# Electric vehicles do have lower lifetime emissions than gas cars

By [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com) · 2026-05-11

ev, electric-vehicles, mobility, sustainability, bloomberg

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One of the common criticisms of electric vehicles is that, because they generally require more carbon to make than gas cars, they aren't really "greener." Well, here's a chart from Bloomberg that looks at lifetime emissions per vehicle for both gas cars and EVs:

![](https://storage.googleapis.com/papyrus_images/155dacaada810bd258b87f9fbac62ca5cbde0ed85b20cbc32a728394d5f2dbfe.png)

The orange bars represent carbon emitted during manufacturing and scrapping (i.e., the dismantling of the car and the safe disposal of the battery). These processes are carbon-intensive. But it's during the driving/fueling phase where EVs shine.

The above chart assumes a vehicle life of 200,000 kilometres. Over longer mileage periods, this chart of course looks even better. At the same time, companies are actively working to reduce the orange bars. Polestar is targeting a net-zero car by 2035.

Importantly, this isn't going to be done through offsets. It's being done by greening their supply chain, which they record on a [blockchain](https://www.polestar.com/en-ca/sustainability/transparency/) for transparency and finality. Each and every car comes with a [Life Cycle Assessment](https://v).

My current car is over 8 years old, and I remember thinking when I bought it that it would be the last gas car I ever owned. That's right.

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_Cover photo by_ [_Kenny Leys_](https://unsplash.com/@kennyleys?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText) _on_ [_Unsplash_](https://unsplash.com/photos/silver-car-in-a-garage-j27SKDa-vBg?utm_source=unsplash&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=creditCopyText)

_Chart from_ [_Bloomberg_](https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-05-09/polestar-is-still-chasing-the-net-zero-car-here-s-why?cmpid=BBD050926_GREENDAILY&utm_campaign=greendaily&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletter&utm_term=260509&utm_content=4324&embedded-checkout=true)

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*Originally published on [Brandon Donnelly](https://brandondonnelly.com/electric-vehicles-do-have-lower-lifetime-emissions-than-gas-cars)*