a ~70 mile trip about once a week to help their mom, often in freezing temperatures.
Yes they did. Nissan Leaf. Chevy Spark. Fiat 500e... Many had sufficient range for the 70 miles you're talking about.
Please stuff the “kill all the children in the crosswalk” nonsense.
No. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/aug/09/tesla-self-driving-technology-safety-children. Stop defending Tesla.