The Car Industry’s Most Eco-friendly Advancements

from Stevenage Dec 2021

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Motoring

The car industry’s most eco-friendly advancements

Climate change is a hot topic in the car industry, but it’s not just the powertrain that’s the focus. Manufacturers have been working to make the whole car-building process more eco-friendly. Here, we take a look at some of the ways cars are getting greener.

Mini Strip

The Mini Strip is a one-off concept car that prioritises sustainability above all else. Features include an unpainted body with just a film to protect it from corrosion, recycled Perspex for the panoramic roof, all but the necessary interior trim removed, and cork used throughout. Despite remaining a concept, the British firm says it can be used as a “catalyst for more sustainable use of resources in automotive design”.

Synthetic fuel

Alternatives to electric vehicles are being considered, with a less talked-about option being synthetic fuels or e-Fuels. Essentially no different from the petrol and diesel that comes from crude oil, they are instead produced from carbon dioxide and hydrogen using renewable energy. Porsche and Siemens are two big companies working together on this technology. Although it is currently more efficient to use that renewable energy to charge an electric vehicle, e-Fuels are a sustainable way to fuel the millions of existing petrol and diesel vehicles.

Volvo’s wool interiors

Volvo has been one of the manufacturers most committed to electrifying its line-up, but it’s also focused on sustainability elsewhere, offering a unique wool upholstery. It’s a blend that’s 30 per cent wool and 70 per cent recycled polyester, available at no extra cost on some vehicles.

Seaqual Yarn

Last year, Fiat became the first manufacturer to use Seaqual yarn for its seat upholstery, with the Cupra Born’s bucket seats also using the material. Seaqual is an initiative based in Italy focussed on fighting plastic pollution in the ocean. Its ‘Yarn’ product is made from 100 per cent recycled materials, with about 10 per cent coming from upcycled marine litter.

Eco-friendly production

Most major car manufacturers have announced plans to electrify their range and set targets for carbon neutral production at their factories. This is being achieved in various ways, such as powering factories with renewable energy. Toyota uses water-based paints on cars, removes pollutants before they are released through smokestacks, cleans wastewater on-site before it is released, and grows forests inside its factory sites. Last year, the Japanese company announced plans to build a “prototype city of the future” at the base of Mount Fuji. It will be fully connected and powered by hydrogen fuel cells.

Bentley of the future

Bentley is a luxury car firm, with a mission to make sure it builds more sustainable cars. In 2019 it revealed the EXP 100 GT concept car, an autonomous electric vehicle. Everything about its construction had sustainability in mind. For example, some of the furnishings used a dyeing process that strives to achieve zero discharge of chemicals into the environment, while others come from a material called Vegea, which uses the by-products of winemaking. It also uses wood from naturally felled trees.