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> The size of the car is in no way constrained by the engine size. It is. Nobody will buy a full-sized sedan with 800cc engine, unless you are in China. There

> The size of the car is in no way constrained by the engine size. It is. Nobody will buy a full-sized sedan with 800cc engine, unless you are in China. There are a minimal size powertrains a car body need to be able to house for its size to be sellable. The matter is you can put much smaller, and cheaper EV powertrains relative to the body size/weight for a much better driving experience. You can use freed space to pile in extra niceties, which would've required bigger body size for an IC powered car, thus necessitating bigger, more expensive powertrain. The attraction of hybrids was exactly that you can get a crap engine to provide driving quality of a much more expensive setup, like a good V6, or entry level V8 at lower cost, in a smaller car. But "just better" is the worst enemy of good enough. You can throw away the whole IC altogether, and provide a 3L+ I6 experience in a micro car.

semi-extrinsic 5y ago
But why would you put an 800cc engine in a full-sized sedan? You have plenty of room to fit a decent turbocharged two-liter four-cylinder. And there is no way EVs need less space for battery + motors in total. Have you seen the size of a Model X battery pack? Only difference is they typically use space below the floor of the car, rather than in front. They are typically a bit wider than ICE cars to compensate and give sufficient interior space.
- baybal2 5y ago
  > But why would you put an 800cc engine in a full-sized sedan? You have plenty of room to fit a decent turbocharged two-liter four-cylinder. You will have to, and you say "The size of the car is in no way constrained by the engine size," which is a complete nonsense. On the lower end, it's constrained by sellability of a car, and on the upper end it's physically constrained by the size of car frame. > Only difference is they typically use space below the floor of the car, rather than in front. Yes, and that's a very big advantage. Even very tiny EVs can have batteries with hundreds of kilowatts of power output.
  - semi-extrinsic 5y ago
    > On the lower end, it's constrained by sellability of a car Yes, as already said, I completely agree. > and on the upper end it's physically constrained by the size of car frame In theory yes, but in practice you don't really feel this limitation, that's my point. As I said, you can fit a K24 engine into a Honda Fit (B-segment supermini car) without modifying the frame or bodywork. A turbocharged K24 can put out 300 kilowatts without breaking a sweat.
    - baybal2 5y ago
      It is a limitation, i4 is an upper limit what you can put in it, and a 300kw i4 will vibrate itself to pieces in prolonged use. Using bigger engines, for bigger cars really makes sense.
- jatone 5y ago
  location and structure matter in system design. even if the battery takes up more total space than an ICE no one is going to notice the car being 1 inch taller overall for consumer vehicles.

semi-extrinsic 5y ago

But why would you put an 800cc engine in a full-sized sedan? You have plenty of room to fit a decent turbocharged two-liter four-cylinder. And there is no way EVs need less space for battery + motors in total. Have you seen the size of a Model X battery pack? Only difference is they typically use space below the floor of the car, rather than in front. They are typically a bit wider than ICE cars to compensate and give sufficient interior space.

baybal2 5y ago
> But why would you put an 800cc engine in a full-sized sedan? You have plenty of room to fit a decent turbocharged two-liter four-cylinder. You will have to, and you say "The size of the car is in no way constrained by the engine size," which is a complete nonsense. On the lower end, it's constrained by sellability of a car, and on the upper end it's physically constrained by the size of car frame. > Only difference is they typically use space below the floor of the car, rather than in front. Yes, and that's a very big advantage. Even very tiny EVs can have batteries with hundreds of kilowatts of power output.
- semi-extrinsic 5y ago
  > On the lower end, it's constrained by sellability of a car Yes, as already said, I completely agree. > and on the upper end it's physically constrained by the size of car frame In theory yes, but in practice you don't really feel this limitation, that's my point. As I said, you can fit a K24 engine into a Honda Fit (B-segment supermini car) without modifying the frame or bodywork. A turbocharged K24 can put out 300 kilowatts without breaking a sweat.
  - baybal2 5y ago
    It is a limitation, i4 is an upper limit what you can put in it, and a 300kw i4 will vibrate itself to pieces in prolonged use. Using bigger engines, for bigger cars really makes sense.
jatone 5y ago
location and structure matter in system design. even if the battery takes up more total space than an ICE no one is going to notice the car being 1 inch taller overall for consumer vehicles.