[nomadking]

Originally Posted by 1andrew1

That's not an argument against these initiatives, though.

Furthermore, car manufacturers are wedded to profits, not a means of propulsion. If electric cars become cheaper globally through initiatives like these, then they will displace internal combustion engines in some countries where such initiatives are not taking place.

How will they become magically cheaper?
Rare earth elements are rare.

Battery raw materials could face a supply crunch by the mid-2020s. Link

The experts have also calculated that based on the latest battery technology (80 per cent nickel, 10 per cent cobalt, 10 per cent manganese), UK demand for EV batteries will require almost the total amount of neodymium produced globally each year, three quarter’s of the world’s lithium, and “at least half” of the world’s copper.
The letter, authored by a team of eight scientists headed by the Natural History Museum’s head of earth sciences, professor Richard Herrington, explains that to replace the UK’s cars with EVs will require 207,900 tonnes of cobalt, 264,600 tonnes of lithium carbonate and “at least” 7,200 tonnes of neodymium and dysprosium, as well as 2,362,500 tonnes of copper.

And that's just to supply the UK.