Non-use of the ICE

Don't think it would hurt the engine.
Good question.. what would need servicing?
I like the Leaf, but I also like the security of having the ICE there to back me up if I get in a bind.

This is what I like most about the PHV, I plan on taking advantage of short trips, and using mostly the EV aspect of it...

 

I wonder if Toyota have built a timer into the car that will run the ICE on a trip once every 30 days regardless? If they don't and you manage just short journeys within the EV range all the time you could have issues with dodgy petrol after a few months (esp as we'll be getting E10 soon in the UK). How would that affect your warranty if the petrol tank went rusty inside or other issues occured due to non running of the ICE? The first couple years would be OK but after 4 or 5 years non running might start to cause issues.

Regarding servicing, I'd say the car would need to be serviced every 12 months as now, even if you don't ever use the ICE. The servicing on the existing Prius is 10k miles OR 12 months, whichever comes first. Sure, you could proably get away with changing the oil every two years but not if you wanted to keep your warranty!

 

I'm sure it would still want servicing every 10k, since the brake fluid, transmission fluid, pollen filter etc still need checking.

I also suspect the car would do it's best to force the ICE to run eventually (like the way the HSI gets really sensitive when your SOC is low) and the possibility of you NEVER going more than 13 miles or going into the PWR area seems pretty slim.

But yeah, buy a leaf instead! it'll probably be cheaper and offers more EV power and range.

 

I believe that the manual says that the engine will run briefly every 19 miles, "for protection." Somebody speculated that it might be to stir the transaxle's oil - a brief mention of this is in the thread about the PHV manual.