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I think the key factor here is ground clearance and battery pack placement. The S, as you mentioned, puts the pack along the floor and it is basically the entire floor, between frame rails, front to back on the car. The Volt puts the pack in vertically along the tunnel and the LEAF puts it flat, but dead center in the car rather than running the whole length. Obviously, for Tesla, there is not much choice given the huge number of cells required for the ranges they achieve, but it's an important point in terms of how likely damage is going to affect the pack.