You don't need to be truly rural for EV range to be an issue. While I couldn't use one as my only vehicle, Tesla's range would work pretty well for me although it's a ~$100K car when all is said and done--which is what I think the parent meant when he referred to "affordable." The options that are relatively affordable today only get about 80 miles on a charge which really isn't a lot unless you're driving around a pretty local area.

I live about an hour outside the local metropolis which is close enough to go in routinely for the evening and I couldn't take an 80 mile range car in.