North Carolina study finds EVs beat gas cars on total emissions after two years
Published on Nov 08, 2025 at 11:59 PM (UTC+4)
by Molly Davidson
Last updated on Nov 06, 2025 at 4:29 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Mason Jones
A new study out of North Carolina just called time on one of the biggest car debates.
You know the one – whether EVs are really better for the planet once you factor in how they’re built.
Turns out, they are.
And they don’t take long to prove it.
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The two-year tipping point where EVs beat gas cars
Researchers at Duke University decided to crunch the numbers properly.
They looked at how much pollution comes from making, fueling, and driving both gas and electric cars over time.
And while gas cars might look cleaner to start with, they fall behind fast.
Because after two years of driving, an EV’s total emissions drop below those of a gas car doing the same miles.
At first, electric cars start about 30 percent worse because of how their batteries are made.
But once you’re driving, they clean up their act quickly.
The team used a big global model (basically a super calculator for climate data) to check how things play out through to 2050, and the results are clear.
By 2030, every extra bit of battery power could stop nearly 500 pounds of carbon from entering the atmosphere.
And over a car’s full lifetime, the air-pollution damage from gas cars is up to three times worse.
The race toward cleaner miles
Now, this study didn’t count everything, like what happens when you scrap a car or build chargers, but it still shows where things are heading.
EVs are improving faster than anyone expected, and cleaner electricity means they’ll pay off even quicker.
Brands like Toyota and Volvo are already building next-gen batteries and charging perks to push that timeline down even further.
So, while gas cars puff away like it’s still 1999, the EVs are catching up.
And lapping them by year two.
Driving electric isn’t just trendy, it’s cleaner, cheaper, and officially ahead in the race to zero.
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Molly Davidson is a Junior Content Writer at Supercar Blondie. Based in Melbourne, she holds a double Bachelor’s degree in Arts/Law from Swinburne University and a Master’s of Writing and Publishing from RMIT. Molly has contributed to a range of magazines and journals, developing a strong interest in lifestyle and car news content. When she’s not writing, she’s spending quality time with her rescue English staffy, Boof.
