> The climate change argument for EVs is kind of weak, since you still have to produce the electricity

I also find this line of reasoning problematic. The climate change effect of EVs is _indirect_, but that doesn't mean it's _weak_. It a required step for a huge amount of emissions reductions. Climate change is hard precisely because the economy is full of network effects and path dependencies where you can argue against each individual change by saying that it doesn't do that much for the climate by itself (and for each change, there will be motivated actors making those arguments when the alternative will hit their pocketbooks).

Also the grid is getting less carbon dependent over time. So an EV's effective CO2 emissions per mile gets lower over time. Me I think the CO2 emissions problem from transportation and electricity production is fixable. Which then leaves us with all the other problems.