The only advantage that I can see is if you mounted the Civic battery upright behind the seats as is done in the Civic, you would free up a terriffic amount of useable space in the hatch. The center of gravity would also move forward slightly giving you a little more weight capacity as well. It would also be easier to service I suspect.This would be a nice aftermarket idea for some future entrepreneur. The Insight won't rust away so there will still be Insights on the road for decades.