A Beginner’s Guide to PHEV Maintenance

PHEV maintenance may sound complicated, especially if you’ve recently purchased your first hybrid vehicle. In reality, maintenance for PHEVs is similar to traditional gas-powered vehicles. Sentry West Mazda is here to help with the transition to eco-friendly models, so you can focus on the next great adventure. These are the key maintenance tasks that a PHEV vehicle needs.

Traditional Maintenance

Plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEV) are, as their name implies, a type of hybrid vehicle. That means these models still have the elements of an internal combustion engine. While the hybrid system does reduce the impact and wear on those parts, you’ll still need to schedule traditional maintenance tasks, including oil changes, hose and belt inspections, and tire rotations.

Battery Inspections

Hybrid vehicles rely on their batteries more than internal combustion engines, since the batteries help to run the electric motor. PHEV batteries are larger than traditional hybrid vehicle batteries and do need to be charged in order to run. Since they’re such a critical component of this type of vehicle, you’ll want to be doubly sure to have your battery inspected regularly.

Brake Service

One of the common systems you’ll find in hybrid and plug-in hybrid vehicles is a regenerative braking system. It captures the energy produced during the braking process that is typically lost to heat and sends it back to the battery to be used in the future. While this helps to reduce the pressure on the traditional brakes, it is a more complex system, and should be looked at regularly for signs of diminishing capacity or wear.

Schedule PHEV Maintenance at Sentry West MAZDA

There are many benefits to driving a PHEV model, including reduced environmental impact and savings on fuel costs with every drive. At Sentry West Mazda, we want to make the PHEV ownership journey easy, with support you can trust. Schedule a test drive or service appointment to get started.

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