Ranking
Comparison
% EV Sales
Total Score
Total Score
Fossil Free & Environment
Human Rights
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Summary
BYD continues to be one of the leaders of the EV transition: it now exclusively produces battery EVs and hybrids, having terminated the production of internal combustion vehicles in 2022. It is also an industry leader when it comes to innovations in battery technologies to reduce the use of emissions intensive minerals such as nickel, cobalt and lithium.
However, while some basic new disclosures improve BYD’s score compared to last year, an overall lack of transparency about its supply chain leaves it near the bottom of the leaderboard. As the second largest producer of EVs in the world, BYD could leverage its vertically integrated supply chain to emerge as an equitable and sustainable supply chain leader.
Key Findings
- Is one of few companies that fails to disclose their supply chain emissions or decarbonization targets.
- Discloses almost no efforts to reduce the climate and environmental impacts of its steel, aluminum, and batteries.
- Has now delivered a lithium-ion battery which is cobalt and nickel free, and states that it will soon bring vehicles using sodium-ion batteries to market.
- Has taken some basic first steps in disclosing how it monitors its suppliers’ performance on social issues, but still has not disclosed any clear requirements or processes to ensure that human rights are respected across its supply chain.
Score Breakdown
Fossil-Free & Environmentally Sustainable Supply Chains
Human Rights & Responsible Resourcing
Supply Chain News & Progress
Latest on BYD
Supply chain transformation is a risk management imperative and opportunity for a competitive edge. Leading brands are already securing a first-mover advantage and leveraging their power to transform legacy supply chains into a force for good. The revolution is underway.
Progress on battery chemistries holds potential to reduce demand for high-intensity minerals
During the first few months of 2023, several automakers have made announcements of investments and / or progress made on new battery chemistries that promise to reduce their demand of high-intensity minerals such as cobalt, nickel and lithium. In March, the JAC Group’s joint venture with Volkswagen in China made history by introducing the world’s first electric vehicle (EV) powered by a sodium-ion battery – a battery technology that, according to the IEA, “has the potential to completely avoid the use of critical metals.” BYD has also said that it plans to use sodium-ion batteries in its vehicles later in the year. In May, Stellantis announced an investment in lithium-sulphur battery developer Lyten, working on a novel three-dimensional graphene material platform that is free from nickel, cobalt, and manganese.
Pollution allegations against BYD’s factory in China
BYD’s Changsha factory has faced allegations of damaging pollution, which left citizens and children unwell, with 600 children near the factory reporting repeated nosebleeds according to reports.
Our Vision
01 — Equitably
Respecting and advancing the rights of Indigenous Peoples, workers, and local communities throughout the supply chain.
02 — Sustainably
Preserving and restoring environmental health and biodiversity across supply chains, while reducing primary resource demand through efficient resource use and increased recycled content.
03 — Fossil-free
100% electric and made with a fossil fuel-free supply chain.