What's a "pip" worth?

the pips mean next to nothing because of your tank bladder. figure about 50mpg and 10 gallons max. fill up early until you get a feel for what you're capable of.

 

It's always a little different. For me, I lose my first pip around 70-80 miles, then get ~40 miles from each pip after that. That means about 430-440 miles per tank, and I fill up about 8.25-8.5 gallons each time, which means I'm getting ~52mpg.

 

I was wondering how much the flashing pip is worth and does it disappear?


Posted from my iPhone via the Tapatalk app.

 

Of course! Maybe another gallon, but I would not test it...

 

it was an engineering mistake. if you get a gen III ( 2010 or 2011), the bladder is gone. the cold won't matter much, it's bad all year round. you'll adjust as you become familiar with your particular car, they are all a little different.

 

Not sure the logic behind the bladder tank. I can put more fuel in my Prius when it is warm out compared to when it is cold. I live in Wisconsin so our Winter's are similar in temperature.

 

it probably disappears with the gas. i wouldn't chance it. i ran out once because i forgot about the flashing pip. and i think every car is a little different. there are some threads here reguarding this if you look around.

 

Yup. In my experience, the bladder is a problem when I stray from my fill-up routine. I usually let it go down all the way to the last pip, and then refill completely. The 70-80 mile first pip thing I told you about only happens when I do this. For example, one time I had to get gas in the middle of my cycle and my first pip disappeared in 36 miles. That tank, I only got 38mpg. Worst in my history of ownership. Although the tank before it was 56 mpg, and the tank after it was 59mpg. Still, I don't like the inconsistency. It scares me.

Now I always wait for my gas to go down to the last pip. That always gets me above 50mpg.

 

The logic is that in an emptier tank vapors can form and escape, thereby wasting the gas you've purchased. The idea was to keep down the volume to prevent vapors from having room to form. In theory it would completely expand on fill-up, but we all know that doesn't always happen.

 

The idea behind the bladder was to not produce as much evaporate, helping you save gas, and helping prevent the emissions of hydrocarbons in the atmosphere. It also prevents the fuel from sloshing around a little bit.

Evaporate canisters also provide some of this, but a bladder provides more prevention of this evaporation.

 

It bothers me too. To expand on my experience, I found your "miles per pip" (mainly the first pip) is proportional to how many pips I had left before refueling. For example, when I have 2 pips left and fill up my first pip usually drops in 70 miles. When it's 3 pips, ~60. 4 = 50. And 5, halfway was about 40, my nightmare as I described previously. In the summer, I've gone down to 1 blinking pip and my first pip was lost after 120 miles! Now that was fun.

But really, there's nothing I can do about it. As long as I keep driving well, everything averages fairly over time.

 

Me three. It might just be the warmer weather, but I've been filling nice and slowly recently and the thing seems to get more gas in. It just went from three to two pips today around 450 miles. It may well be useless, but I figure it doesn't hurt to try if you have an extra minute or so at the pump.

 

I used to get anywhere from 215 to 226 miles from my first pip and 30 to 40 from second and then roughly 50 miles every pip after that.I usually get 630 to 680 a tank with best being 700. Just installed enginer kit 502 miles driven only used 3 pips!

 

It's this plug-in conversion kit that's really awesome until it breaks

P.S. Spelled "Enginer", not a typo.

http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-phev-plug-in-modifications/92414-enginer-plan-b.html
http://priuschat.com/forums/prius-phev-plug-in-modifications/93405-r-i-p-2kw-enginer-kit.html

 

Enginer kit is a plug in conversion for all hybrid vehicle it is the cheapest system you can buy. Only draw back is it is about 90% reliable in the stock form with modifications you can get 95/96% reliability.