In 2023, even cars are becoming vegan. But are manufacturers inadvertently doing harm to the planet by turning away from animal products?

Jesse Crosse investigates how the look, smell and feel of car interiors are changing, and asks whether all this makes for a better environment both inside and out.

- Jesse Crosse

Time was when the most difficult question a manufacturer could expect at the launch of a new car would have been along the lines of: "What'll it do?" Today, things have moved on and one of the key questions asked is: "What's it made of?" In the past decade, a new thread has emerged in the shape of the ethicality and sustainability surrounding the use of animal products.

Greater awareness of these issues has added numerous layers of complexity to the business of making cars in the sense that reducing the carbon footprint and ethical considerations are becoming interwoven and possibly confused.

Campaigning by US charity Peta (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and others has led to closer scrutiny of the animal products used in cars, for the most part focusing on interiors. Manufacturers have taken note and, for example, the Polestar 2 EV was announced in 2020 with an all-vegan interior incorporating recycled materials like cork and carpets made from fishing nets. It's not an unusual approach and most other big brands have been using recycled materials for years, but is the very use of the word 'vegan' to describe interiors trimmed in animal-free products controversial?

Veganism is described in various ways depending on who you ask but extends beyond not eating anything derived from animals or preventing animal cruelty. Peta's view is that animals "are not ours to use, for experimentation, food, clothing, entertainment or any other reason". So when a manufacturer describes an interior as 'vegan', is its purpose to meet all of those key vegan principles? Or is it designed to be an attractive catch-all to promote a product that can be enjoyed guilt-free, both green and ethically unburdened?