Even with increasing numbers of hybrid models on the market, 47 in the US, market share for hybrids is falling and is now at a minuscule 3%. It may be that hybrids won’t ever be more than niche vehicles.
I am the original owner of a 2001 Toyota Prius. It’s been a great car and I’ll drive it until the wheels fall off. The electric motor battery needed replacement at 105,000 miles and was just out of warranty so it cost $2,700. Other than that, there’s been nothing but routine maintenance.
Technological improvements in gas, diesel, plug-in hybrids, and EVs have eroded the MGP advantage of hybrids, which probably accounts for the decline in sales. Everyone else has caught up with hybrids. 45 MPG isn’t that big a deal now.
Hybrid cars have always been seen as “transitional” vehicles, and I’m certainly not ready to say the market has already moved past them. But now that there are more options in the diesel, EV, and compact market that appeal to MPG fanatics, the glossy sheen of hybrid cars may be finally wearing off.