The thing with rural areas is that very few people live there. Most people in the US live in or near densely populated areas. This is not an issue for them. And

The thing with rural areas is that very few people live there. Most people in the US live in or near densely populated areas. This is not an issue for them. And even rural areas have electricity and infrastructure. All you need to charge a car is a functioning wall socket. It won't be particularly quick but it will get your car charged eventually. A nice charger at home, a few functioning fast chargers in along nearby highways, etc. That's all you need. Most of the US has all of that within reasonable range. Basically, your current situation is that what you are spending on fuel and repairs to keep your old car going would probably add up to a nice second hand EV pretty quickly. Also, I hope you don't get any medical emergencies and have to rely on a 17 year old car being able to drive 200 miles (which is a big ask). And if it breaks down, it indeed can get expensive. It's a good reason to not go on long journeys with cars that old. That and the fact that the fuel efficiency is pretty terrible for such cars generally. You should be able to get a nice second hand EV for around 15K. It won't be the latest and greatest but you might find e.g. an old Nissan Leaf or something similar for that kind of money. You might reasonably expect to spend a lot less on fuel and repairs than you currently are. Do the math, I would suggest. Don't get too hung up on the range either. If you really do that 200 mile journey a lot with your 17 year old car, you are a brave man. More likely is that you rarely do that and given that you are so cost conscience about getting something better, your time is pretty cheap too meaning that a charging stop on your rare longer journeys shouldn't be the end of the world for you either. It all boils down to how much that is worth to you.