I do believe the rational part (need the big floorpan for the battery) of this but I also believe the non-rational part: well, less rational. Once you have been monstered by enough SUV driving a small car, you start to feel a bit less safe in your small car. NCAP has nothing to do with this: large SUV can be worse to be in, they are rigid and don't always do the thing crumple zones are designed to do. But what they do well, is monster out the smaller cars.

There are small EV. Ora CAT, the MG, even the ioniq could be said to smaller than an SUV. the BYD atto is not small, but the dolphin is.