It's possible it might actually be more reliable long term, once the technology matures. For example, in cold weather the gas engine might heat the battery for better battery performance, maybe even extend its life if it prevents it from being drawn down too much. The gas engine, would also likely last longer since its not used for daily commutes.

"In many PHEV systems, there are different modes:

Electric mode (EV mode): The vehicle runs purely on the electric motor(s) and battery until the battery depletes to some extent.

Hybrid/Parallel mode: Both the petrol engine and electric motor(s) work together to drive the wheels, especially under high load, higher speeds or when battery is low. Ithy

Series mode (in some designs): The petrol engine acts only as a generator to charge the battery or power the electric motor(s), and the wheels are driven by the electric motor(s).

For the BYD Leopard 5 (and many BYD PHEVs) the petrol engine can drive the wheels (i.e., it is not purely a generator). It is part of the drive system, especially when high power or long range is needed.

At the same time, it likely can assist with charging the battery or maintaining battery state of charge (SOC) when needed (for example, to keep the battery at some reserve level or in “save” mode). User-reports show that the petrol engine will kick in to support the electric system, charge the battery, or assist the drive under certain conditions" -

It's not like reliable gas cars ever had substantial maintenance problem in the gas part. So removing the gas part didn't do much in practice.

People do/did have frustrations with gas car mannerisms and mental approachability, like, everything was written in a mix of translated foreign language documents and borderline insane gearhead languages. That lead them to imagine that removing the gas part would drastically change the industry, in their favor.

But, in the end, gas cars are good with regular maintenance for something like 100k miles over 8 years, so, I wouldn't know what consumer product were more reliable than a gas car in the first place.

Not that I'm aware of. I've heard that many hybrids actually require less maintenance - for instance, the car can use electric power for hard acceleration instead of stressing the engine, so oil tends to last longer, and regenerative braking causes the friction brakes to wear out more slowly.

Not sure about that, since I did never owned one either. But I watched a review BYD car yesterday. And it's supper nice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6bqgR3NRHE&t=1s

Eh, my PHEV has a 2 year oil change interval, which is longer than my ICE only cars. You should probably bring in your EV every 2 years to get things looked at too.

The engine in a hybrid should live an easier life compared to an ICE. No extended idle, mostly running in the power band, etc. There are lots of different ways to setup the hybrid system, but typically, rather than a small stater motor, you have a larger motor/generator that also starts the engine; it's less likely to get worn out, because it's built for continuous use.

In my PHEV, it has a 'toyota synergy' style 'e-CVT' which eliminates gear selection and should be very low maintenance (although mine had to be replaced under a service bulletin due to bearing failure because of manufacturing error) again nicer than an ICE. But some hybrids have a more traditional transmission.

Certainly, you can do ICE only or EV only, but there's a lot of room to use the ICE for things it's good for, and the EV for things it's good for, and blend where there's overlap.