Carmaker League Table Shows EV Supply Chains Are Becoming Even Cleaner — Thanks To Strong EU Rules

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Electric cars already have no tailpipe emissions, but even cleaner EVs — built with low-carbon steel, aluminium and batteries, and in a way that minimises harm to people, communities and the environment — are now within reach, according to a new ranking of the world’s largest carmakers. Crucially, this progress is driven by EU regulations which are now under threat of being rolled back.

The fourth edition of the Lead the Charge Auto Supply Chain Leaderboard, which ranks global automakers based on their efforts to build equitable, sustainable, and fossil-free supply chains for electric vehicles, shows clear momentum of carmakers cleaning up their supply chains.

Key findings:

• A core group of industry leaders — Ford, Mercedes, Tesla, Volvo Cars and Volkswagen – are pushing further ahead, having achieved a rate of progress that is double that of the remaining 13 companies since the first edition of the Leaderboard.

• OEMs use lead market position to decarbonise materials: Volvo and Mercedes have made significant investments in steel and aluminum decarbonization and are now selling new EV models, Mercedes’ CLA and Volvo’s ES90.

• Greater transparency: Carmakers are starting to disclose disaggregated, granular data that enables stakeholders to assess actual progress. For instance, Geely discloses the percentage of low carbon steel and aluminum in four models.

• Stronger supplier engagement: Carmakers are starting to provide concrete examples of direct supplier engagement and on-the-ground interventions. Mercedes, Volkswagen and Tesla publish detailed raw material reports on their progress to prevent, mitigate and remedy harms specific to lithium, cobalt and nickel. This includes concrete measures on water use, waste and environmental impacts.

• Clear leaders and laggards:Tesla ranks first overall, Volvo leads on supply chain decarbonisation, and Ford tops responsible sourcing. All EU automakers except Stellantis remain in the top seven. Toyota continues to rank near the bottom of the table, alongside Chinese state-owned automakers GAC and SAIC, showing that scale alone does not guarantee progress.

• Rapid improvement is possible: Chinese companies were the biggest improvers overall this year. Geely, now the top scoring East Asian automaker, developed some of the industry’s best practices on battery decarbonization and recycling and has also made significant progress on human rights. BYD, the world’s largest EV maker, has taken important first steps, such as putting in place a new code of conduct for suppliers and a supply chain grievance mechanism.

• Growing recognition of Indigenous rights: 12 of 18 automakers now take initial steps on Indigenous Peoples’ rights, up from six in 2023.

Franziska Grüning, Raw Materials Officer at T&E, said: “This year’s leaderboard shows that cleaner, more responsible supply chains are becoming the norm rather than the exception for carmakers. But that shift didn’t happen on its own. The EU’s green rules have turned sustainability from a nice-to-have to the price of entry. The Batteries Regulation is not just a European but a global opportunity to clean up supply chains and responsibly produce minerals that go into EVs.”

EVs are driving cleaner supply chains — but progress is under threat

Much of the progress in the Leaderboard is specific to electric vehicle supply chains, showing how electrification is catalysing broader supply chain improvements. EV-focused EU regulations, particularly the Batteries Regulation, mandate carmakers to map supply chains, carry out due diligence, and recycle batteries and transition minerals — steps never required for ICE vehicle supply chains. These rules are driving transparency, traceability, and responsible sourcing specifically for EV batteries.

At the same time, automakers are increasingly using low-carbon steel and aluminium in EVs, showing that electrification itself is creating opportunities to adopt cleaner materials. EV buyers value sustainability, giving automakers a branding advantage for vehicles built with decarbonised materials. Older combustion models remain tied to higher-emission materials and less transparent supply chains.

Paradoxically, the very regulations driving this transformation are now under threat. Key due diligence provisions in the EU Batteries Regulation have already been delayed for two years and remain under review. Also, EU carmakers continue to push against core climate policies, including the EU car CO₂ targets and the 2035 phase-out of combustion engines. Despite progress by some EU OEMs on supply chain decarbonisation, their climate lobbying is threatening progress on tailpipe emissions. The only EU carmaker to score positively on lobbying this year is Volvo (B-), which is also the sole EU automaker not part of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) lobby group (which receives a D score from LobbyMap).

Franziska Grüning said: “The very laws at the heart of this progress are now at risk. The EU put the brakes on progress when they delayed the due diligence rules under the Batteries Regulation even when many carmakers were ready to comply. At the same time, carmaker lobbyists continue to attack the phase-out of polluting fossil cars that bring nothing but pollution at home and dirty oil extraction abroad. EU carmakers want credit for sustainability, but too many of them are working to weaken the very rules that make progress possible. They are preaching water while drinking wine.”

Call for action

With several key EU sustainability files under negotiation, the Leaderboard sends a clear signal: regulation delivers results. To keep progress on track, EU decision-makers must:

• Protect car CO₂ targets to maintain momentum on electrification;

• Defend the EU Batteries Regulation’s due diligence rules and prevent further delays or weakening;

• Use the End-of-life vehicle Regulation or the upcoming Circular Economy Act to introduce recycled content targets for steel and aluminium in EVs, turning existing best practices into the market standard;

• Create automotive lead markets for green steel and green aluminium in the Industrial Accelerator Act (IAA).

About the leaderboard

• The Leaderboard is designed to give companies a score out of 100%. This enables an analysis of relative performance between automakers and of how close or far companies are to meeting the expectations within the scorecard.

• The Leaderboard is divided into two main sections: fossil-free and environmentally sustainable supply chains, and human rights and responsible sourcing. Within each of these there are four subsections, representing different supply chain issue areas

• This year’s Leaderboard’s total average score across all 18 automakers stands at 25%, with no company achieving a total score of 50% or over. Tesla has the highest score at 49%, followed by Ford and Volvo at 45% and 44% respectively. China’s SAIC has the lowest score at just 3%. Nevertheless, if all carmakers matched existing best practices already used by industry peers, scores could reach 86%.

• Lead the Charge is a network of climate, human rights and investor groups that includes the Sunrise Project, Rainforest Foundation Norway, Human Rights Watch, Public Citizen and T&E.

News release from T&E.