Tesla and other EVs have already saved 120k lives says study

According to a study from Nature Communications, Teslas alone have saved over 20,000 lives

Tesla

People are at risk from food and water shortages, flooding, high heat, an increase in disease, and economic loss due to climate change. Conflict and human migration are potential outcomes. Climate change has been named the biggest threat to world health in the 21st century, and it’s clear that taking prompt action to lessen its effects is of the utmost importance.

Amongst the many actions we can take to reduce our carbon footprint and amount of harmful emissions that can be directly tied to us, purchasing an electric vehicle is one that could surely have a long-lasting effect. Studies have found that the more drivers transition their gas cars to electric ones, the better for ozone levels and the decrease of particulate matter or “haze”. When EV adoption is coupled with switching our power generation to renewable energies, the positive impacts are even greater.

Back in 2011 the Tesla Roadster - the first serially produced lithium-ion battery vehicle - served as the face of the new EV Revolution and hinted at the possibility of fast, seductive, and opulent electric vehicles in the future. Worldwide sales of electric vehicles are now in the millions of units since its introduction, with Tesla accounting for almost 2 million of those sales.

But a high EV adoption rate not only means good news for the planet we currently live in. It also dramatically increases the survival chances of our children and grandchildren, the generations to come. According to a study published just last year in Nature Communications, "adding 4,434 metric tons of carbon dioxide in 2020 - equivalent to the lifetime emissions of 3.5 ordinary Americans - could cause one extra death globally in expectation during 2020-2100."

This is where electric vehicles can play their part. Let's look at Tesla's most recent impact report as an illustration. The average combustion vehicle emits 450 g CO2e every mile, or 68 metric tons over the course of a lifespan of 150,000 miles (241,401 km), according to that report. In contrast, the Model 3 emits 180 g CO2e/mile when charged through the American power grid, which is equivalent to 27 metric tons of carbon dioxide over the course of a lifetime.

We save around 40 metric tons of carbon over the course of a lifetime for every person who abandons their gas car for an electric vehicle. Tesla sales alone have saved our planet from around 80 million metric tons of carbon, assuming that most people would have gone with a gas car in an alternative universe where the electric revolution never happened.

According to the above-mentioned study, since every 4,000 metric tons of carbon emissions are predicted to result in an additional death, around 20,000 lives have been saved as a result. If we take into account the 10 million electric cars sold by other manufacturers, the number of lives saved increases to a staggering 120,000. Human lives are not the only direct beneficiaries of a higher EV adoption rate, however. Another study published by Northwestern university found that if EVs replaced 25% of combustion-engine cars currently on the road, the United States would save approximately $17 billion annually by avoiding damages from climate change and air pollution. In more aggressive scenarios -- replacing 75% of cars with EVs and increasing renewable energy generation -- savings could reach as much as $70 billion annually.

Many EV detractors mention that the electricity used to charge EVs still comes from fossil fuels, and therefore it balances out tail-pipe emissions savings. But this is not an accurate picture. Some electric charging stations even use renewable energy to charge EVs nowadays. However, EVs still result in fewer emissions overall even when their charging is coal powered. For example, electric vehicle use has resulted in a 20% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in nations that rely heavily on coal, like China.

And sure, if done carelessly, EV battery manufacture might be dangerous to the environment. Nearly all EV emissions are ‘well-to-wheel emissions’ created during the battery production process. Because EVs are still a relatively new technology, the energy sources used to make batteries do not conform to industry standards, which increases the carbon footprint. But things are starting to change in this regard.

Compared to two years ago, the carbon footprint of modern EV batteries is two to three times smaller, and it is getting cleaner all the time. EV automakers are establishing standards for the suppliers of their batteries. For instance, they mandate that vendors exclusively produce using renewable energy sources like solar and wind. These sources can supply the substantial energy required to make EV batteries without producing damaging pollutants. Tesla, for example, intends to produce its batteries with only renewable energy.

Taking all these factors into consideration, we can only hope the EV Revolution is here to stay. We no longer have the luxury of being shy when it comes to reducing emissions and pollutants that are clearly accelerating climate change, and even though sometimes it can be easy to feel like there is not much we can do as individuals to prevent this, driving electric, while pushing for broader adoption of renewable power sources (including inside our own homes) is definitely a start.

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Tesla Holiday Update Wishlist - Tesla App Edition

@niccruzpatane

So, with Halloween all squared away, the next big holiday coming up is Christmas. Each year, Tesla releases a big Holiday update packed with features. Last year’s update included some awesome features, including alternate routes, the Vision upgrade for Park Assist, Speed Cameras and Traffic Light icons, and the Automatic Blind Spot indicator, among others.

We already know that update 2024.44 - the Holiday Update Branch - is coming with Blind Spot Monitoring while Parked, Supercharger Improvements, and more. But, we’ve got a ton of good ideas that we hope will make the list, so put down your pumpkin spice, and grab your egg nog. It’s the holidays, and it’ll be Cybertruck’s first Christmas, so let’s celebrate!

Apple Watch App

First up—the Apple Watch app. This has been a highly requested feature over the past couple of years, and it looks like Tesla is listening. Tesla has apparently already begun development to support the Apple Watch in app update 4.38, so we’re expecting this to arrive as part of the big Holiday update. We’d love to see an equivalent app for Android-based watches, too.

Phone Left on Charger Alert

It’s easy to forget your phone inside of the vehicle, especially if it’s on the phone dock. A simple app alert that a phone has been left in the vehicle would be really useful. Tesla could potentially even tell the difference between a driver’s phone and a passenger’s phone, depending on the vehicle’s profile being used or which doors were open and closed.

Either way, just receiving an app notification if a phone is left in the car would be really useful, especially since your phone is your car key.

Live Activities

Not a Tesla App

iOS introduced support for Live Activities with iOS 16.1 in October 2022. Live Activities are auto-updating, persistent notifications that can provide real-time information about a certain task. Live Activities are used to provide real-time information about your Uber arrival or the status of a flight. In Tesla’s case, they can be used for instances where up-to-date information may be important, such as when Supercharging or when Sentry Mode is active.

Arrival State of Charge

A popular request among Tesla owners is the ability to set a desired battery charge percentage upon arriving at a destination. This past year, Tesla has added several features to the app’s Trip Planner, including waypoints. Although the app lets you choose a starting charge percentage, it does not let you pick the state of charge at your destination.

If you’re traveling somewhere without a nearby charger, this becomes an issue. It’d be nice if the Tesla app let users pick their desired state of charge at arrival, and the route planner would automatically recommend charging stops and durations to reach that target.

Not a Tesla App

Light Show Support

Tesla Lightshows are great, but they could be made even better with Tesla app support. At the very least, it’d be great to be able to start/schedule or stop a light show from the app.

To really make light shows shine, Tesla could add the ability to create a light show directly from the app. Right now creating a light show involves using the open-source app xLights on a computer, so a simplified version of it running in the app would make it accessible to a lot more users.

Perform a synchronized light show with multiple Tesla vehicles…and a new song 🎶

Rolling out now in this year’s holiday update pic.twitter.com/XqBUy5GxhN

— Tesla (@Tesla) December 21, 2023

Precondition Battery Button

Similar to an in-vehicle preconditioning button for 3^rd party chargers, the Tesla App should also have a button to precondition the battery. This will make it easy for users, especially those who don’t have home charging – to get their vehicles ready for DC Fast Charging before departing.

Garage Door Controls

Tesla owners with HomeLink can control their garage doors directly from the vehicle. However, the Tesla app currently only allows users to open the first programmed garage door and doesn’t give the user access to any of the other programmed doors. Adding the option to choose which garage door to open via the HomeLink button would be a valuable addition—especially useful when paired with Actually Smart Summon.

Drive Stats

While Tesla already records and displays charging sessions in the app’s Charge Stats section, it’d be really helpful if Tesla also added the ability to record drives. That way, you could easily track how much your vehicle was driven on a particular day, week, or over the course of the year.

If you have any other suggestions, let us know in our forums. Who knows, some Tesla product managers may even be listening.

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Tesla Adds Interest-Free Payment Plan to Tesla Shop - FSD Payment Plan Next?

Not a Tesla App

Tesla has added payment plan options to its shop items for the first time. They’ve partnered with Klarna, a deferred payment provider, to spread the cost of items across multiple payments. For now, this appears to be limited to the Tesla Shop in the United States—no support for other regions quite yet.

Payment Options

Klarna’s primary payment option allows buyers to get 0% APR for 6 weeks, with 4 payments. The payment schedule is essentially one payment every two weeks for whichever product you buy - enabling you to buy now, and pay later with 0% financing.

For example, the payment schedule for the $420 Wall Connector is evenly divided into four portions. Of course, you’d also have to pay for shipping and taxes, both of which will be included in your first payment.

For some of Tesla’s more expensive Shop options - like the Cybertent, this could be a fantastic means for some owners to pick up something more expensive without having to worry about interest charges on their credit card.

Klarna also offers some other payment schedules, which do have interest. While these are far more expensive and are more like credit cards, they still provide buyers a means to buy now and pay over time. These are all open loans as well, so you can pay them down at a faster rate, thereby reducing the overall interest.

FSD Payment Options?

We’d love to see an equivalent payment option available for Tesla’s FSD purchase, which is currently $8,000, even if it's bought after the vehicle purchase. The high upfront cost is likely one reason why Tesla’s FSD subscription is so popular.

It’s likely that purchasing FSD is much more popular at the time of vehicle purchase, as owners can roll the cost of FSD into their financing rather than paying the full $8,000 later on.

IPO Filing

Interestingly enough, along with today’s news that Klarna is working with Tesla, Klarna has also filed for an IPO in the United States. It is one of the first financial tech (FinTech) companies to file for an IPO in 2025 and, interestingly, one of the first European companies to conduct an IPO in the United States.

For those who trade in the financial sector, this will be one to watch—Klarna was valued at around $46 billion in 2021 and is now valued at approximately $15 billion. Partnering with a large and well-known brand like Tesla could uplift Klarna, but that’s all financial speculation.

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