Tesla has proven with its luxury electric vehicles that you need not sacrifice performance for saving the environment as these vehicles come with remarkable acceleration, making them a good choice for the eco-conscious car buyer. Now there is one more cause the electric firm has shown commitment to.
Tesla launches new version of Model X
For some car buyers, it’s a nagging problem that car seats and the steering wheel require leather, which come from the slaughtering of animals. And using a cloth substitute is not a good idea for a vehicle priced higher than $100,000.
Therefore, Tesla has come up with a new version of its vehicle that will appeal to the luxury-minded vegans, says a report from The New York Times. Tesla is offering synthetic leather as an option for the new Model X SUV in an Ultra White shade, the report said.
The Tesla brand represents a kind of sustainable luxury, but many vegans have complained that having an eco-friendly car that includes animal products does not make sense, keeping in mind the large amount of greenhouse gases the industrial sector emits. They point out that Nikola Tesla, after whom the company was named, was a vegetarian himself.
Automakers wooing vegans
Tesla is just the latest automaker to offer such an option, or it was inevitable perhaps. The vegan lifestyle has gained in popularity because of celebrities such as Beyonce and Brad Pitt. Also with the number of adherents growing, restaurants and food companies are making a push towards creating more palatable plant-based products similar to meat and dairy items.
For this reason, auto giants such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Ferrari are releasing models with faux leather seating. Also companies like Volvo and Ford are laying more emphasis on the usage of more natural components such as soy foam in their seats, says CNBC.
BMW’s i3, priced higher than $42,400 is another good example of this. The vehicle’s interior is made of open-pore eucalyptus wood harvested from a “certified forest.” A renewable Asian kenaf plant is used to make its interior panels, and all its assembly has taken place in a wind-powered factory in Germany.
On its website, the car maker states, “The aim of developing the BMW i cars is not simply to build emission-free cars but also to use the maximum possible amount of sustainably produced and recycled materials — especially inside.”
