This is flawed reasoning. Think of the original Focus's crumple zone as a spring that can deflect until it hits the rigid engine. Remove the engine for the el

This is flawed reasoning. Think of the original Focus's crumple zone as a spring that can deflect until it hits the rigid engine. Remove the engine for the electric model and the spring is free to deflect further. Increased deflection results in more energy absorption. You also get increased time during which the impact is spread out, reducing maximum acceleration. If your original thinking is that the engine acts as dead weight to absorb momentum, which is now located in other areas of the car in the electric version, this is likely a smaller effect than the increased energy absorption and impact duration. I wish I could find a trustworthy comparison of the safety ratings of the two models, but it looks like the two cars' ratings are considered identical most places I look. Not sure if that is actually true.