OK. I found the Ted Talk that compares the CO2 production between EV, ICE, and hybrids. He presents the issue that EVs have huge CO2 quantities during manufacturing which makes Ev's way less appealing today than most people believe.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1E8SQde5rk
I think it's more accurate to say that that the amount of CO2 produced from cradle to grave depends A LOT on the method used to generate electricity. This changes from place to place and from time to time but I suspect the long-term trend is to use more renewable methods.
There's no getting around the fact the ICEs are inefficient, producing lots of waste heat. The usual number is that only about 30%-35%, at best, of the energy content of the petrol is turned into mechanical motion. Although some of that heat is put to use in cold climates by heating up the inside of the car. Also, ICEs are notoriously inefficient while accelerating and decelerating, which pretty much defines urban driving. Electric motors are highly efficient, high 90s%, at all rpm. So even if all the petrol used in cars was transferred to run electrical plants, we might still be better off because efficiencies of scale can be had in those systems that cannot be mimicked in individual car motors.
People are only emotionally invested in combustion engines because we happened to have been alive during the time that that technology flourished. In the grand scheme of things that's an unimportant meaningless coincidence.
Efficiencies of usage are always related to increased profits. Waste is no good for anyone. There may be costs related to make the transition but we've incurred those costs every time we've switched from one mode to another throughout history. Nothing new about that. And as always, it's pointless to worry about the cost of transition unless you also take into account the cost of not making the transition. What's the point of doind cost vs benefits analyses unless you take into account ALL the costs and benefits? I don't understand why it's necessary to keep pointing this out to people who think of themselves as fiscally conservative. Isn't that on page 3 of the manual?