Could This Be The Most Sustainable Car Ever? Check Out These Mushroom Seats

The steepest hurdle to leap for electric car manufacturers has historically been mileage: For decades, electric car companies have struggled to create sustainable cars that can travel for many hundreds of miles on long road trips without needing recharging. Now Mercedes has just unveiled a new electric concept car that offers both sustainable interior materials like cactus and mushroom leather, and vastly improved mileage. The VISION EQXX is expected to be able to travel 620 miles on a single charge – longer than most other cars on the road. It will be outfitted with cacti and mushroom-based vegan leather, solidifying it as one of the world's most sustainable cars yet to come.

Mercedes promises its new concept will be commercially available by 2024. Beyond the stylish roadster design, the company also intends to re-engineer its entire fleet to be eclectic by 2025 with the expectation that by 2030, all Mercedes cars will be fully electric. However, for now, the EQXX will propel the electric auto industry into a new set of standards. For comparison, a Toyota Prius can only travel 588 miles on a full tank of gas.

“Driven by the idea of zero impact on our planet and a highly responsible use of green energy, we inspired our engineers to go above and beyond,” the company explained in a statement.

While the EQXX boasts unprecedented mileage for an electric vehicle, the car is also equipped with some of the most environmentally-friendly materials on the market. The car will be built using mushroom fibers, food scraps, cacti, and other recyclable materials. The company partnered with the biotech company AMSilk GmbH to create door pulls that use its Biosteel fiber – a product created from vegan silk polymers that are both renewable and 100 percent biodegradable.

“We are extremely proud to partner with Mercedes-Benz on the technology program VISION EQXX, providing sustainable interior design solutions from our best-in-class bio-based fibers,” Chief Executive Officer of AMSilk Ulrich Scherbel said. “Amid a fresh wave of ambitious climate pledges, we are proud to be playing a leading role in providing solutions for a zero-waste future.”

Alongside the Biosteel vegan silk, the new Mercedes roadster will also use a self-titled material from the Israeli biotech startup UBQ. The UBQ material consists of landfill waste that will be incorporated into the interior of the car. The company also announced that the car will be rigged with solar panels to provide supplemental energy for electric systems including the touchscreen monitor, lights, and air conditioning.

The company will also employ two different sustainable leather materials from mycelium and cacti sources. The car uses several plant-based and sustainable materials that other vehicle manufacturers have previously dabbled in, but this car exceeds previous standards set with carpets that will also be made from bamboo fiber.

Mercedes’ concept car rethinks the sustainability standards for the industry, but other companies have started working towards the sustainable automobile industry. In late 2021, Volvo announced that it plans to remove leather from all its cars by 2030, working to replace the animal-based materials with more sustainable materials into the future. Car companies started switching the plant-based alternatives as consumer interest has significantly shifted towards sustainability. Findings from a Material Innovation Initiative study concluded that 55 percent of US consumers would prefer plant-based leather to animal-based counterparts.

Alongside Mercedes and Volvo, German car giant BMW invested in a vegan leather company with the aim of lowering its carbon emissions. The venture capital arm of BMW, BMW i Ventures invested an undisclosed amount into Natural Fiber Welding. BMW intends to build its cars using the biotech company’s leather, MIRIUM – a material consisting of byproducts from other industries.

“Natural Fiber Welding has developed an innovative process of converting plants into all-natural, 100 percent recyclable material that mimics all the properties of traditional leather, yarns, and foams,” Managing Partner at BMW i Ventures Kasper Sage said. “Having a scalable, cost-competitive alternative to leather with premium qualities is key to further advancing the decarbonization of the automotive industry.”

Sir James Paul McCartney is no stranger to a meat-free life as he's been vegetarian for 45 years. He initially went vegetarian in 1975 with his first wife Linda McCartney and began his advocacy for animal rights.

If you find yourself constantly singing along to the song The Greatest, then you're already a Sia fan. Sia tweeted that she is "fully vegan now" back in 2014 and stays true to her word

Way back at the start of Grey's Anatomy, Sandra Oh took the cast out for a plant-based lunch at Truly Vegan in Hollywood. In her effort to inspire contemporaries to eat vegan, the TV star is known to invite her friends for vegan meals that are delicious. She adopted the vegan lifestyle years ago and continues to quietly live a cruelty-free life.

Giselle revealed that when she was at the peak of her modeling career, her diet consisted of "cigarettes, wine, and mocha Frappuccinos," according to an interview in People Magazine. Now 39 and the mother of two children, Gisele eats a "mostly" plant-based diet to nourish her body and stay fueled.

Alec Baldwin has made a bigger commitment to plant-based eating since he was first told by doctors that he was pre-diabetic and needed to change his diet. That was decades ago. But, over the last few years, he's been vocal about the benefits not only to his health but also the impact plant-based eating has on the environment.

We all remember Pamela Anderson as the curvaceous blonde in the hit series Baywatch as she played Casey Jean in the red one-piece swimsuit that brought her world-class fame. She is a life-long active animal rights advocate and teamed up with PETA to join the Animal Protection Organization.

"We shouldn't eat as much meat guys," Kristen Stewart told GQ in an interview in January. The Twilight star has made a full 180 from vampire to vegan. When she appeared on the game show "Hot Ones" she chose to skip the wings and instead compete by eating increasing spicier sauce on vegan cauliflower wings.

This award-winning actor eats a high-protein diet consisting of only plants. Leto, who has been plant-based for 20 years, says it keeps him "shredded" in an interview. Now, 48, Leto looks half his age.

Jaden Smith switched up his diet from vegan to vegetarian, meaning that he doesn't eat meat but does eat dairy from time to time. In a recent article by Plant Based News, Smith admits he skipped meals and was not getting the proper nutrition when he was vegan, but this hasn't stopped him from espousing the plant-based life.

Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex has never admitted to being fully vegan, but sources say, she eats a plant-based diet most days during the week. She is teaching Prince Harry vegan cooking and in a Plant-Based News article, Markle explained how she hopes to raise baby Archie on a mostly vegan diet.

As a professional athlete, fueling the body is a key factor to Willaim's successes. In a Bon Appetite article, she explained that she adopted a plant-based diet back in 2012, she was eating a lot "healthier" for her sister, Venus, who eats a strict vegan diet for health reasons.

The popular grocery store, Whole Foods Market sells vegan products and nonvegan products which arises black lash from ethical vegans as CEO John Mackey follows a strict vegan diet. The successful businessman grew up in Houston Texas and told Business Insider that he would traditionally eat processed foods for dinner while watching TV with his family. Now, Mackey steers clear from the processed isle and eats a clean vegan diet and feels amazing at the age of 65.

Jason Mraz, singer of the popular song, I'm Yours, committed to a vegan diet to support his friend diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes. Mraz says he eats mostly raw food and told magazine sources his favorite vegan dish is "Chocomole, a mixture of avocados, dates, cacao, agave nectar, and coconut oil."

Long time vegan, Leona Lewis grew up in a vegan household and continues to eat a plant-based diet. Lewis first adopted the diet at 12 when she learned about the health risks of eating animal products but told Women's Health Magazine she occasionally eats an omelet. She also mentioned her 2:30 lunch is normally a kale salad topped with dried cranberries and she loves a veggie stir-fry for dinner.

Hannah Teter changed her diet after watching the documentary, Earthlings when she discovered how "horrible" factory farming is. After a strict vegetarian diet, Teter liked the way she performed as an athlete and believes that her diet helped her win gold at the 2006 games.

You may recognize Maggie Q as the star of the Nikita series, but in the plant-based world, she's well-known for her heroic activism. Maggie Q has followed a strict vegan diet for 19 years, making her a true veteran of the lifestyle. She made the plant-based diet transition because she felt sluggish and had low energy, she has said. The famous actress keeps in shape by eating veggies and plant-based protein and working out with a passion.

Winner of the first Masterchef vegan cook-off with Gordon Ramsay, Madelaine Petsch was raised vegetarian and went completely vegan at age 14. She claims that she started this diet before it was "trendy" and shot a campaign for PETA last year wearing a dress made of bok choy. Petsch says her vegan diet allows her to feel "healthier" and not "lethargic."

After doing a little sleuthing on her social media platforms we think Millie Bobbi Brown qualifies as plant-based. Whether or not she is actually skipping all meat and dairy, one thing is for sure: She eats mostly salads, vegetables and grains and lives a predominantly plant-based lifestyle full of healthy foods.

The grammy-nominated sisters went vegan for a week with their mom but liked it so much they decided to stick with it. For one thing, it helps keep their "voices in shape" by eating a vegan diet and they emphasize the fact that dairy helps to limit extra mucus build-up, according to a PETA interview.

Best known for her role as Lizzie Mcguire in the long-running series, Hilary Duff is a recent vegan advocate and entrepreneur. She recently launched the vegan and cruelty-free eyeshadow palette, "Day Dreamer" and changed her diet to plant-based last fall.