Series plug-in hybrids that can run on battery (Chevy Volt, Honda Clarity, Prius 2024) are IMO better than both. They effectively operate like electric vehicles (regenerative braking and all), and one can drive them for months without burning gas. Their batteries are about five times smaller (~30-50mi range vs full EV’s ~250mi range), and thus lighter, and the gasoline engine is usually a small, efficient one (~40ish mpg on gas)
Ironically, Toyota already had some sketchy anti-EV reputation:
Toyota was famously one of the few automakers who sided with the Trump Administration in their legal fight against California trying to impose their own stricter emission regulations.
The Japanese didn’t stop there, and more recently, it warned the new US federal government against promoting all-electric vehicles.
From Electrek
Also, IIRC, it was Toyota and Honda that actively lobbied against CARB limits and indirectly led to EV1’s demise. (Can’t find the sources ATM)
Considering that many of these “surveys” report statistics per model or even make, and some companies and models stretch years, if not decades (Corolla, Civic, F-150, etc.), and others are around for only a few years (Volt, Clarity, Ioniq), the results are almost always going to be out of whack.
Also, they probably don’t consider: which country/state the vehicle is available in (can’t buy Prius Prime and some EVs in the US midwest), the average accident rate for that country/state, demographics, place of use (city/country) etc.
A while ago, I saw that Chevy Volt was one of the most accident-prone cars or something like that. It has been out of production for a few years, and oldest cars were 10+ years old. Probably many resales, hand-me-downs, etc, all resulting in an emergent property of higher accident rate.