It is very comparable in the realm of automobiles. A tank full of gas and a battery full of electrons provide the energy it takes move your car. Oil must be extracted, refined into gas, transported to a local station, and then stored in your gas tank. Even with no renewables on the grid, converting fossil fuels to electricity is more efficient than gas. Except that every year the grid shifts to more renewables.

Bottom line batteries/electricity generation do less ecological damage today than gas/gas tanks, and every year the gap will increase.