Lifecycle will become the most important aspect of a car

So, the good news first: the data is heading in the right direction in the UK. Water usage per vehicle by the automotive industry is down 42 per cent since 1999, according to the annual sustainability report of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The same data shows that CO2 emissions per vehicle are down 54 per cent in the same time frame, and manufacturing waste to landfill is down a staggering 99 per cent. Exhaust emission particulates are down 89 per cent and NO2 from exhaust emissions is down 78 per cent.

Looking at year-on-year progress in the UK, the direction of travel remains and the rate of change is speeding up: water per vehicle used is down 17.7 per cent since 2023 and the energy produced per vehicle manufactured is down 18 per cent. Meanwhile, we have a new stat to add to the report: last year, 46GWh of energy was generated on-site at manufacturing plants through renewable energy.

This good news makes the life cycle assessments (LCAs) of cars carried out by brands even more important; they’re not there just to be honest about the bad news, but also to increase consumer confidence that the car industry is doing all it can to help consumers live planet-friendly lives with lower carbon footprints.

BMW stands out in communicating the life cycle of its models recently; a great example is the work it has been doing on the new BMW 5-Series (I hope you caught the gorgeous electric estate version, the i5 Touring, at the Goodwood Festival of Speed sponsored by Mastercard last month).

It’s not a purely altruistic move, of course – as Oliver Zipse, chairman of the BMW board said, “sustainability and economic success go hand in hand” and the guiding design and manufacturing principle for the company’s future is “secondary first,” i.e. how much recycled material can we possibly use in each car?

BMW’s life cycle assessment (LCA – a badge you will start to see more frequently in marketing, advertising and at the retailers) for each 520i it builds starts with the raw materials and finishes with the recycling process at the end of the car’s life. The assessment scrutinises what is needed at the start of the manufacturing process - electricity, energy, raw materials, operating materials and additives, and the supply chain for each of these materials, including the ethics of the point of source.

It then examines and deconstructs the manufacturing process itself, from the interior equipment to the body, steering, axles, wheels and tyres, heating and air-con, transmission, brakes and suspension, electronics and engine, to try and work out how much second-life material it can safely use. It then attempts to track and forecast the usage phase (including fuel supply but not servicing and maintenance) and then examines the end-of-life phase, in particular the emissions into air, water, soil, wastewater, and waste. It looks at how it manages physical waste and scrap as well as waste heat and the waste sites themselves.

The results are good. BMW uses recycled aluminium for the drive bearings, wheels, brake callipers and body (important because 22 per cent of each 5-Series’ weight is aluminium – steel makes up 43 per cent), and that use of secondary material has resulted in a 0.9t drop in CO2e per vehicle. Using renewable energy to produce the aluminium has resulted in a further 0.5t CO2e reduction.

These sorts of measures are long and complicated to communicate to the consumer, but the core messages of the actions taken must be talked about on the forecourt, in the advertising and social media campaigns by BMW and every other car brand out there, because consumers want to know, expect to know, and will start to demand to know, before they buy.