It's true that some people drive more than 77 miles per day. But a pretty big chunk of people never do, except road trips/vacations. It could easily be worth it to buy a cheap EV for everyday use and then rent a vehicle for long trips.
if the short range EV is now much cheaper, people will adapt to the restriction because it's an affordable option
I'd buy a 6 seater with this range but not with the speed limitations (I think it is like 50-60 kph which is a non starter)
Like really really easy.
Apologies if I missed your point.
At the time we were a 2-car household and used the gas car for longer trips. That being said, there were a few times we had to scramble:
Once, when it was very cold my wife and I both needed to drive a long distance. I took the Leaf because I had access to a charger.
On our last year of the lease we ended up having to move 90 miles away. When we bought the Leaf, we never planned on driving that far. Due to circumstances, I had to make multiple 90-mile trips in the Leaf.
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Case in point: I now only recommend that class of Leaf to people who need a 3rd car for a teenager and no intention of moving.
After the Leaf, we ended up with the Chrysler Pacifica PHEV and a Model 3. The PHEV had so many problems that I'll never recommend them, and dumped it early at a loss and went all-electric. (Both cars). We will never go back to gas.
IMO, the main thing EVs need in the US is a good publicity campaign, more chargers, and better legislation of chargers. The technology is now "good enough" if you have access to a charger where you park overnight, and "almost there" if you can't charge overnight. (IE, if you rely on street parking stick with gas.)
I think you're right about the tech being "good enough" in many places, but it depends on weather (colder climates are not as good). I also know people who live in temperate climates that refuse to have their only car be an EV because of emergencies and power outages. As someone with two cars, I don't have that concern, but I can understand why someone (especially an older person) would not want to go all in on electric, if the grid is not super reliable (and would likely be offline in a natural disaster, when they would need to charge and possibly flee).
My 2022 Model Y and 2026 Hyundai Ioniq 9 have heat pumps and generally work well in extreme cold. It's also nice that I can preheat them in the garage. Most importantly, they don't lose range overnight in extreme cold like the 2018 Model 3 did. I charge the cars before large storms, which is much easier than fighting traffic at the gas station!
And then when I actually need to travel longer distances the range is much more important.
So EV would need to be very cheap to start making sense overall.
The cheapest EV currently available in the US is the Chevy Bolt, at $29000, about three times the price. A Bolt has four times the range, but still not quite enough to go one way on my most frequent "long drive".
You can also get used EVs/PHEVs. We got a PHEV with 20 miles of EV range for $14k, and you can get used Leafs for under $10k.
...without a charging stop.
The interesting thing is that this appears to be largely because the manufacturers, rightly or wrongly, do not think that the US market _wants_ cheaper EVs. The id.Polo (about 20k with incentives in most countries) won't launch in the US, for instance, even though the id.4 did.
I wish there still were small and very cheap EVs to fill this niche.
We had the Fiat 500e (somewhat infamous) $82 lease as an extra car because for $0 down and $82/month, why not. Range was small but it was perfect for around town, and had other cars for other things. Anytime I was driving within town I'd just take the Fiat.