I'm reviving this thread in order to emphasize a study that I refer to all the time when citing Americans' "typical" driving patterns.
Here are the highlights: http://www.solarjourneyusa.com/EVdistanceAnalysis.php
Here's the full study: http://www.solarjourneyusa.com/HowFarWeDrive_v1.3.pdf
I'm still attempting to refine my response to the question "How far can I go in one of these?". Among the dozens of answers (I try to tailor my response to the demeanor of the questioner) are:
"Over 200 miles a day"
"Anywhere between 50-100 miles on one charge"
"EPA says 62 miles on one charge"
"Usually 80 miles on one charge, if I needed to"
"How far can you go in your ICE?" (almost no one knows)
"How far do you drive in a typical day, let's see if this would work for you?" (most non-commuting people are clueless)
"How many cars are there in your household?" (and then I show them that one being an EV would work for them)
"Before I answer that, how often and how far do you want to drive over 80mph?" (lets them know our iMiEV is not a golf car)
The concept of "opportunity charging" as a range-extender has somehow not penetrated, with an ongoing belief that one needs to run the EV to empty and only then charge.
I point out real-life examples for our region: "drive 50 miles to San Francisco and then plug in and do your shopping/business/lunch and she's fully charged when you're ready to come home."
As an aside, it's amazing how many people think you have to go to a special charging station or else have a very expensive home installation. Cell-phone charging analogy works well, as does pointing out the convenience of home charging and that I normally use a conventional 120vac outlet.
Educating the populace is perhaps the most notable need in order for EVs to even be considered as viable transportation.