i ran out of gas

When you run out, you then have no fuel in the fuel lines or over the pump. So yes it will take more than advertised.

When the car says it is hungry, fill it up. The flashing pip was your warning that you are running on anything between 2 gallons and fumes

 

OK Eliot I did not see you on the side of the road, so you could have kept it a secret.

Seems to me this is the second report in the last 2 weeks of >12 gal to refill.

 

Did the blinking bottom pip of the fuel gauge never actually go into blinking mode?

Or were you expecting an additional warning light? There isn't another, that blinking pip is the final warning.

 

it's not the end of the world. no harm, no fowl.

 

You also get a beep at the moment the last pip starts blinking. You get a visual and an audio low fuel indicator.

 

This will go on your permanent record you know.

 

[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | PriusChat

Bob Wilson

 

i never ran out of gas and never managed to pump more than 10 gals in mine, but the low gas level warning is too subtle IMHO. the lone quiet beep can be missed if it happens on start as it could be masked by seat belt or reverse buzzer. The orange low gas lamp in my other toyotas is much better.

 

There have been people claiming that the blinking PIP will turn off alltoghether (or turn amber or do something else) to indicate that the tank is really, really, REALLY empty.
No one has ever seen that happen and this is confirmation that it does not happen.

 

Bob Wilson (Post #6 above, follow link to his test report) has intentionally run his cars out of fuel many times, for fun and sport, but mostly for engineering curiosity and testing. And he reports no additional warning until the Power Steering light comes on, moments after the fuel tank really is empty.

When Bob reports no other warning, then I am very highly confident that no such warning exists.

 

I eventually found that IF you have the power flow display on, the arrows will go away when the car is finally out of gas. This gives enough warning to use the traction battery to reach a safe place. When the "PS" light comes on, too late.

Bob Wilson

 

I drive at least 20 miles past the "low fuel" warning every tank, and depending on routing and my preference for fat-filled sweet or salty treats, I sometimes drive as much as 50 miles past the "low fuel" warning.

At 93,000 miles (roughly 190 fill ups) I don't think I've put more than 10 gallons in my tank more than a dozen times and I've never put 11.

#whenlowfuelisnt

 

My dad used to check the gas level on our '58 Beetle with a stick.

 

This has now placed an entirely inappropriate image in my mind...

 

I've run out of fuel twice now in the PiP, and have never pumped the rated fuel capacity into the tank. The car seems to shut off about 0.4 gallons short of the rated capacity. The last time I ran it out of gas, it was very out of gas. After coasting to a stop, I would start the car again and build up speed until it cut out again, coasting as far as I could. Then I would repeat about 4 times until it didn't want to go anymore. I came up 3/4 of a mile short of the gas station and had to buy one of those overpriced fuel cans.

Seems strange that the standard Prius can take a gallon more than the rated capacity, while the PiP comes up 0.4 gallons short.

 

Are your results different because yours is a plug in?