Your question about the second car. If I'm reading you correctly, you are doing all this for environmental reasons, or something other than how much this costs and convenience.
If you want to have the lowest environmental impact, a second FFE is the only path (or a second BEV). And when you have the rare occasion to take a longer trip, rent a vehicle. You might be surprised to find a rental car company right near your house - within walking distance. They aren't all at the airport.
The problem with the hybrid or PHEV solution is the same old issue - you are hauling around a gasoline engine all day long for that one rare time when you want to go farther. Why do that? And you still have the whole issue of gasoline, oil changes, exhaust system - all the ICE nonsense - with a tiny battery that doesn't get you very far.
The only car that addresses the problem in a reasonable way is the BMW i3 with the range extender. They have basically put a small two cylinder gasoline generator in the car. It is a really tiny addition. Sadly, that car is horribly expensive - really too expensive for what it does. The whole PHEV solution other companies have done is big engines with maintenance.
PHEVs are incredibly popular. There are tons of them out there. And there are use cases where they make sense - commutes too far, frequent trips to places too far away, no charging at home possible (apartment building), only one car, and love the smell of gasoline.
Hey, you'll figure it out. Live the with FFE for a while longer to make your second car choice. I will bet on you buying a second FFE or leasing a 2017 with the longer range.
