Volvo pioneered automotive safety. Sustainability is next.
Volvo Cars forever disrupted the industry with its three-point seat belt design more than 60 years ago.
The Swedish automaker is now leading the charge on the next big industry movement: Sustainability.
Vanessa Butani, who recently joined the company as its global head of sustainability, has a heady task -- to make Volvo the "most sustainable automaker" in the world. That means going far beyond installing solar panels and incorporating recycled plastics into the brand's vehicles. Under her direction, owners of Volvo cars will learn about all aspects of their vehicle -- where the minerals were sourced in the electric battery and how the wool in the seats meets animal welfare standards.
Butani said sustainability is good for business and more consumers are coming to the brand after learning about its ongoing sustainability work. And there is no greenwashing happening at the company. In her role, Butani is reevaluating all aspects of the brand's decisions and manufacturing processes to ensure that the company's messaging is holistic and genuine.
Butani recently sat down with ABC News to talk about her vision of making Volvo a role model for sustainability.
The interview below has been edited for clarity.
Q: This is your first automotive job. Why join Volvo's sustainability group?
A: Volvo Cars has a mission to be the pioneer in safety and sustainability. We really want to change things. We're going electric and it's an industry that needs to transform and I want to be part of making that change happen. This was an opportunity I couldn't turn down.
Q: When you say sustainability, do you mean in terms of materials or being all-electric?
A: I think sustainability from the full perspective. You can't have climate justice without social justice, right? Of course there's the whole electric journey that we're on and the materials are super important, but we also have the people side of the story. So that's part of my agenda as well -- our responsible business side. We basically have three pillars in our sustainability work: climate action, circular economy and biodiversity and responsible business. And it all needs to come together.
Q: What is your goal at the company?
A: I want us to be the most sustainable company, the most sustainable automaker. As a pioneer, you don't always know where you are going. But you have a vision of where you want to get to and you work toward getting there and bringing others along with you.
I think we're already a pioneer when it comes to electrification. We have five electric cars on the market [globally] and five more are coming by 2030. As of the second half of this year, 25% of our sales are fully electric. We are industry leaders and we're recognized as such.
But being a pioneer means going further, right? So we're going all in on electric but we're also looking beyond that. The big emissions will come from our materials -- primarily the steel, the aluminum, the batteries and the plastics. Steel is such an important part of our emissions. I think each car has about a ton of steel, depending on the size of the car.
We joined, for example, the First Movers Coalition, a group that shows there is a demand for [virgin materials]. But we are also working to identify more ways of using recycled materials in our products as well as reusing our own scrap. We're really trying to drive this circular economy.
We're also looking at our impact on nature and biodiversity. We have a focus on ocean health and coastal health so we signed up to the World Wildlife Fund and renewed our partnership with The Ocean Race.
If we build new [manufacturing] sites, we're looking at those habitats and how we affect nature and the animals.
To me, that's how you are a pioneer -- you're constantly looking for the next thing and talking about it. We're trying to work with leading scientists at NGOs, with other stakeholders to identify how can we set methodology and data to understand our baseline.
Q: What are other toxic parts of a vehicle can be replaced?
A: When you move to an electric vehicle, you have a big impact through the battery because there are minerals and key metals that come in the battery. So a really cool thing that we've done is put a battery passport in our EX90s.
Owners can scan the QR code passport in the vehicle's door. It shows you where your battery has been, what's the status of the battery right now, where was it produced, where the minerals come from. There's a lot of data in the passport. All the EX90s sold in the U.S. and Europe will have a passport in it. And to me, it's exciting to see how consumers will actually engage with this information.
Q: How important is sustainability to customers in the U.S.?
A: The brand is known for being sustainable and that's one of the reasons we see people choosing our brand and our cars. It is a strong attribute to the brand, to be frank. Our Scandinavian heritage, our Scandinavian design, what we stand for in terms of safety -- those are reasons too. We worked on sustainability for a long time but we probably haven't talked about it as much.
Q: At Volvo's HQ in Sweden, are there solar panels and EV charging stations?
A: Something like 98% of our electricity comes from renewable sources across the world. Our plant in Gothenburg is climate neutral as well as our plant in China. We are well on the journey.
Q: Do you feel any conflict because technically a Chinese company owns Volvo and China is known for polluting and using a lot of coal. China is the world's No. 1 polluter.
A: China is also the place where you have the most electric charging in the world. Like 85% of the all the world's fast chargers are in China. They're also on a journey.
Yes, we have Chinese ownership, but we are the Volvo brand, based in Sweden, we come from Sweden. And we have our own ways of working. It doesn't matter who owns us, we're still Volvo.
Q: Are you encouraging U.S. dealers to also be more sustainable?
A: For sure. We work with all of our dealers globally. We have our global sustainability strategy and we bring the three pillars to life with our dealers. One of the dealers in Seattle has put solar panels across the roof and no longer pays for electricity.
Q: Is another part of your role at the company to encourage more people to buy EVs?
A: My mission is for us to produce the most sustainable cars. And that starts with making EVs. But we also have to make sure we have the right materials in the cars. Our goal is to be net zero across our value chain by 2040.
I came into the job from an industry that was already electrified. What I want to change is people's mindset. I want people to see and feel the great driving experience of an EV.
What we're seeing is people aren't ready to make a full switch from an internal combustion to a BEV [battery electric vehicle] right away. That's where our plug-in hybrids can come in, to show people, to teach them. But the important thing is that people actually use the electric part, that they do plug the hybrids in and drive on electric range.
Older generations are thinking about the younger generation and that's why people are switching to electric.
