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I just saw a video from James May yesterday about some electric hypercar where he comes to the conclusion that the battery is best placed where the engine would be in a mid-engine car. Because so the mass is at the center of gravity.

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> Because so the mass is at the center of gravity.

The center of gravity will be where the mass puts it.

I suppose the argument is, that the mass is better concentrated lengthwise, although doing so places Cg higher.

No, you can have two weights on either end of a stick versus two weights right in the center of the stick. The center of gravity is in the middle, but the moment of inertia is radically different. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moment_of_inertia

It's still put where it is put by the mass. In other words: the only way to move the COG around is to move the masses around. And if you move the bulk of the mass to the place where the engine would be in a mid engined car (assuming the batteries are the bulk of the mass) then that's where the COG will likely center on because it is roughly the middle of the car.

I don't actually agree with May, I think you should keep the COG in a car as low as possible until it starts to interfere with your ground clearance.

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