Eli5: are electric cars greener?

Question

Clarkson and others always ask the question, ‘where does the electricity come from?’

There are other stats that say it’s only better after a certain amount of miles driven or that the Lithium quarries produce significant amount of pollution.

What and where do these claims come from, how true are they and how false are they?

In: Engineering

Answer 1

They are also far simpler, and more efficient, fewer moving parts and electric motors are over 90% efficient.