It certainly isn't. But it's also already done. That doesn't make it better or worse, it just makes it a sort of benchmark for the infrastructure work required to replace that energy distribution system (based on liquid hydrocarbons) with something else.

Well, not exactly. EV's still have emissions, they are just displaced. They happen at the power plant instead of the tailpipe. You would cause more pollution if the electricity was generated with coal instead of gasoline, for example.

Hence the word 'nearby'. And it's easier to replace fewer polluting sources via electricity.