking than expected, however, Tesla has said that they will happily change their steering wheel to one made with a vegan-friendly leather alternative for no charge.
Salman Haqqi, consumer spending expert at money.co.uk, commented: “More people than ever before are making an active effort to live cruelty-free and low impact lives. You only need to look at the variety of meat and dairy-free alternatives on the shelves of your local supermarket to see how industries and retailers are responding.
“A recent report found that over 330,000 plug-in electric cars were sold in the U.S. in 2019, ever so slightly less than the all-time high seen in 2018. This demand for more ethical options is helping to shape the car industry with brands including Tesla, Ford, Toyota, and BMW, all offering vegan-friendly leather alternatives in some of their flagship models.
“However, buying a car is still a bit of a minefield for vegan motorists as animal products are used in the manufacture of the steel and rubber that makes up the car itself.
“For some people, their car is the one necessary evil that it’s just not possible to go without. But to help mindful motorists minimize their impact as much as possible, we looked at the leather content and CO2 emissions of some of the most well-known manufacturers to find the kindest cars that are available to buy today.”
