I felt a bit similar about electric cars with a trunk in the front where the engine would sit in an ICE car. But that's more about esthetic expectations, like the first cars looked similar to horse carriages.
There's no regulatory requirement for crumple zones. There's regulatory requirements for performance. The cheapest/easiest way to meet these is crumple zones.
Your luggage and golf clubs aren't gonna do squat in a collision. The regulators don't care that about the one in a million chance that someone gets into an accident a) where crumple zones matter b) while hauling objects so solid they don't just round to "no effect" because they have bigger fish to fry and if you create a "standard loading" for the test the OEMs will simply design to that and basically create a bunch of work and expense for marginal benefit.
I don't really believe the average groceries load will add that much rigidity to this space as deny its function as a crumple zone.
When EVs can reliably (including charging infrastructure) do charging as fast as ICE refuels, with 300 miles/500 km between 20-80%, they will win with most people in the US and Canada. Otherwise, we just drive too far, too often. It’s not far off. But until then, it’s not truly a replacement for ICE. Yes, I really do drive for 4-5 hours without stopping, several times a year.
Clearly you don't eat enough fiber!
My EV can do 3 – 5 hours on the motorway between charges (depending on weather conditions and speed), but to avoid fatigue I always want a break within 3 hours or so.
And by the time I've parked, gone inside, queued up for and drunk a tea or coffee, used the facilities, and checked the next leg of my trip, that's half an hour and the car is ready to go again.
You and I have very, very different approaches to driving long distances. I don’t get drinks, I don’t eat. So except for once, a couple of hours after departure, no bathroom breaks.l
5 hours between charges at a steady 75-80 mph (120-130 km/h) would be impressive range, though.
The exceptions were bad weather days. Stop, check in, fuel up, etc. Never know when the storm will get bad and you’ll be sleeping in the car.
Seriously, though, don’t drink anything and you won’t have to pee. That’s only 4 hours.
There’s usually one stop an hour or two after leaving, but after that? I typically don’t eat or drink anything if there’s distance to cover. Refuel, get back on the road. I can eat when I get there.
That's not healthy. General road safety is that you need to stop every ~2 hours.
As for health, it’s fine as long as you aren’t chronically dehydrated. Your kidneys won’t fail if you don’t urinate every two hours every day.