I think most people will find the stops to be more than they're used to, but not onerous. You'll probably hit 4-5 chargers in a day of driving. If you can time it right, two of those will coincide with meal breaks, so you're looking at 2-3 where you hit the bathroom, grab a snack, and maybe have to wait a bit on the car.
If you make big trips once or twice a year then it can easily be a net win over a gas car. The gas car wins on long trips, but requires ~15 minutes/month at gas stations even when you're just local. In my year of Tesla ownership, I'd say I've lost about two hours total waiting for a charge, and gained about that much not going to gas stations.
oh, I agree. I just don't see it as a win over a plug-in hybrid with a gas generator, yet. In ~6 months of ownership of a Volt, I've been to the gas station about 4 times (all on a trip to/from another state) at 5-10 minutes per stop, and have never lost time waiting for a charge.
The supercharger network is a nice step, and combined with electric vehicles with a 200+ mile range, we're a step closer to electric vehicles becoming the norm. But there are still obstacles to be overcome -- still some inconveniences that are better solved by other technologies.
Edit: I just looked up the specs. The PHEV version (at least the UK one) apparently drops the third row seats. I can't figure out the available cargo space. Everything I find says it's 436L, which is about 15ft^3, but there's no way it could possibly be that small. In any case, all I can say is: no wireless, less space than a Nomad, lame.
I think it depends very much what you grew up with. My wife and I both grew up in families when 8-9 hour drives with only a quick stop for lunch as a vacation was the norm from basically when we where born, and neither one of us thought anything about it.
Our daughter on the other hand spent the first several years of her life basically never going anywhere by car (as we didn't have one) and she absolutely hates spending more than an hour at a time in cars.
I've traveled with lots of friends who are the same way, and a few people who make much longer stops like the ones you describe.
Who is more representative of "most people"? I have no idea. But I wouldn't want to stop for 15 minutes every 80 miles, or 30 minutes every 170 miles.