Im only getting 500-550 miles on a full tank of gas!

Not resettable with OBD2 adapter & app?

 

I didn't have one at the time but I did have a multi-tool.

Bob Wilson

 

FYI: the EPA estimate of 640 miles is based on 11.5 gallons of gas (the tank capacity) times 54 MPG (the rated Prime MPG) plus 25 miles EV. Go ahead you do the math.

 

toyota didn't make the rookie mistake.

 

Yeah, Uncle Bob!!

.

 

I've gotten 700 miles on a tank twice on my 2004 Prius. Should be a '700 miles club' thread somewhere around here.
I have run the 2004 dry once. All it took to get started again was at least 3 gallons of gas. No code reset necessary.
Tanks back then were rated at 11.9 gallons but I've gotten 12.4 gallons in them, and that's without having first run completely out.
My 2016 is the first car that I'm topped off without having to squeeze at least 2 more gallons in.

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

Another consideration is that the station likely has E10, and the EPA figures and range were determined with straight gas.

 

I'm trying to remember what exactly I saw the only time I used any substantial amount of gas, which was a trip Austin to Houston and back a couple months ago.

The numbers at the time also didn't jive well with Toyota's projected range, but I only have ballpark numbers to work with, other than what the P.Prime's computer calculated, which I would expect to be pretty accurate. Also, I don't think my driving situation was particularly ... "nominal." That is, arguably at least, not what one would probably use to specify range per tank.

Here's what I remember for that trip: I started with around 3/4 tank and a full battery. On the way to Houston, I was mostly in HV, but would hop down to EV mode on the occasional times when traffic would slow down. Best I can recall, when I got to my mom's place about 190 miles from my house, both the tank and the battery were a little below the half-full at that point. The computer said I got (and this number I don't recall for sure) somewhere around 62MPG.

After driving around in Houston probably a total of 70ish miles, killing off the rest of the charge along with some gas, the return trip I remember the numbers for a little more clearly:
- Entirely in HV mode (which of course includes some EV operation, but all in HV mode).
- To be cautious, I put in a total of 5ish gallons on the way back.
- I ended up at between a 1/4 and 3/8ths tank.
- I don't know the tank reading when I started the return trip.
- Most of the trip was on a clear night at 75MPH.
- Outdoor temperature was probably around 80F.
- The first half of the trip was pretty flat, but the second half was moderately hilly terrain.
- In all that, the computer said I averaged 56.8MPG.

56.8MPG sounds great for 75MPH entirely in HV. I obviously didn't take precise measurements, so I can't say for sure, but that doesn't seem to jive well with a 600mile gas-only range. I say that because I started out at around 8 1/4 gallons, added around 5 gallons, and ended up at around 3 1/4 gallons. That's somewhere around 10 gallons consumed over the entire trip, plus 30 miles of EV, burned for a total of around 450 miles traveled.

So, in short, those ballpark numbers doesn't seem to jive well with the >600 range, but they are just ballpark numbers, and I'd expect the computer to be able to make a pretty darned precise accounting.


iPhone ? Pro

 

Are people really getting 54mpg? I'm getting about 70mpg on routes that are mostly expressway.. so with 9 usable gallons that's 630 miles right?
Last night I had to use cabin heat, and yes.. the first few miles of an 18 mile expressway trip were low... 35-40mpg.. but it ended with 70mpg average over 18 miles...

It was 59 degrees out and had the temp set to 79 degrees.

(ok wait.. about 5 miles was streets after expressway...)

 

Which is pretty much how nearly all car makers figure and advertise their product ranges.

But I'm noticing only hybrid and EV drivers setting aside some of that fuel capacity for their own personal safety margin, then complaining about not getting the full advertised range. Drivers of traditional cars seem to be much less OCD about this.

 

We happen to be in a forum where the members compare notes on performance with facts and figures. People ask questions to try to understand why things don't add up and hopefully how they can improve things. I guess being rational and scientific can look like OCD.

But the vast majority of hybrid and EV drivers don't even come here. They're just driving their cars. So how do you know what hybrid and EV drivers are like?

 

It is what we do for fun.

Bob Wilson

 

IOW, retirement would be boring without this.

 

Perhaps OCD was the wrong language for this.

If they were being rational or scientific about it, they would be running to actual fuel starvation, or to some predetermined or stated criterion before that. But no, these complaints have uniformly been coming from folks who didn't experience fuel starvation, and almost never disclose their actual stopping point short of starvation.

The Owner's Manual clearly states an approximate amount of fuel remaining when the low fuel warnings appear, but these complainants never reference that disclosed buffer or margin. And most of them don't mention which low fuel warning or clue or indicator (DTE=0? flashing bar? 1 solid bar? 2 bars? 1/4 tank? 1/2 tank ) they are using as their own personal ultimate range point.

I just know that none of them mention actually running out of fuel, before the advertised range or otherwise. Only the science-engineering types, such as Bob, do that. E.g. as in these threads:
[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | PriusChat
[WARNING] Running out of gas | PriusChat

 

Here is another one for the Prime. Apparently Bob made 2.
How to run out of gas | PriusChat