Volvo is one of several automakers looking to change the materials used in its vehicles.
Artur Widak | NurPhoto | Getty Images
Volvo Cars wants all the models it sells to be leather-free by 2030, a move which represents the latest example of how automakers are looking to make their vehicles more sustainable.
In an announcement Thursday, the Swedish firm also said it wanted a quarter of the material used in its new cars to “consist of recycled and bio-based content” by 2025.
One of the interior materials it will look to use, called Nordico, is made up of textiles derived from recycled materials like polyethylene terephthalate bottles as well as “material from sustainable forests in Sweden and Finland, and corks recycled from the wine industry.”
While it intends to scrap the use of leather in its vehicles, the company said it would “continue to offer wool blend options from suppliers that are certified to source responsibly.”
In a statement, Stuart Templar, Volvo Cars’ director of global sustainability, said: “Finding products and materials that support animal welfare will be challenging, but that is no reason to avoid this important issue.”
“There is no long-term future for cars with an internal combustion engine,” Henrik Green, Volvo Cars’ chief technology officer, said at the time. “We are firmly committed to becoming an electric-only car maker and the transition should happen by 2030,” Green said.
A number of automotive manufacturers have announced plans to kit their vehicles out with materials other than leather. Back in 2019, Elon Musk’s Tesla said the interior of its Model 3 was “100% leather-free.”
Other examples include Porsche — a brand owned by the Volkswagen Group — offering customers a leather-free option for the interior of the Taycan, an all-electric sports car.
As concerns about sustainability mount, companies from a range of sectors are looking at new ways of packaging and delivering their products in a bid to mitigate their environmental footprint.
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In June, consumer goods giant Unilever said a prototype of what it described as a “paper-based laundry detergent bottle” had been developed for its brand OMO and would be introduced to Brazil by early next year.
Earlier this month, online food delivery business Just Eat said it would work with CLUBZERO to trial reusable packaging in London over a three-month period.
Tesla (TSLA) released its financial results and shareholders’ letter for the second quarter (Q2) 2025 after market close today.
We are updating this post with all the details from the financial results, shareholders’ letter, and the conference call later tonight. Refresh for the latest information.
Tesla Q2 2025 earnings expectations
As we reported in our Tesla Q2 2025 earnings preview yesterday, the Wall Street consensus for this quarter was $22.279 billion in revenue and earnings of $0.40 per share.
The expectations had been significantly downgraded over the last month, as analysts were surprised by Tesla’s announcement of much lower deliveries than expected in the first quarter.
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How did Tesla do compared to expectations?
Tesla Q2 2025 financial results
After the market closed today, Tesla released its financial results for the first quarter and confirmed that it delivered on expectations with earnings of $0.40per share (non-GAAP), and it exceeded revenue expectations with $22.496 billion during the last quarter.
Tesla’s earnings per share are down 23% year-over-year amid a booming EV market.
Operating income decreased 42% year-over-year to now less than $1 billion, and almost half of it came from regulatory credits.
Tesla’s cash on hand has decreased this quarter for the first time in years. The company lost about $200 million of its giant war chest – now sitting at $36.8 billion.
We will be posting our follow-up posts here about the earnings and conference call to expand on the most important points (refresh the page to see the most recent posts):
Here’s Tesla’s Q2 2025 shareholder presentation in full:
Here’s Tesla’s conference call for the Q2 2025 results:
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Optimus, Tesla’s humanoid robot, which CEO Elon Musk claims is ahead of the industry and will sell in the trillions of dollars, failed while serving popcorn on the first day of Tesla’s new diner launch.
Musk has been touting Optimus as a revolutionary product that will generate “trillions of dollars” per year for Tesla.
It’s the latest pivot that the CEO has led Tesla into, as electric vehicle sales are declining, and it is becoming increasingly clear that its self-driving effort is unlikely to be profitable anytime soon.
The company needs new revenue streams to justify a $1 trillion valuation, given its declining revenue and earnings.
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However, we have been reporting on how the program appears to be in shambles lately.
Last month, Tesla’s head of the program, Milan Kovac, left the company just a few months after being promoted to vice-president.
That’s despite Tesla claiming for months that the robot is already performing useful work within its factories and plans to ramp up production to 100,000 units per month next year, with the goal of starting to sell the robot.
Aside from gullible Tesla shareholders, not many people believe this narrative. The main issue is that Tesla is not seen as having a lead in humanoid robots, which is still a nascent industry, and its previous demonstrations have been misleading.
The launch of its new diner in Los Angeles was the latest occasion to showcase Optimus. Tesla had an Optimus robot serve popcorn to customers.
Again, Tesla employees at the event confirmed to attendees that the robot was teleoperated, which makes the demonstration unimpressive to start with, but the disappointment doesn’t stop there.
The robot was seen frozen and stopped operating during the first day of the Tesla diner launch.
$TSLA optimus froze and couldn’t serve popcorn at Tesla diner
Attendees were told that the robot lost connection.
Electrek’s Take
To be clear, Tesla can only get the Optimus robot to serve popcorn for a short period before it fails, even with the use of human teleoperation.
Yet, Musk claims that Tesla will make 100,000 of these next year and sell them to customers.
It makes no sense. It’s similar to Tesla’s robotaxi service in Austin, which requires teleoperation and a human safety monitor with a finger on a kill switch at all times.
That said, I honestly believe that Tesla will be able to scale Optimus faster than its robotaxi service. However, they will both scale much slower than Tesla shareholders currently believe and the competition is already ahead of both.
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BYD officially launched the Atto 1 in Indonesia on Wednesday. Starting at just $12,000 (IDR 195 million), the Atto 1 is now one of the most affordable EVs on the market.
BYD launches the Atto 1 entry-level EV
The Atto 1 is a rebadged version of BYD’s top-selling electric car in China, the Seagull EV. BYD’s smallest and most affordable EV is sold under the names Dolphin Mini and Dolphin Surf in other overseas markets.
BYD introduced the Atto 1 at the Gaikindo Indonesia International Auto Show (GIIAS) on Wednesday, priced from IDR 195 million, or about $12,000.
The new entry-level EV is available in two trims: Standard Range Dynamic and Long Range Premium. Powered by a 30.08 kWh BYD Blade battery, the standard range Atto 1 Dynamic offers a NEDC range of 300 km (186 miles).
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Upgrading to the Premium model costs IDR 235 million ($14,500), but it’s equipped with a bigger 38.88 kWh battery, providing an NEDC range of 380 km (236 miles).
BYD Atto 1 EV (Source: BYD Indonesia)
The interior resembles that of other BYD brand vehicles, featuring a minimalist, high-tech smart cockpit. It features a 10.1″ intelligent touchscreen with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, as well as a 7″ digital driver’s instrument display.
Meanwhile, the Long Range Premium version comes with an added wireless charging pad and a tilt-and-telescopic steering wheel.
BYD Atto 1 interior (Source: BYD Indonesia)
At 3,959 mm long, 1,720 mm wide, and 1,590 mm tall, the Atto 1 is smaller than a Toyota Yaris, but slightly bigger than the Kia Picanto.
“This launch in Indonesia marks the first release of the Atto 1 in ASEAN, and the car is now available for pre-order,” BYD Indonesia’s operations director, Nathan Sun, said at the event.
The Atto 1 is BYD’s third electric vehicle to arrive in Indonesia, and the brand’s most affordable yet. BYD also sells the Seal, starting at IDR 629 million, Atto 3 SUV (IDR 515 million), and Dolphin (IDR 425 million).
Indonesia is the largest auto market in Southeast Asia, and EV sales are picking up with new government policies supporting local production. In the first half of the year, the EV market share doubled to 10% from 5% in the same period last year.
Earlier today, Toyota, which controls around 30% of the Indonesian auto market, announced plans to begin building EVs locally by the end of 2025.