RE: A comic artist's views on electric cars.
A bicycle is greener and more economical than an electric car, but it doesn't fulfill the same propose for everyone. If you're young, single and live in a good city for it, a bicycle can fulfill most of your transport needs, and you can use public transport and taxis for when they can't.
As you get older, have more responsibilities or if you live in an rural area, it's no longer feasible to just have a bike. The purpose of an electric car vs the alternatives such as public transport and bicycles/walking is to be flexible and to save time (which gets more valuable and scarce as your responsibilities increase).
BTW most electric cars sold in Europe and America are built in Europe and America, not in Asia. They are not generally powered by coal - most European countries and American states have a mix of energy sources and are almost universally cleaner than the petrol alternatives.
Thanks a lot for the comment! In rural areas I agree it is not always practical to bike, and as more and more small communities close down in the countryside all over the world it can be downright impossible to manage daily life on a bike. 20 km back and forth to do the shopping would be a bit tiresome.
Of course not every life situation is convenient with a bike. The problem is not age or family life though, but transport culture and infrastructure. In cities where you have a biking culture like here in Copenhagen you see many old people and children on bikes. If you are fit you can bike as long as you can drive a car, and cycling make you fit. I also know very busy business leaders who bike 5-10 km each day each way to their job using it as their daily workout. If you have to go new places over long distances every day, like a salesman or craftman, a car is the best means of transport. But commuters are stuck in traffic every day in many medium to large cities.
As stated above I live in Copenhagen which together with the large Dutch cities are special in having very good bicycle infrastructure including the ability to bring the bikes on trains and subway. I know full well that you can't just do the same in other places. If your city does not support bicycling and have lousy public transport you will also need a car obviously. Some places biking is simply dangerous.
The cars are built in the West, but most of the batteries are made in Singapore and China. There has been quite a few reports about it (among them the ones made by the German car-industry). The latest calculations made here in Denmark shows that the EV is still superior to gasolin vehicles by many leagues when it comes to polluting.