How do infrequent, short trips affect a hybrid vehicle?

Asked by Stephen Aug 25, 2017 at 08:29 PM about the Toyota Prius

Question type: General

I am thinking about buying a 2018 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid, but I would like
to better understand how the type of driving that I do will affect this car.

My wife and I are both retired, and we own two vehicles. The number of
miles that we drive each year has dropped considerably since we retired. If I
buy a new Malibu Hybrid, it may get driven only 1500-2000 miles each year,
with most of those miles the result of 4-6 short trips per week, each perhaps
5-7 miles in length, that start with a cold engine. The car may sit unused in
the garage 3-4 days each week. How much will my fuel economy suffer
because of that kind of driving? Also, will the life of the hybrid battery be
adversely affected in any way?

Any info you can give me will be greatly appreciated!

3 Answers

You will use a lot of battery power.. If you can charge the battery by plugging your car in the fuel economy may be quite good.

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Read this....I'm sure that the 2018 Chevy Malibu Hybrid will be even better.... http://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2016-chevrolet-malibu-hybrid-first-drive-review

2 people found this helpful.
10

short trips are hard on the engine. if the combustion engine never reaches normal operating temp it will run too rich and dump unburned fuel into the crankcase causing fuel to be present in the oil effectively shortening the life of the combustion engine. the work around is to drive on the combustion engine on short trips and use the hybrid portion on longer trips depending on the speed you need to travel a full electric car would be a better option

1 people found this helpful.

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