> Don't they pack the batteries in the floor, making the car necessarily higher? Isn't this the biggest difference?

Batteries in the floor make a good amount of sense if done right.

1. Just the battery for a -hybrid- (1.1kWh) can weigh at least half as much as a 3 cylinder engine. putting it either under the front or in the trunk is an issue, as now you have to have a more reinforced firewall or reinforced whatever to keep the battery from being an additional force in an impact.

2. Lower center of gravity is always a good thing.

> And the weight, of course.

3. Weight is interesting because we start to see some of the fun 'delta-V' issues. As an example look at the GMC Hummer EV, the F-150 Lightning, and the Cybertruck. You can see that as the weight goes up the amount of battery to increase range also goes waaayyyy up.

Yes, they make sense. But the point was that it's how you can recognize the EV version of a BMW.