Tesla Model Y posts lowest life-cycle emissions Green NCAP has published

Tesla’s Model Y Rear-Wheel Drive has earned the top five-star Sustainability Rating from Green NCAP, the independent European program that tests the environmental performance of new cars, with an overall score of 93%. Its life-cycle greenhouse gas footprint of 95 g CO₂-eq./km is the lowest figure Green NCAP has published to date.

The Berlin-built SUV, which Green NCAP says was Europe’s best-selling new electric car in 2025, is the first Tesla assessed with the company’s own verified manufacturing and battery data instead of generic production assumptions.

Category	Score
Clean Air	9.0 out of 10
Energy Efficiency	8.9 out of 10
Greenhouse Gases	10.0 out of 10
Overall	93%, five stars

Green NCAP tested the single-motor version, which weighs 1,914 kg and carries a 62.5 kWh usable battery.

The Model Y scored a full 10 out of 10 on the Greenhouse Gas Index after Tesla submitted its vehicle and battery production figures for Green NCAP’s experts to review, which let the assessor count the car’s assembly in Germany and the steps Tesla took to cut emissions from building it. The final figure came in well under the 110 g CO₂-eq./km needed for the maximum score.

Dr. Aleksandar Damyanov, technical manager at Green NCAP, said “Tesla is to be applauded for its transparent sharing of the data,” adding that verified manufacturer data makes the ratings more accurate than generic assumptions.

Efficient on the road and at the charger

In Green NCAP’s lab and road tests, the Model Y became one of only two cars rated “good” for both Consumption & Range and Cold Winter Performance, and it charged from 10% to 80% in under 24 minutes. Its main weakness is the lack of any bidirectional charging such as Vehicle-to-Load or Vehicle-to-Grid.

For comparison, Green NCAP tested the Volkswagen Tayron 1.5 eTSI, a slightly lighter mild-hybrid gasoline SUV, which earned two and a half stars and 41% with life-cycle emissions of 263 g CO₂-eq./km, nearly 2.8 times the Model Y’s result. In the same round the smaller BYD Dolphin Surf posted the highest overall score at 96% and five stars, so the Model Y’s 93% was not the top mark of the release.

Green NCAP’s life-cycle assessment follows a car from raw materials and manufacturing through its years of use to recycling, based on European average values, and since 2025 it feeds into every part of the rating, so the group cautions that current scores can’t be compared directly with older ones.

Even so, the result clears the 100 g CO₂-eq./km threshold Green NCAP set for its 2024 Life Cycle Assessment Award, when the Tesla Model 3 was among five winners, and the Model Y does it as a heavier SUV.

Original report

About this report

This article is based on Green NCAP’s published assessment and press release of Oct. 29, 2026. All scores and emissions figures come from Green NCAP’s own testing and calculations and have not been independently re-measured.