In terms of impact, think of it this way - As long as you sell your ICE car to someone else, it's still being driven and maybe it's displacing the purchase of a new ICE car, which is what we really want to prevent. Ideally we would just stop producing new ICE vehicles completely and repair/maintain/sell the existing fleet until it's no longer needed. Hopefully new EVs will also be driven for a very long time, and their on-going environmental impact will lessen as power production decarbonizes going forward. People focus a lot on 'personal' impact, but as long as the car is still being driven, it doesn't really matter who is doing the driving.
>Hopefully new EVs will also be driven for a very long time
Currently, the average age of cars on the road is 12.5 years. When someone tries to sell their 10-yr old EV, the buyer will know that a huge battery replacement bill looms, discouraging sales.
"EV batteries typically cost at least $5,000. [...] an EV battery lasts 10 years on average before needing a replacement. In addition to requiring expensive batteries, today’s electric cars run into repair problems after collisions. EVs are still relatively new to the market, so finding replacement body and battery housing parts can be difficult. Additionally, EVs typically have more expensive technology (such as Tesla’s Autopilot) that requires more expertise to repair."[0]
It kind-of does matter. Buying something new always has a net negative impact. It's not because the old thing is not used, it's because you are incentivizing production of new things.
(This is true even if you own an EV and you sell it and buy a new one)
