Not familiar with hybrid very much, but doesn't that mean essentially carrying the internals of two different engines, and thus double the maintenance risks just "for the very occasional long trip" ?
No, it does not double the maintenance risk. Hybrid cars have one gasoline engine, and one (or more) electric motors. Toyota I believe, uses one of the electric motors to also start the gasoline engine (eliminating the starter motor on a traditional ICE engine). Toyota Hybrids are actually a much simpler setup than a modern turbocharged/direct injected ICE car.
Electric motors are essentially zero maintenance. Also, the gasoline engine in a hybrid is running less per mile (compared to a standard ICE car) extending its lifespan.
The Toyota Hybrid also uses what they call an E-CVT transmission. It's not related at all to traditional CVT transmission. The Toyota E-CVT uses planetary gear sets and the electric motor to vary the output speed. It has proven to be extremely reliable.
Toyota's Hybrid drivetrain likely makes Toyota cars the most reliable on the market. It has been refined over 20+ years and I am not aware of any significant issues with it.
I am somewhat of a car enthusiast. I don't own any Toyota products because I find their cars a bit boring. But, for anyone who just wants reliable transportation, I always recommend a Toyota.
Living on the outskirts of London it amazes me when I look for an old Prius on autotrader. You often see vehicles which aren't far away from half a million miles. They aren't even being sold for scrap value due to their demand in mini-cab service. It's a shame they didn't make a dent in private usage in the UK because there is a lot to be said for the underlying technology.
How much of that is because hybrids put an easier load on their engines and how much because Toyota knows how to build a reliable vehicle? It's both, but I imagine it's mostly because of Toyota reliability.
In fairness a Prius has no clutch, no torque convertor, no starter motor, no sliding dog clutches, no syncos, no turbo etc. It's unfortunate that people understood the Prius system as a normal car plus the electrical motive system but the reality is actually not nearly as complex.
How do you know when to change the oil on a car like this? Is there a separate odometer that keeps track of how many miles are on the ICE? It seems possible you may never use the ICE, at least in our case, so how do you know how to maintain it?
The chevy volt would run the engine on occasion to make sure oil was moving and wouldn't let the average age of gas in the tank exceed a year (if it did, it would go on a gas only mode, even if full charged until you refilled it to get the average age under a year).
The car keeps track of oil changes for you. My non hybrid car also tracks things like tire rotations and filter changes. It’s a little conservative but that’s fine IMO.
ICE wear and tear mostly is due to short trips with frequent stops when the car doesn't have time to heat up properly (ie. city driving) and when you put pressure on the gearbox
If you use the electric part in the city and the combustion engine on the highway you should get very low wear on the ICE (constant rpm/speed at highway speed = low wear and low consumption)
not every hybrid has a an electric/gas engine that can work in tandem (some do, but not a requirement0. On the Volt the gas engine wasn't attached to the wheels at all, it was just a generator for the battery.
