This is something that could easily give someone pause, especially if they aren't inclined to change it themselves. I could see many shops refusing to do that job simply because they have no experience with it, and then you're on to the stealership as your only option. The cost of replacing the battery eats hard into the gas savings if you keep it that long, on top of how there is always a premium for buying a hybrid over its gas-only equivalent. Monetarily, it ends up being a wash, and then it comes down to who do you want to pay - the oil companies or the mechanic? The mechanic would seem the much better choice, except then your vehicle is down for two weeks (one because they have no available appointments until a week and a half from today, and another day or two as they do the job) and it could be one of those "it's never the same after it's fixed" things.
This is part of why I think twice about a used Prius v, or maybe a regular Prius. I wouldn't want it to brick itself because the battery took a dump.
There is a bit of an issue with heat, but only because these vehicles still use engine coolant to generate heat. That makes the engine run more in the winter, to maintain its temperature. In our Prius v, it seemed like there was a temperature band within which it would not run. Let's say the thermostat opened at 180 or the engine would shut off at 180 if it had to warm itself up in cold weather when you weren't using it enough to keep it warm. It might dip down to 140 before kicking on to warm itself up again whether you need it or not. When you're running heat, it's probably programmed to stay much closer to 180. You can have heat when the engine is off; the water pump is electric.
As for the rest of y'all...
To the person with the 2012 Prius v: Watch for the head gasket. This was an issue from 2012-2014 as I understand, and it hit my 2014 at 216K miles.
For as much as I hate the greedy antics of big businesses, I don't think that newer vehicles will see their lifespans halved from greed. If anything, when a car manufacturer puts out crappy vehicles, people generally stay away from the brand. This has been manifested lately in how Chrysler / Dodge dealers have plenty of vehicles on their lots, as does Ford, but Toyota is still backordered. You'd have to pay me to get me to own a Chrysler product these days, and I haven't heard stellar reviews of Ford reliability. (What I have heard is, "You buy an F-150 because it's an F-150. You buy a Tundra because you want to have one truck that lasts the rest of your life.")
What we will see, on account of greedy big businesses, is cars not becoming as good as they can be. After all, if the average vehicle lasts 200,000 miles, why would Toyota aim for the moon and make vehicles that last 300,000 miles on average? All they'd have to do is land somewhere in the 225K-250K range in order to be far and away the #1 for reliability. They'll go to 300K average when everyone else is nipping at their heels, having exceeded 250K themselves. Just ask Preston Tucker what happens when you build a car that's far and away the best there'd be on the market.
