That’s demonstrably false. Each EV is an immediate ~13k kg hit on CO2. Average ICE passenger car is .4 kg CO2 per mile. Even if you have a source of zero carbon energy to power the EV, that’s 32500 miles of driving an ICE before you break even on CO2.
Note the "choose a state" and compare Wyoming or West Virginia for a regular hybrid car (e.g. Prius or Insight) to an EV... and that is quite different than if you pull up California, Oregon, or Washington.
In WY and WV, the plugin hybrids have a larger carbon footprint than a regular ICE hybrid car (Prius or Insight).
Only if the electricity is net zero carbon though (and, really, only if the generation of that low-carbon electricity somehow is related to driving the car and wouldn't have been generated anyway).
Why does it have to be net zero? That would certainly get you to breakeven in less miles but it is by no means a requirement for an EV having a carbon advantage over an ICE.
According to the Energy Dept site listed upthread, even in WV with 92% coal generation an EV emits half the CO2 per mile as an ICE.
You really have to consider all the variables, ie grid carbon intensity, miles driven and car manufacturing. People seem to get focused on one of the variables in the carbon lifecycle.
You could always move somewhere energy generation isn't so dirty especially as its probably also effecting your air quality not to speak of the employment options.
I have been able to avoid travelling by car[0], but I have the luck of being in a city with good public transport and local-sized shops, so there are 5 tram stops (and several bus stops and a suburban rail station) and 8 supermarkets closer to me than the gap between the middles of Apple's south car park and their duck pond.
And back in Cambridgeshire, roads were quiet enough I was comfortable commuting (and shopping) by bike.
Not everyone is in such a well-designed place.
[0] I don't own a car, and the last time I was behind a wheel was, I think, 2017.
such comparsions are mostly stupid, since there are too many factors that would make it really hard to analyze. i.e. as long as cars are produced the 13k kg hit on co2 will be made no matter if you buy it or not, your old ice car will probably be resold and probably to somebody that can than save co2 emissions per mile, not every electricity is green, your old card was probably produced with more co2, it depends if you upgrade/downgrade/keep your car class, it depends how you drive (and if you ever driven an ev, you will see that its easier to drive it economically), and so on.
of course the plain numbers might make sense on paper but not on the real world.
