Extended Impact Report: How Sustainable is Tesla’s Business?
Tesla is having a difficult year.
Global EV sales have been hit by US President Donald Trump’s tariffs and its CEO Elon Musk’s brief and controversial spell as head of DOGE.
But, with a 130,000-strong workforce and 2024 revenue close to US£100bn, the automaker remains a significant player in the EV market.
Tesla has now published its 2024 Extended Impact Report, setting out what it is doing and will do to close in one net zero.
The report highlights a host of statistics, problems and solutions.
The headline figures
In 2024, Tesla customers avoided releasing 32 million tons of CO2e, thanks to the combination of the global fleet, solar panels and energy storage.
Tesla says the figure is “the same as driving an internal combustion engine vehicle about 78 billion miles”.
It also proudly compares itself with its rivals, saying: “We make the most efficient EVs on the road”, citing the following miles per kWh:
- Tesla Cybercab (estimated) – 5.5
- Tesla Model Y – 3.8
- Kia EV6 – 3.6
- Ford Mustang Mach-E – 3.4
- Hyundai IONIQ 5 – 3.4
- VW ID.4 – 3.1
- Jaguar I-PACE – 2.7.
Addressing manufacturing and supply chain emissions
As with all manufacturers, the most challenging emissions come from the supply chain.
Tesla says: “While EVs today produce more GHG emissions during the manufacturing phase (including emissions from the supply chain), in less than four years of driving, a Tesla vehicle’s lifetime emissions are lower than those of a comparable ICE vehicle.
“Tesla is actively addressing this manufacturing-phase impact. Through innovations in material efficiency, operational and supply chain decarbonisation and end-of-life recycling, we are continuously reducing emissions at every stage of production.”
It says this will result in the emissions gap during manufacturing shrinking and adds: “After 17 years of driving (which is the average life of a vehicle in the US), a single Tesla vehicle will avoid about 35 tons of CO2e globally.”
Tesla also cites the success of its Megapack utility-scale energy storage system, which launched in 2020, allowing low-cost, low-emission energy from renewable sources to be used during peak consumption hours, replacing expensive, high-emission energy from fossil fuel generators.
Decarbonisation driving everything at Tesla
Tesla says it seeks to achieve net zero GHG emissions across its full product lifecycle, from mining and production through use and end-of-life recycling.
It says: “As we have scaled the manufacturing of our sustainable energy products into new factories that have not yet reached full capacity, we have inevitably increased emissions in the short-term.
“Therefore, it is more important now than ever before to continue developing our plan to achieve net zero emissions quickly.”
The report picks out its new Cybercab robotaxi, which ran into problems at its launch, with complaints that it was not staying within traffic laws.
The report accentuates the potential positives, however.
It says: “With our incoming fleet of autonomous vehicles, we are well positioned to take sustainable transportation to the next level.
“With full autonomy and optimised ride efficiency, our Cybercab robotaxi will significantly reduce GHG emissions per mile – helping us avoid nearly twice as many emissions per mile compared to our Model 3 and Model Y vehicles.
“By maximising vehicle utilisation and rideshare capabilities, our Robotaxi network will not only lower emissions, but it will also increase the accessibility of sustainable transportation.”
The report goes on: “With each mile driven autonomously, we’re shaping a cleaner, smarter and more sustainable future for all.”
With the sustainable energy sector “ascendant”, Tesla says it anticipates a rising demand for zero direct-emission products across energy and transportation.
It says: “We aim to transition our operation electricity load to 100% renewable electricity well before we achieve our net zero emissions goal and to continue matching 100% of our Supercharger electricity load annually with renewable electricity.”
Who benefits from the GHG measurement system?
While most of the report focuses on positive ways to achieve net zero, it hits out at the frameworks in place to measure and reduce emissions – claiming they benefit big firms with polluting products.
It says: “The popular frameworks for measuring and reducing GHG emissions continue to benefit their authors and those well-established companies with polluting products – they do not recognise real-world impact.
“These frameworks do not account for the impact of emissions that are avoided through the sale of zero direct-emission products.”
Tesla says there is “a lot of work left to be done to build a GHG emissions-accounting system that holds polluters accountable and highlights the work being done by companies to build zero direct-emission products and achieve the goal of decarbonising the economy”.
Procuring more renewables
Tesla is procuring more renewables for its products and operations – and working to increase the current level year-on-year.
It says: “We are working towards matching our operational energy use at our facilities.
“We buy electricity directly from a mix of renewable energy projects through long-term PPAs with the grids on which we operate.”
Since 2023, it has secured almost 1 GW of wind and solar energy across North America and Europe, “ensuring a stable and clean energy supply”.
The report says: “As we expand our operations, we plan to match remaining operational energy consumption through a combination of on-site renewables and renewable energy purchases.”
Tesla’s challenge to other automakers
The Extended Impact Report has a certain edge to it.
Though it largely focuses on its own operations, it has a defiant and challenging aspect when it comes to its rivals.
This is typified by the section about EV sales, where it demands more from other automakers.
It says: “Electric vehicle sales by all automakers need to increase. We hope that every vehicle manufacturer will strive to produce hundreds of thousands of EVs per year, as significant reductions in emissions will only be achieved with an industry-wide shift.
“To support our mission, we are making it as easy as possible for drivers to own and charge their EVs.”
It adds: “We shared our charging connector design with the world in 2022 and started opening our supercharging network in North America to more EVs in 2024.
“We are also sharing charge port technology with other OEMs to assist in the transition of their vehicle designs to make them compatible with the North American Charging Standard.”
Using AI to enhance factory sustainability
As with almost every business in the world, Tesla is trying to face the challenge of integrating AI into its operations.
One example is that “the majority of the HVAC infrastructure at Gigafactory Nevada is now AI-controlled”.
In 2023, it implemented optimisation controls in the plastics and paint shops located at Gigafactory Texas, which increased the efficiency of natural gas consumption.
It also uses Hygrometric Control Logic for air handling units at Gigafactory Berlin, resulting in 17,000 MWh in energy savings each year.
At Gigafactory Nevada, Tesla saves 9.5 GWh of energy through the use of N-Methylpyrrolidone refineries when extracting critical raw material.
It says: “In 2023, AI Control for HVAC was expanded from Nevada and Texas to include our Berlin-Brandenburg and Fremont factories.
“AI Control policy enables HVAC systems within each factory to work together to process sensor data, model factory dynamics and apply control actions that safely minimise the energy required to support production.”
The AI algorithm was extended to manage entire chiller plants, creating a closed-loop control system that optimises both chilled water consumption and the energy required for its generation, all while maintaining factory conditions.
Building sustainability into data centres
Tesla says data centres, while playing a key role in reducing long-term carbon impact, have a short-term environmental impact.
It says: “That is why we have made it a priority to design and operate our data centres with a focus on energy efficiency and water conservation.
At Gigafactory Texas, we are planning to implement a waste heat recovery system in our data centre.”
The system captures waste heat and repurposes it to provide process heating water to vehicle coatings and paint shops, reducing the need for water from chiller plants.
It adds: “We have also made significant improvements to the energy efficiency of our chillers.
“During colder and drier months, we reduce the condenser water temperature, helping us save energy while maintaining optimal cooling performance.
“We are able to balance the short-term environmental impacts of our data centres with the long-term benefits they provide.”
