I guess it depends on your definition of rural. Here in southern Germany that is mostly "not far from a bigger town" but still enough space for a house with a g

I guess it depends on your definition of rural. Here in southern Germany that is mostly "not far from a bigger town" but still enough space for a house with a garage and the ability to charge. Even if you manage to have a house in a city, a garage is not a given and street parking is very common. (i.e. Munich to Salzburg is 150km which sounds like the worst case, regular 10-50km drives seem much more common). (And yes, I know the article is about the US, I'm just saying that even something that might make sense in one place doesn't mean it's true elsewhere, I imagine New England to be about the same disparity)