A similar amount of mining would be required for the steel, aluminum, and plastic needed to build brand new ICE cars. And ICE cars require constant mining of pe

A similar amount of mining would be required for the steel, aluminum, and plastic needed to build brand new ICE cars. And ICE cars require constant mining of petroleum just to use the car. The key difference with electric cars is that mining is not necessary to use the car (as long as you charge it with renewable electricity). The environmental damage from the use phase of ICE vehicles dwarfs the environmental damage from their construction, because use is continuous and ongoing while construction only happens once. Getting rid of the continuous pollution of ICE cars is a major win.