I don't think range anxiety is irrational. I may be that I only need extended range in 5% of my driving, but unless I own a second vehicle or am prepared to rent a vehicle for that 5%, it essentially makes a it a non-starter. In other words, it doesn't matter how infrequent those edge cases are, if they are necessary and without reasonable workarounds, then the design is a failure (for this specific use case.)
Now, I'm in one of the more sparsely populated states in the union, so my views and needs are colored by long distances it takes to get anywhere here.
To be clear: range anxiety is not irrational because no-one should be concerned about range. Range anxiety is irrational if and when someone is giving outsize importance to the edge cases.
It's specifically about the people who don't do an objective analysis of how often the edge cases happen, whether alternatives are sufficient, etc.
Now, I'm in one of the more sparsely populated states in the union, so my views and needs are colored by long distances it takes to get anywhere here.