"surveys show *fear* of running out of juice is one of the key worries about having an EV int he first place"
That's why Renault will tow a car that has ran out of juice to the nearest charging station, for free. So at least with Renault, that's not an issue.
The main problem with electric cars, aside from fear, is that they are not cost effective. If the price is good most of us will learn to live with some of the other issues, like limited range and long charging time. But that's not the case.
For example Renault will rent you the battery, and the more kilometers you drive per year, the higher the rent will be. The electricity cost is neglijable, you might as well consider it free. But the cost for renting the battery is huge, so in the end the total cost of ownership will be the same, compared to a normal car. For example, if you drive 15000 miles/year, the battery rental cost will be 1000 pounds + VAT per year, if you rent the battery for 5 years.
In my country that renting cost is equivalent with a fossil fuel car with a fuel economy of about 5 liters/100km, if you consider the fuel cost to drive the same distance (15000 miles). Most small diesel cars have no trouble matching that, VW Polo diesel uses only 3.8 liters / 100 km.
And the car prices are similar to the fossil fuel versions only after you substract the government subsidies.
So, unless you really want one, or you bet on the fossil fuel prices doubling over the next few years, going electric is not a good deal in any way.
But at least we're almost there. And for those that say that big oil killed the electric car, they couldn't be more wrong. High prices killed the electric car. And good prices will bring it back to life.
See this for more details about Renault electric vehicles:
http://www.renault.co.uk/resources/PDF/brochures/ze_pg.pdf