It screams oxymoron: vegan leather.
From Mustangs to Mercedes, vegan leather is ousting its real counterpart as the premium option for vehicle interiors.
What Is Vegan Leather?
Image Credit: darksoul72/Shutterstock
Vegan leather is made from various materials, anything except animal products.
This means vegan leather isn’t always composed of eco-friendly materials.
For example, vegan leather can be made from difficult-to-recycle plastic products.
Image Credit:Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
On the other hand, it might be sourced from various plants and fungi.
Yes, mushroom leather is a thing.
Why Use Vegan Leather?
Image Credit:Courtesy of Tesla, Inc.
Animal agriculture also creates CO2 emissions and uses massive amounts of land, water, and energy.
Leather manufacturing often involves unsafe work conditions because tanning relies on toxic chemicals.
Put simply: real leather is not sustainable.
Image Credit:Rivian
8 Car Brands That Use Vegan Leather
Vegan leather is showing up everywhere,even in headphones.
For the automotive industry, EVs are driving the demand for vegan leather.
Accordingly, Tesla leads the charge, though legacy automakers also feature vegan leather in select high-end models.
Image Credit:Mercedes-Benz
PETA questioned Elon Musk about the steering wheel at the 2019 Tesla Shareholder Meeting.
Tesla interiors are now fully vegan.
Rivian
The Rivian R1T pickup offers only vegan leather seats with options including Ocean Coast and Black Mountain.
Land Rover
Land Rover offers its eco-conscious buyers a material it calls Eucalyptus Melange.
The Range Rover Velar and Evoque feature this material along with the Jaguar I-Pace SUVs.
Ferrari
Ferrari offers its proprietary Mycro Prestige, a water-resistant and flameproof luxury alternative to real leather.
you’re able to even get matching Mycro Prestige golf clubs and luggage.
BMW & MINI
BMW Group announced that it would offer a vegan interior in 2023.
Mercedes
Both BMW and Mercedes useDeserttex, a cactus-based material offered in select Mercedes models.
GMC
GMC’s Hummer EV and 2024 GMC Sierra EV Denali will offer vegan leather options.
Volvo
Volvo plans to make all their EVs leather-free (and to only produce EVs by 2030).
Right now, the C40 ReCharge is available with vegan leather.
Just as real fur has gone out of style, genuine leather interiors may soon follow the same path.
