So much of life with an EV reminds me of flying light airplanes.
- The gas gauge(s) is/are only 'certified' to be correct when they reach empty. A gauge that reads 'F' for 4.5 hours and suddenly drops to 'E' as the engine starts to sputter is just as legal as one that moves during a flight. (Actually, they all move in flight, but often it's just the needle vibrating.) If one wants to know how much fuel remains, they land and 'stick' the tank.
- The manual lists range at different altitudes and different engine RPMs. Before each flight, a pilot checks weather, learns wind direction and speed, calculates range to the next fuel stop, determines engine speed and altitude to fly for that leg (or discovers they can't get there from here and starts over), and has to land with fuel remaining in the tanks.
As for the unfortunate NY test driver? "In accordance with the 10% rule**, you may not drive another EV until you've attended four hours of remedial training and demonstrate the ability to see, hear, and properly respond, to spoken and written state of charge warnings without causing undue harm to yourself, your passengers, other motorists, or pedestrians."
** 10% Rule: One must demonstrate that they are at least 10% smarter than the machine they wish to operate prior to being allowed to control said machine.