> It's about collectivism

It's about the many other objective problems caused by cars besides the fuel use. Most obviously: they cause terribly inefficient land use (demand for parking + the roads themselves being congested), and are a physical threat to pedestrians and cyclists.

> but, if that was the truly the objective, then I should be able to drive faster with an EV.

That would be fundamentally incompatible with how traffic works and a nightmare to enforce.