2009 Prius - why such a big engine?

 
From what I've read the new Prius is going to be bigger and faster and
get slightly better fuel mileage. I don't understand this. Why do they
need a 1.8 L engine? That's bigger than most gas only economy cars. I
would think they could use a 1 L engine or even smaller. Do you really
need to go 115 mph in a Prius? If they used a smaller engine and kept
the car the same size they could sell it for less and get much better
mileage. Am I missing something?

http://autos.yahoo.com/articles/autos_content_landing_pages/563/exposed-2009-toyota-prius/

 
It's a matter of getting adequate acceleration. The mpg rating hasn't
decreased and the cost hasn't increased.

--
   Ron

 

I'd guess an additional reason could have to do with what the battery pack
is capable of.  During a long climb uphill, the battery could be assisting
the gas engine, and I can easily imagine that it could be drained leaving
you with only a rather underpowered gas engine until the battery has
recharged.

 In article


Bigger.  Quicker.  Better mileage.  Lower Cost.

you seem to be missing quite a bit.

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On Tue, 10 Jun 2008, max wrote:


well, the bigger and quicker part seem to be what driving in america is
all about lately.  Like getting there 3 minutes faster is some great
accomplishment.  One myth that all the folks who think hybrids are a fad
believe, is that they "don't have enough power" and they think there's no
power to get onto an expressway or to pass traffic.  That's a bunch of
hooey, but if they don't see 5000 horsepower engine, they think it's
"underpowered".  they want some kinda muscle hybrid that can do 0-60 in 6
seconds.