LA used to have a perfectly functioning public transport network, then in the 1900s-1950s it was systematically dismantled by holding companies fronting for car companies buying up rights-of-way and depots.

> China has the necessary political organization and willpower to meaningfully invest in nuclear energy, making EVs an environmental benefit. That does not apply to the US.

Better to restate your criticism of EVs not being environmental as "[claim:] EVs are only a net plus for the environment if they don't just relocate poullution to electricity generating plants, but use lower-carbon-emission generation like nuclear". There are still environmental benefits to moving smog out of/downwind of Los Angeles County (pop 9.7m) to its neighbors [0].

Building new nuclear plants (or even extending the life of the last existing one) in California is for decades already a political hot potato, it will only get approval when the grid is repeatedly straining at its limits in peak summer or winter. So that's a political question, not an engineering one.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_power_stations_in_Cali...