How many pips before you get gas

with prius, no such thing as 'too soon'. however, unless i'm in completely unfamiliar territory, i wait for the last pip to start flashing. then, there are still 2 gallons left.

 

There are essentially no 'downsides' to getting gas 'too soon'. (The computer can become confused if it takes less than 3 gallons to fill, 5 minutes of time wasted every six months?)

The downsides to getting gas too late include multiple walks to a gas station, (my Gen 2 needed 3 gallons before it 'knew' you added gas, I hear rumours the Gen 3 needs just 2 gallons) Tow truck fees, (if you try to start it with out filling it with 3 gallons, it sets a code you need to clear),, or a week of downtime at the dealer (if you run the HV battery down to it won't start the engine, you need a HV Battery charger shipped to your dealer)

When I had a Gen 2 with a variable sized gas tank, I used the theory:
Get gas at 3 pips if your mother in law is in the car. (Stranding your MIL in a car while you walk for gas multiple times may be a marriage ending event, even if she lives)
Get gas at 2 pips if you spouse is in the car. (You will never live it down)
Get gas at 1 pip if you are solo and your spouse won't find out if you run out.
If the last pip blinks get gas RIGHT now.

Now that I have a v, I find it much more reliable, so I have removed one pip from my grid, I drive to no pips if my wife is not in the car.

 

I tank up any time we're below 50% and passing by my favourite gas station choice. A couple of reasons:

First off, it's convenient, hassle free. More importantly, I hate like hell anyone else tanking up. They (unnamed, LOL) invariably mess it up, either not filling up completely, and/or not logging the odometer/trip meter at time of fill up.

 

Around town, I reset the "B" tripmeter when 'blink' occurs knowing 2.1 gallons remain. I plan on a gas station visit before the MPG vs miles indicates I'll be out of gas. Being frugal, a cheap gas station. If it looks like I might run under a gallon, I switch the display to power-flow to see if the power arrows go away and the gas is gone.

Our 2003 Prius has 1.2 gallons on 'blink' but I pretty much follow the same protocol. Reset the trip meter and add a gas station visit as part of my activities. In this model, the control laws let you know when the gas is finally gone.

I calibrated my fuel indicators with about 6-7, planned, gas outages in the 2010 and nearly 40 in the 2003. Once the gas is finally gone, there is about a mile or so of battery power at 20 mph to find a safe place to park. If at high speed, shift into "N" and then back to "D" when the speed reaches 20 mph. Hit the 'warning' flashers to alert other traffic.

Bob Wilson

 

Usually 2 pips, but have filled up when the last pip began to flash for about 10 miles or so. Still took only
10 gallons or so.

 

Usually after DTE has been at zero for a while I use the (TripMpg * 10) <= (TripMiles) to figure out how far I can go. The most it's taken is 10.3 gallons.

 

2 pips for me. Just like every other car I have owned.

 

Hmm...

You know I'm NOT trying to push anything. I've hung around here enough over the years to know there is little advantage IMO to running the tank down too low or running out of gas.

But I've been filling up, once the last pip starts blinking. Of course I'm in an environment where gas stations are plentiful, so once it does start blinking I can usually pretty quickly find one.

But each time I've filled up, at the point the last pip has started blinking, the amount put in the tank would suggest I had near 2 gallons left. It's never filled with more than 9+ gallons...near 10.

So I've haven't approached "The Last Pip Blinking" as really pushing it.

Am I in more danger than I think I am?

I've always filled my vehicles when their warning lights came on and I've never had a problem or run out of gas. I always took the warning light....as being a warning light. I heed it....but not with a sense of panic.

I've been very hesitant to go by the DTE, because it has shown 20-30+ miles left to go, even when the last pip is blinking. Even though if the gas pump is correct I would easily have at least 20-30 miles more possible.

 

Around town, I usually fill up when the low fuel light comes on and when I'm at 0 mile DTE. It will typically beep at me on my way in to work and I fill up on my way home. When I'm on a road trip, I start looking for a place to stop at 2 pip's or less. Need to stretch the legs anyway.

 

This was one of my many questions so thanks for asking. I have been filling up on 2 pips which is about 8-9 gallons. I don't want to be stranded, lol.

 

I just took a trip out of the country this week. I hit 0-E when i was across the border. I really did not want to deal with the currency conversion, so I pushed the tank until I got back in the US. I was about 100 miles past E and a couple miles back in the states when the gas engine shut down. It didn't feel like it sputtered out, more that it reached a point and the car told the gas engine that it was out. So, right as this happens I see a mile to the next exit sign, so I put it in N to get as much glide as I could. It went below 20mph I put it back in D and sped up a little with the battery. I did that a couple times, the last time being right at the offramp, because at that point the battery quit. Luckily for me it was a pretty steep downhill ramp, and the gas station was only 100 feet up the road. I managed to coast it right up to the pump, had maybe another 50 feet of momentum, so it was close. I ended up putting 11.6 gallons in it. So, this time I got real lucky. I won't be pushing it that far again, but I would say 50 past E is not a problem.

 

I wish I could push my v as far as I did the Prius IV I had previously. I could go 20-30 miles past 0 and not even fill up past 10 gallons. On the v, at 0 miles to empty, I'm putting in somewhere between 10 and 10.5 gallons.

 

The other day pip started to flash and I forgot about it, I drove another 41 miles and still only put 10 gallons in the car to fill it up.

 

UPDATE:

My last fill up, since I was in an area of plentiful gas stations I let the last PIP blink and drove to DTE: Zero.

Psychologically it was nerve racking because the feedback from the Prius was "Flashing Pip" and No cruising range. And I filled up as quickly as possible once I hit Zero on the distance to empty.

But the Pump still only showed a fill of less than 10 gallons. Which would suggest to me that I CAN go to DTE: Zero. Unless the gas station's pumps are wrong, I still would of had nearly 2 gallons remaining.

Part of me wants to experiment....one more time with this.....

You all may await my inevitable " I ran out of gas and was stranded" post.....

 

I ignore the blink and the DTE. I don't fill up until I pass 500 miles on the tank. I still have yet to put 11 gallons or more in the tank... I used to push my Gen II to 480 Miles before fill up. My best tank on that one was 521 miles.

 

I generally wait till one pip, or just when it starts flashing. This when I know where the gas stations are - unless I know I am heading to Costco with two pips remaining.

Later today I am heading out to Luray Va from Northern Virginia (about 100 miles). I have three pips left with 440 miles on Trip A. Will try and wait till Luray for gas. Gas out there is $3.29, locally it is $3.69, and Costco is $3.53. Love cheap gas for a fill up.

I generally use Gas Buddy in figuring out when to fill up at less than two pips if I am planning a road trip.

 

I will wait for the last pip to start blinking...and the electronics to say I have no miles left in the tank. Then I fill up. Normally hardly ever under 500 miles. Then it takes between 9 and 9.5 gallon.

 

kdkuhns, you like to live on the edge, I guess! Even though I'm curious as to how far I can push it, I will generally fill up if it reaches one pip. The beep and blinking gets me very nervous. Now that I have a daily commute of over 100 miles round trip, I'll fill up at the Exxon near my house because it's the cheapest station on my route, even if I have 3 pips left. I'm pretty sure I could do one more round trip with no risk of running out of gas, but I'd rather not risk it.

 

I buy gas 20 gallons at a time. I fill up the Prius and put the rest in gas containers. I drive about 50 miles a day to work so I normally wait until I see 1 pip before I put more gas in. If there were gas in the containers, I would put 5 gallons in and NOT fill it up. Each gallon of gas weighs about 6 lbs, there is no advantage for me to fill the tank up because it will take more gas to carry the extra fuel around. If I leave the tank half empty, the car is about 30 lbs lighter than if it was filled up.