Car Buying Services

Toyota Prius has been around over 25 years mixing the two. It's not an either/or, certainly not with the Toyota implementation. The Auris hybrid we had could run for a handful of kms on battery only at speeds of up to 50kph, the hybrid bit there was helping the petrol give more smiles per gallon *joke*, it really was a white goods get you from A to B car. You wouldn't pick it for the ride comfort, handling or many other reasons other than to deliver you where you wanted to be and keep the rain off.

I know things have moved on and hybrids now cover more distance at higher speeds, the idea they don't like the intermittent running I'm not sure about. Most cars have an electronic nanny now telling you if you've diluted/too much condensation in the oil, exhausts are pretty much stainless or galvanised these days, even my 13 year old car is still running with what they put on it in the factory.

Edit: I was in a modern petrol/hybrid recently. It ran on battery for as long as it could. Once the petrol engine kicked in it stayed on presumably to avoid the running at sub-optimal temperature and whatever misery that could present further down the line.