No, they cannot; in fact, small size is their primary weakness. Compact car-sized EVs currently get about 200-250km of range at best- they're physically unable to carry enough battery power to make them viable. Gas-powered subcompact cars get 2-3 times the range of the comparable electric and have a significantly smaller TCO. They aren't an upgrade, and will never be an upgrade.
Where EVs shine is in the inherently energy-wasteful lifted station wagon (SUV/crossover) market segment that's overwhelmingly popular today (to the point where a significant number of manufacturers have abandoned standard cars entirely), mainly because those vehicles are big enough to hold the number of batteries needed to get a somewhat-competitive range with their similarly-sized gas counterparts. Yes, this means we burn even more natural gas at night to charge those land yachts up to the point it's kicking out more emissions than encouraging subcompact gas cars would, but out of sight, out of mind, right?
