For some folks, 80 miles is plenty; for others, 250 miles isn't going to be enough for a daily driver. I realize I'm posting this after the discussion has moved on, but: if you had told me that I needed a car that had over 100 miles of range and that I'd have range anxiety with anything under that, I would have believed you. However, I have had very few issues with my smart. Before I purchased it, I did track my mileage for about 2 months (and also the number of times I had more than one passenger). It's very rare that I need over 80 miles in a day. I charge at home, and I can also charge at work if I choose to do so.
home to work: approx 12 miles
Grocery stores, movie theatres, and most other errands are within a mile or two of my commuting route. My favorite coffee supplier is about 7 miles from home.
work to downtown Boston: 17 miles
Boston to home: 28 miles
home to airport: 29 miles
home to airport shuttle bus (if I'm the one flying): 3.0 miles
I realize I may be a rare example. There are many people who live where the necessary amenities are more spread out, as has been discussed. My point is that if I hadn't actively logged my regular vehicle use, I would not have realized that I didn't need what everyone seems to think I need. I suspect I'm not alone in that.
Of course, I am also fortunate that on those rare occasions where I do need more range, I can switch cars with my husband (his commute is about 40 miles each way and he can also charge at work). For us, it's a workable solution, and vacation time is a more limiting factor than superchargers when it comes to road trips. I do know there are still pockets in the continental US where even a Tesla isn't quite workable as a long range car.
back on topic:
I went to a BMW i3 event early on, and even though there was advance registration, the dealership was totally unprepared for the size of the crowd that showed up. It seemed that the few salesfolk who were "handling" the i3 (I assumed there was training involved) were overwhelmed by the interest, and no other salesfolk were willing/able to step in. Granted, this was a bit over 2 years ago, and I think/hope the attitudes have shifted since. When I'd decided to check out the smart, I found two smart dealerships in Massachusetts, both connected to Mercedes dealerships. The first one is just outside Boston and couldn't help me because they had *one* salesperson for the smart (I don't know if that meant she covered both electric and gas versions) and she was out of the office that Saturday. No one else was prepared to walk over to the smart side of the building. We drove up to the other dealership, where they had made a point of having a few salesfolk available for either MB or smart. The salesman I spoke with had been loaned an electric smart to get familiar with it, and he was at least enthusiastic about the car. I still felt a bit like I knew more than the salesguy, but it was at least a step up. It made no sense to me that the dealership closer to Boston was not more amenable to selling what is effectively a city car (though to be fair, I could have hit an off day on random chance). It makes me suspect the variability is more due to dealership attitude than anything else.
