The first is commuting. Filling up takes an extra 5-10 minutes above and beyond the fuel dispensing time (assuming that's linear, which, with my CNG car, it isn't, but that's another topic). A car with a 450 mile range over one with a 225 mile range would save me 4-8 hours per year.
The second is pleasure travel. Sure, the nearest fueling facility may be under 50 miles away, but it may easily be 10-30% more expensive than a farther one, especially across a tax jurisdiction border (especially Canada/US). At $3/G and 60G for a 2000 mile round trip, I'd prefer to keep the Andy Jackson or Uly Grant (Common Loon or Snowy Owl on the reverse if North of the border) or spend the money on an unplanned couple hundred miles' detour.
The way I do it is that I know my work commute is about 30KM, so about 150KM per week, and that my Mazda has an average combined fuel efficiency of about 7L/100KM - meaning that my commute uses about 42L of fuel per month. I know that gas costs around $0.96/L in this area at this time of year, so my commuting costs about $40 per month in fuel.
I use this line in my budget, and hence pay less attention to exactly when I refill my tank - and know that any amounts I spend on gas above this number are somewhat discretionary.
If we're talking about serious off-road vehicles, then I can see why you'd want to max out your range to make trip planning easier. But thinking of the majority of drivers doing the majority of their driving (especially in cars like a Honda Insight), they'd be hard-pressed to end up going somewhere that didn't have a gas station at least every 200 miles.