This report is based on an analysis of the second edition of the Lead the Charge Leaderboard, which aims to establish a new expectation – and competitive advantage – for what a clean car really is. Not just an EV, but an EV with an equitable, fossil-free and environmentally sustainable supply chain. The leaderboard covers two main sections: climate and environment, and human rights and responsible sourcing.
Companies are given a percentage score enabling an assessment of both how close each automaker is to the scorecard’s expectations of what constitutes a clean car and comparisons between automakers. The Lead the Charge scorecard is in its second year meaning company progress can also be tracked.
Key Findings
This year showed steady progress across the industry, in particular on fossil-free steel and human rights due diligence. U.S. automakers are making the fastest progress, led by Tesla who shot up in the rankings from #9 to #3 in one year – the biggest increase of all autos by far. Moreover, across many of the indicators individual companies are making the grade, laying down the challenge for the rest to catch up with the best.
However, progress by the industry as a whole is lackluster when compared to the scale of the challenge ahead: nearly half of the automakers evaluated have still taken no concrete action on steel and aluminum, whilst average scores across the indicators on responsible sourcing of transition minerals, Indigenous Peoples rights and workers’ rights have risen by just 2%.