{"id":288,"date":"2020-11-11T16:22:00","date_gmt":"2020-11-11T16:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sterling-insurance.co.uk\/blog\/?p=288"},"modified":"2024-02-04T20:11:00","modified_gmt":"2024-02-04T20:11:00","slug":"what-is-a-vegan-friendly-car-and-how-do-i-buy-one","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sterling-insurance.co.uk/blog\/car\/what-is-a-vegan-friendly-car-and-how-do-i-buy-one\/","title":{"rendered":"What is a vegan-friendly car and how do I buy one?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
Embracing the vegan lifestyle? You’ll be looking for a car that fits in with your ethos. While you rarely see a car that’s marketed as vegan-friendly there are plenty of them around, and with veganism becoming increasingly widespread you can expect more and more manufacturers to begin producing cars with that label.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The most obvious road block for vegans looking to buy a car is leather, especially in those models considered to be more upmarket. Posh cars will often have leather seats, a dashboard swathed in leather, and a leather steering wheel. The full size Range Rover is one such example of a car that makes extensive use of leather as an interior material.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Are cars vegan-friendly?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Well, no. As it stands there is no such thing as an entirely vegan car – not even the cars on this list, and it’s not just leather that’s the problem. Media displays often found on dashboards contain liquid crystals that may be based on cholesterol taken from animals. The rubber and plastic used to make tyres may be vulcanised and toughened using tallow (mutton fat), and even the steel used for a car\u2019s frame may have been lubricated with animal fat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In short, no car comes close to being entirely vegan-friendly but that’s not the point, according to Dominika Piasecka a spokesperson for the Vegan Society. “The bottom line is that there\u2019s no such thing as a 100% vegan car, unfortunately,” says Piasecka. “The key with veganism is trying to do your best. It\u2019s not possible to be 100% vegan in this imperfect world but we can avoid animal suffering as much as possible. Avoiding leather is a practical thing we can do while buying a car, while we can\u2019t of course avoid tyres or steel.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However there are some cars on the market that are as close to vegan friendly as the car industry can allow at this moment in time: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
The best vegan-friendly cars<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Polestar 2<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
The Polestar 2 is aiming to bring electric motoring and cruelty-free interiors to the masses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Polestar is the electric sub-brand of Volvo, and its \u20182\u2019 goes toe to toe with the Tesla Model 3 – so it\u2019s electrically powered with a 275-mile range.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) has even awarded Polestar with a Compassionate Business Award because of the car\u2019s vegan-friendly interiors. According to Polestar bosses, the car\u2019s interior will help accelerate the shift of the car industry towards leather-free interiors. Vegan interior components include the seat covers, steering wheel, gear shift and interior coatings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/sterling-wordpress.s3.amazonaws.com\/uploads\/2020\/11\/Polestar-2-interior-1024x731.jpg\")
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