PE,
You might be interested to learn that over here in England hard-wiring is the norm for ranges, and our "code" specified that there must be an isolating switch located nearby.
The one thing I find bad about the setup though is that the usual connection method just employs a length of our equivalent of Romex to connect from the wall to the range.
For a free-standing, movable range, I feel it is unsuitable, although there have been discussions about this on U.K. forums and opinion seems to be divided.
