No it isn't, what do you base this on? Production of a new electric van takes a limited amount of CO2, and the CO2 saved while driving it compensates for that within a couple of years. I don't know how this rumor still persists.
Since I live where the electric grid is already at the limit, my options to install a charger are limited as well. I could use 230V 16A to maybe charge it very slowly...
Batteries also degrade with age and we will have to see how a used car market will look like. I have a car for luxury only since my work is a few hundred meters away.
If you buy a new car anyway, an EV would be a good choice provided you have the means to charge it. Many people in the cities don't have that option. But it wouldn't be too helpful if you replace your current car just for the sake of it.
^Average annual KMs driven by Europeans is 12k, Americans average 15k Miles a year.
https://short-fact.com/how-many-miles-does-the-average-europ...
200Wh/Mi -> 200 * 1500 -> 300,000Wh required -> 300,000 / 365 * 24 -> 35W charger needed.
Of course you can then make argument that they aren't doing enough mileage to justify having their own car in the first place.
https://www.carboncounter.com/#!/explore
Note the customisation options that let you choose a state for the electricity mix, miles driven per year and so on.
There is no savings to be had by waiting to convert to an EV, the total emissions are always going to be higher if you drive the polluting car rather than switching today.
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).
Youd need to commit to keeping the car for over a decade while only doing 3000 miles per year, then blowing it up out of spite to fail that.
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.
The total carbon is still gonna be higher than not doing all that travel
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.
of course the plain numbers might make sense on paper but not on the real world.