Not a lot to get excited about.
ttbn,
The financials aside, the environmental impact is worse from the proposed solution than from the present practise.
There are only two reasons for Green technology;
1; The insanely excessive funding shovelled to the rorters who only promise solutions !
2; The environmental issues which although far more important, are merely second to money but money nevertheless !!

Build better railways and get the trucks off the highways and into supporting roles with local freight from rail depots.
Would mean mostly smaller trucks as well, leave the big rigs to the outback.

I agree that as many trucks as possible should be off the roads, and railways used. Huge trucks are dangerous things.

INDY,
Any mining operation for any mineral resource must be watched carefully and regulated with WHS and EPA standards. But your claim is a trite myth. The CO2 from fossil fuels is vastly more harmful to climate change than the energy involved in mining. https://climate360news.lmu.edu/lithium-not-as-clean-as-we-thought/

The particulates from burning fossil fuels poison us and cost Australia's health departments $6 billion a year. Imagine the extra hospitals we could build and doctors and nurses we could hire with that amount saved annually? Just the estimated reductions by 2030 would result in 3,600 fewer deaths, 90,000 fewer asthma attacks for kids, and 300,000 fewer missed school days for kids.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/science/2018-06-27/climate-policies-ignoring-billions-in-health-savings-experts-say/9836894

Lithium mining technologies are also moving from 18 months in an evaporation pond to a pump filter system. This means less environmental impact and more lithium - at about half the cost. https://youtu.be/xWpLFUUDTiM

Lithium recycling is getting better. https://youtu.be/mbkhXAP1EQE
EV's are still on a cost reduction curve. They're trying new technology and chemistry, and are changing so fast that they will soon have a BETTER range than stupid petroleum vehicles.

Side note: who even said cars were much good for us, anyway? Most young people I know would rather have better more European city plans where they can ride a bike and catch a train - and just WALK to their local town square. They see cars as a necessary evil while they campaign for better Australian neighbourhood systems than old-fashioned, car-dependant, traffic causing suburban sprawl.

AC,
"Greenies aren't exactly helping with shutting down coal plants etc."
You got that exactly wrong! The climate denying Liberal government (and associated climate inaction from similar sentiments around the world) has resulted in the worst Li Nina rains ever, which flooded many coal mines and shut down the prices. Liberal inaction on moving to renewables has left us exposed to international gas prices. If we'd moved to home grown renewables, our prices would be stable and declining as the solar panel cost curve reduction continues. Liberal inaction on public transport and decent town planning means the poor must buy a car in the first place!

It's not my fault you defy the science and rational adult responses to the climate crisis - but hey? You don't even acknowledge the Haber Bosch process to be a thing - so why am I wasting my breath?

Weight of batteries?
Payload reduction?
Over all cost to move less freight?
What one expects from ratbag greens.