Electric Mini.

[RedDevil]

A platform designed for ICE has to provide space and support for the ICE components and protect the passengers from heat, vibration and engine specific hazards.

Likewise, a platform designed for EV needs to accommodate the batteries, motor and controller and high voltage wiring safely.
However the positioning of those components are much more flexible so the batteries end up in the floor and the motor in the back.
All components are pretty much at wheel axle height and anything above them can be fully dedicated to passenger and luggage space and crash safety structures.

It is way easier to design and build a lightweight efficient platform for an EV than for an ICE powered vehicle.
An EV conversion however needs to house the EV components safely in a structure designed to house ICE components. It is compromised twice over.

[JockoT]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

A platform designed for ICE has to provide space and support for the ICE components and protect the passengers from heat, vibration and engine specific hazards.

Likewise, a platform designed for EV needs to accommodate the batteries, motor and controller and high voltage wiring safely.
However the positioning of those components are much more flexible so the batteries end up in the floor and the motor in the back.
All components are pretty much at wheel axle height and anything above them can be fully dedicated to passenger and luggage space and crash safety structures.

It is way easier to design and build a lightweight efficient platform for and EV than for an ICE powered vehicle.
An EV conversion however needs to house the EV components safely in a structure designed to house ICE components. It is compromised twice over.

I agree AND disagree with this. It is easier to design and build an EV platform from scratch than to build an ICE platform and convert it to EV. However, if you already have an ICE platform it is easier to convert that to EV than start from scratch. As you say, it will be a compromise, but the vehicle you end up with is not that badly compromised, and with the cost of developing a new platform starting at £1 billion, it is the better option if the manufacturer reckons there is still life (and sales) in the old platform, as there is with the Mini.

[gone-ot]

Converting an existing chassis to EV allows you to quickly/cheaply ENTER the EV market.

Developing a dedicated EV chassis allows you to STAY & COMPETE in the EV market.