In my experience, developers understand and appreciate range-based estimates. But when those numbers start moving up the communication chain, some non-developer

In my experience, developers understand and appreciate range-based estimates. But when those numbers start moving up the communication chain, some non-developer is going to either not like or not understand the point of the range, and will convert it to a single number: either the first one, the last one, or the average. They might even be honest about it, thinking "I need to know the earliest possible date, so I'll use the low end". But then the next person, who doesn't see the range, thinks that low end is THE committed date and will plan accordingly. Now your deadline is 99% likely to be missed.