The elusive 2 or so gallons?

It is trying to protect the fuel pump by not letting the fuel go too low. It is also trying to keep you from walking when you run out of gas.

 

Think of it as a reserve. But as mentioned above, don't run it out of gas!

 

yes, it should start blinking wit about 2 gallons left. you can keep driving, but don't run out, it can be prolematic in a prius.

 

Have you actually run out of fuel? If not, then you haven't really reached the bottom of the tank, so you can't claim it doesn't hold the advertised quantity of fuel.

The most comprehensive thread for 2010 Prius fuel capacity is: [WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III).

The amount of fuel range 'wasted' as reserve margin after idiot lights start flashing, is roughly the same on all but one of my current and past cars -- Toyota, Subaru, Honda, and the last Ford. The first Ford was the outlier, with no idiot light, and running dry with its fuel needle still above 'E'.

 

http://priuschat.com/forums/other-cars/94001-gas-gauge-says-full-but-thats-not-quite-true-npr.html can also put things in perspective, even though it's a Ford engineer talking.

 

The good news is, if that pip starts blinking, you won't have to stop at the gas station run by hillbilly cannibals and can fill up at the next one 50 miles down the highway!

 

If you can ignore a flashing idiot light or blinking pip, why not ignore the computer too?

As a result of old experience with long distances with few services in a short ranged car, including a time when the little fuel available was held back with price gouging, I also like to know my real fuel range to something much closer to the 10 minute resolution that pilots expect, not the two hour uncertainty common with cars. But with the huge variations in fuel consumption rates and the poor understanding and math ability of many drivers, this would create a serious headache for the car makers' customer support staff.

I accidentally ran 'my' first car out of gas on the very first tank. This was the one that ran dry above 'E', and happened not long after my parents teased me about fearing running to and a bit below 'E' on their cars. I intentionally ran the next car out of gas just to see how far it would go, much as Bob Wilson has done numerous times with his Prii stable (see link in my previous post). My subsequent cars have been run low as tests in benign situations, but have never been run dry.

 

You can tell you live in the north & still celebrating the outcome of the Civil War. Is your next post about Native Tribes on the Long Knives reservation concentration camps?

 

Decades ago, I thought I could read my gas gauge well on my 88 Ford Festiva. With a filled gas can in the car, I purposefully ran out of gas to see what my actual tank capacity was. As I was driving, I expected the tank would go dry anytime. Two miles after I thought that, it did. Seems like engine, fuel injector, electronic & tank technologies are getting in the way of understanding how much fuel still remains in the tank.

 

now EXACTLY what does that mean?

20 miles past blinking bar? 50 miles?

well, i went 120 miles past it and put in 10.8 gals once. if you really want that extra capacity, drive farther.

BUT

keep in mind. for you to get that 11.9 gallons of mileage, your car must be full. overfilling is a VERY bad thing. you have a very expensive filter designed to catch fumes from the gas attempting to evaporate in your tank.

ruin it, you lose your emission rating, your dash will light up like a Xmas tree, and you will pay out cash.

the other end is running too low in the tank. this can
1) put you on the side of the road
2) run a risk of permanent damage to your battery pack
3) advanced wear on the fuel delivery system

once again; is it worth it just to put off getting gas 1-2 days? if its a hassle, get a Leaf. i have over 16,500 miles and have only been to a gas station 3 times (to use the DCFC at the Shell station in Tumwater, or at least tried to)


as for me, i ran 120 miles past blinking bar because i knew i could do it and it was how far i had to drive at the time to get to the gas station i normally used. otherwise, i would have filled up at only 50 miles past the start of the blink (which is about normal. i just gassed up yesterday but the blink started on Wed...just got sidetracked...)

but others have reported running out of gas with much less than 50 miles after the blink, soooo...

 

They seem to have made a discovery over on one of the Cruze websites. All tanks of the different models of the Cruze are said to have 15.6 gallon tanks..... except the tank of the EcoCruze, in the manual, is stated to be 12.6 gallons. That disappointed me, since I love to stay away from gas stations. A more important reason is that I've switched to 100% pure(ethanol-free) gasoline. Since 100% pure gasoline is only sold in 10 in every 350 stations & is rare to non-existent in large regions of the U.S. & Canada, a large range is necessary.

Now comes the kicker. One Cruze owner discovered that upon filling his gas tank to the first click, with very very slow additions to the tank, he could add another THREE GALLONS OF GASOLINE TO THE TANK & SHOWED THE GAS TANK OF THE ECO CRUZE IS THE SAME CAPACITY AS ALL OTHER CRUZE MODELS.

Seems that Chevrolet, to help raise its EPA mpg rating to 42mpg, placed a sensor to artificially stop fueling at 12.6 gallons altho the EcoCruze tank was actually the same tank as all the other Cruzes & saved ~18 pounds in the EPA Eco Cruze mpg determinations. Yeah, saved more weight by light-weight welds, thinner sheet metal, no spare tire, etc.

Anyhow, I would love to travel 150 miles further than the manual says, with a car which can sometimes approach & exceed 50mpg on the highway.

 

Born in Georgia, lived most of my life in Virginia. I was alluding to various horror movies, lighten up!

 

My highest was 9.7 gallons or so that is when I drove 30 miles AFTER it showed 0 miles left .. and I stop at the first click when filling up .... apparently you can damage the carbon filter which is a pretty hefty repair.

 

The range is just telling you when you should fill up. It is just there to help you plan. If the range indicated the absolute maximum number of miles you could go, it would be useless because you'd still have to make a decision of when to fill up. This way, there is no decision to make. You just fill up sometime before 0 range and you know that you are good.