It is not at all a preposterous metric. Range anxiety is one of the key factors in keeping people from buying electric cars. Up until this year, you had to spend nearly $100k to get an EV with 200+ mile range - now you can get one for less than $40k. Up to this point, each mile of range adds substantially to the perceived value of an EV.
To me, it's like saying "cell phones are getting more expensive, but cost/battery-life is improving!
Do people care about battery life? Absolutely! But I guarantee they care much more about purchase price, resale value and generally total cost of ownership.
If the car's price went up 2x, but the car's range went up 3x, I don't think you'd see celebration in the streets. That's why the metric is preposterous.
To wit: most sub-100-mile BEV's, with incentives, have been priced at the same level as bargain-basement gas cars, while coming with top-end features. Here in CA, Fiat has been running a regular special on a 500e 3-year lease for $100 or less per month. Meanwhile, Tesla is holding cash deposits from nearly a half-million people for a 200-mile car that will cost $40k+ by the time it's optioned out, and Bolts are selling briskly at similar price levels.
It would be a 3.7-hour stop at a Supercharger to get to 80%, assuming an average 100kW charge rate. After that the charge rate would slow down. Most people would probably unplug at that point, gaining only 1,100 miles range.
Also, are they talking about the price the buyer pays, or the total price, including government subsidies?