Running out of Gas

I had the same experience. When I pulled into the gas station for my first fill up it was flashing and said 7 miles remaining. It also only took 8.6 gallons.

Calvin

 

i think they want you to find a gas station while you still have the safety amount of gas left and not after.

 

Its also not clear you can get to ALL of the gasoline in the tank, it depends in where the pickup is, and you rely don't want to be running it out, it could be costly to replace the gas filter, and who knows what else. Please don't run your Prius out of gas.

 

Also, the fuel pump in the gas tank needs gas for cooling so it doesn't burn up pumping when there is no gas to pump and to keep the pump cool. I always don't let my car get below 1/4 tank after burning up a fuel pump in a Chevy I once owned. It is really a lot of work to replace the pump when you have to drop the gas tank to replace it.

 

I should have read this post before I head out this morning with my 150mile trip.

I left my house with 2 bars, full charged. The last gas bar started to blink, I figured I got full charged and 2 gas bars left in the tank, I can at least go 100 miles plus my EV as back up. Lets test the limit.

I hit 110 miles after the light blinking, at that time, I still have 7 miles EV range.

All sudden, my gas puddle stops working, I cannot accelerate at all even with 7 miles EV range, it was scary since I was still on the freeway.

Lucky, there wasnt any jackass who won't let me pull to the slow lane. I glided off the ramp and all sudden, the car operates normal again. So I made it to the gas station with EV and still had 5 miles EV, and took 10.48 gallons to fill up.

Hope my gas pump is ok.

LT26i ? 2

 

isn't gas like $5.50 a gallon in LA?

 

It's getting close to that in the SF Bay area. The excuse this time is refinery problems resulting in a shortage of the special CA blend.

Thinking like an oil company executive: There are two choices:

A) Spend a lot of money to modernize and expand the refineries in California, which will result in adequate supplies and modest retail prices and lower profits.

B) Spend nothing and let the decrepit refineries break down/explode (happened recently)/whatever, causing shortages. Retail prices and profits skyrocket.

I wonder which they will chose?

 

Not quite, but headed there. Two hours ago the most I saw was $4.79 for regular, but stations are changing prices more than once a day. The lowest price at that time was $4.49.

 

Your very lucky. I wouldn't push it to Empty, as you did.

 

this is actually great info.

don't ask why, but i have had plenty "near-death" experiences with low gas levels in my cars over the years. my experience has shown that on both Hondas and Toyotas, the low fuel light generally starts blinking with about 2 gallons left. Dark_Prius's experience seems to confirm this, because he got 110 miles – at 55 mpg, that's two gallons right there.

The "confusing" thing about the Prius gauge is that in most cars with analog gauges, the needle first drops to zero, and then the light goes off. in the Prius, the last bar and the light are the same thing, so that might catch you off-guard.

But the really nice thing from this experience is that if your speed is low enough (below 62), the car WILL drive with no gas if you have EV range. The non-plug Prius would just shut down completely when it ran out of gas, regardless of the SOC of the battery (mom had an experience like this once).

 

I was filling my car once when a VW Beetle pulled up to the pump, sputtered, and died. It had run out of gas right at the pump!

 

When the light goes on my PIP takes 8.25 gallons.

 

The most gas I've put into my PiP is 8.5 gallons.

 

Literally hundreds of people have reported running out of gas in thier Prius's (all generations) over the last 9 years and no one has subsequently reported having to replace thier Fuel pump. Same thing with over filling the gas tank and having to replace the Carbon air filter, nor has anyone ruined their hybrid battery by running on it after running out of gas. This is the value of keeping tabs on a Chat group over time. Use it!

 

I had my last flashing light on last night. Have to drive to work today (30 miles each way and charge at both ends). Gas is like 4.80 a gallon, so I put in 2 gallons. That will last me a couple of weeks until winter blend is fully released and prices come down. Man I love this car!

 

Me too. 150 mile round trip. Full charge once per day (overnight) and 55-59 mpg.

 

WRONG.
Many people have reported that running out of gas caused their Prius computer to lock up, requiring that the car be towed to a dealership, costing hundreds of dollars.
Second, damaging your fuel pump and/or charcoal canister isn't a good idea.

 

I ran out of gas no less than 4 times in my Gen II. Each time all I needed was some gas to get to the gas station and I was fine. 2 of those times I had enough oomph left in the battery to get to the gas station. No computer lockups, no fuel pump replacements, no battery draining. The car was very good at protecting the traction battery. When the SOC got below a certain point, it just drove slower and slower, giving me enough time/distance to pull over safely. It made sure to keep enough charge so that it could fire up the engine when there was enough gas in the car again.

While running out of gas is never a good idea in any car, it's not the end of the world if you do so.

 

BTW, that Gen II now has some 170K miles on it and is still running fine.