We the 98rs - For the 2 percenters

Noted.
Good points to consider for Primers and Pip drivers.
I checked with the mother ship and noted that the oil change periodicity is still 12m/10,000 miles.
That might be inertia....or it might be a carefully considered decision.
2017 Toyota Prius Prime Owners Manual and Warranty - Toyota Owners

SO......
If you're right....and I have NO reason to think that you're not......the engine is designed to mimic one long trip instead of the on-off-on-off-on-off that actually occurs, AND there might be some theoretical benefit to kicking out the OCI to reflect the actual run time providing that you can back up the deviation from the maintenance schedule with some data, perhaps from some of the labs mentioned earlier in the thread.
Seems it would be easier and cheaper just to change the oil, but there's always the tree huger angle to consider.

If I'm right, and there isn't a basic design flaw in the ICE for the G3/G4 (besides an inadequate sump) then you're still not going to have oil related failures for the normal service life of the engine.
Perhaps some petro-geek could write a white paper detailing the added benefit of being able to use the same oil in the Prime for well past 10,000 miles and back it up with some statistical gymnastics, but I'll stick with monthly checks and my 5,000 mile OCI.

My 'get' here is to beat back the borders of ignorance regarding Priuses' undeserved reputation as an oil burner.
It's really tough, since many people, especially younger drivers, have a closed hood maintenance philosophy.
It's a little curious since Prius drivers have always been overly combative about hybrids, but for some reason actual people who actually own actual Priuses are quicker to blame Toyota for oil related failures that (IMHO) are NOT Toyota's fault.

YMMV

 

Yeah, I suspect most oil burning problems are operator problems.

One other thing to consider is that the Prius will turn on the engine if it starts to get too cold. My wife loves heat and notices the MPGs plummet in her '16 Prius when the thermostat gets set above 65 degrees in the winter.

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