All electric/hybrids???

What does one need to 'look' for on these ......Sorry  don't know all the appropriate terminology....batt life??..uh...help...here..thanks

It might help if you have a few models in mind as each manufacturer had different types of batteries and management.  There are differences in the way hybrid systems can be implemented as well.  How far do you drive?

For example, my wife drives a 2013 Volt, PHEV plug-in hybrid vehicle.  It can be run as a full electric vehicle or driven using the gas engine largely as a generator.  The battery has had no discernable degredation over the last 75k, the biggest impact is cold weather is warm weather.  We average 29 miles of EV range in winter but closer to 45 is summer.

Very car dependent as the tech is new enough that different cars have different problems. The biggest single issue is batteries. Life and repairability. But they hybrid cars can have other issues with coolant pumps and other odd things. 

Too vague of a question. The very earliest hybrids have poor battery functionality in 2018. IF you can find a 1st gen Insight or Prius that currently still works, it probably won't for long. 2nd wave of hybrids are still serviceable. 2g prius, highlander hybrid, escape hybrid, et al. Anything newer than that and I just assume it's still in the meat of its usefulness. Battery management is getting so much better over time that newish stuff doesn't really have much in the way of battery issues. Since all of Tesla's cars are rolling wireless data mines Tesla can tell you that nearly all the Model S's it has ever sold  still have 90+% of their battery capacity.  As far as motors go, they are almost bulletproof, but other associated parts like position sensors, inverters, modules etc can be pricey or downright unavailable when you get stuck with one of those 1 in a 100,000 type of failures. This in itself is not unique to hybrids. Only in the fairly recent past could you get rebuild parts for the CVTs Nissan has been using for 15 years, for example. Before that the whole assembly of hundreds of pieces was a throwaway due to parts availability.

In general I think newish hybrids require less service, planned or otherwise, than non-hybrids. 

I have an 07 Prius with 275k that has had minor failures in the recent past (an electric coolant pump, an ignition coil, a loose connection near the 12v battery) and has a degrading  HV battery, but it has yet to ever 'stop working'. It's basically made it past what would be considered a normal useful lifespan and is still drivable and still gets better mileage than a comparable non-hybrid, even in its degrading state of battery function. I plan to fix it and keep going. 

they are all quite different so it might be useful to just narrow it down to the exact model you are looking at. For example honda uses a completely different hybrid system then toyota.

Nissan Leaf-specific info:

The earlier pre-2014 cars were very poorly suited to hot climates, and tended to see their batteries degrade somewhat quickly. Think 30% loss in 3 years in Arizona. Replacing the battery is about $6500 when I checked a couple years ago. 

I drove mine for 4 years. Had the heater go out twice in warranty - I think that's a 2013 specific issue. If looking at a Leaf, get one with the faster 6.6kwh onboard charger.

I'd buy one again but for my state and commute it doesn't make sense. Michigan tacks on a $100 yearly registration tax for all EVs, and they tend to be more expensive to insure, so it starts eating away at all cost savings. 

I wouldn't buy one without checking the battery health. Thankfully you can get a bluetooth dongle and check it on your phone with the app LeafSpy. 

The cheap EV models found on the used market will have less than 100 miles of range at this point.  If that's a deal breaker, the latest EV models have 200+ miles of range.  Some manufacturers are still offering new models with the full $7,500 federal rebate, and certain states offer additional big rebates or tax incentives.