Mining the lithium and producing the batteries is part of the "cost" of generating EV power. It is one of the most conveniently ignored. But in the full lifecycle you have disposal of the batteries which is some of the most toxic stuff on earth, where are those going and who is paying for it? If it's anything like every other situation like this in history, taxpayers will after huge stockpiles start leaking into the water system and it is a crisis.

Generation and distribution of electricity is not without cost (solar and windmill tiny portions of the grid, coal and gas and nuke with it's waste stream issues).

Then there's the issue with where the lithium is, from what I know, which I know is not complete, it is primarily in Chili and our friends in China, meaning we create major issues for reliability of resource availability. We will once again be beholden to third world dictators.

So bottom line, EV is not as clean as what the car produces and the lack of open and honest discussion of the realities of EVs and their impacts is a problem. People think it's some magic carpet, but there are major realities that need to be dealt with and when they are ignored in the conversation and policy making, it makes you wonder why (and when you can't follow the logic, you usually follow the money).