Like it or not, cars cannot reasonably be phased out within a decade - certainly not in a place where entire cities are designed around them. In the meantime, people are going to get new cars (remember the high prices and empty lots during the chip shortage?) especially when they need it to get to work (again, no way to practically redesign entire cities in a reasonable timeframe). If someone gets rid of their year-old ICE to get an EV, sure, that's not doing anyone any favors. But if someone needs a new car, and they convert from ICE to EV, sure. That can definitely help.

Also, we're not necessarily talking cars. We're talking lithium for batteries. Large batteries are an important component to make sustainable energy sources like solar practical on a bigger scale with less nighttime help from fossil fuels.