Even the most efficient ICE engines are dramatically less efficient than the worst natural gas plants (like, on the scale of 25% versus 60%), the economies of scale at utilities allow for future improvements and pollution capture, and that's without accounting for the inefficiencies involved in transporting and refining marginal oil and then transporting and distributing the marginal gasoline (and the constant gas station trips for fill-ups).
If your local electricity generation mix is 100% made up of the dirtiest possible coal being shoveled into the least efficient possible power plant, then sure, maybe, it'd be comparable over the lifetime of the car… except for the obvious possibility that said plant could be retired, upgraded, or the car moved elsewhere.
Battery manufacture does produce pollution, but it's also a process that can be improved over time, and the break-even point for an EV battery is at something tiny like 5K miles driven.
If your local electricity generation mix is 100% made up of the dirtiest possible coal being shoveled into the least efficient possible power plant, then sure, maybe, it'd be comparable over the lifetime of the car… except for the obvious possibility that said plant could be retired, upgraded, or the car moved elsewhere.
Battery manufacture does produce pollution, but it's also a process that can be improved over time, and the break-even point for an EV battery is at something tiny like 5K miles driven.
https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/electric-vehicle-myths