How many miles can you drive after "0"

Having 2 gallons left when the gauge shows empty made perfect sense in the days of the big 15mpg V8s. 30 miles to find some gas.

It makes less sense on the 2010 Prius where 2 gallons usually gives 100 miles. Gen II Prius had the much maligned fuel bladder so almost no one seemed to know how much fuel they had.

 

The G3 Prius doesn't have the fuel tank bladder? If not, it should make filling up much more consistant.

 

No fuel bladder on the G3. Its best non-feature.

 

I only have 1135 miles on my car so don't have much data yet.

I just filled mine about 2 miles after the last bar started flashing. The miles to empty read 22 miles when I filled it.

Mine took 9.6 gallons after I carefully topped it off get max fuel in. If the 11.9 rated fuel tank capacity is correct, I had 2.3 gallons remaining

That would have been about 1.9 remaining if I had run it down to zero.

 

I figure it costs me no more to keep the tank full as it does to drive the car on empty. Either way, the care burns the same amount of gas. But, by filling the tank frequently (usually at a half tank - not much less) I am

"Semper Paratus"

(always prepared - the motto of the USCG)

 

Some things to think about.

Are you sure that you are filling the tank to capacity when the pump shuts off?

Do you know how much of the fuel in a near empty tank the pickup can't get to?

Unless you don't mind walking, don't push it too far.

Good Luck.

 

1. After the pump shuts off the 4th time filling as slowly as possible, it is filled to a consistent capacity

2. If Toyota followed automotive standards, the rated capacity is for usable fuel, not total fuel.

3. Thanks Mom.

 

Although you will burn extra fuel just to carry around the extra weight of half a tank of fuel that never gets used. I seem to get better mpg as the tank empties out.

 

This matches very well with the suggestion that 2.1 gallons (7.5liter) would remain when the fuel light starts to blink as at that time DTE is 32km (20miles) at least in my car. So when fuel light starts to blink with 2.1gal/7.5liters this would give you maximum of 90miles or 150km.

 

I had a 2001 for a long time (7 years), and the running joke was that the gas gauge was really a guess gauge. When my card got to the "e" it meant, buy GAS NOW or you will be walking. In 2001, there wasn't a miles left option, and the top half of the gauge was actually about 3/4 of the tank, so when it read half full, I started thinking about buying gas. In fact I usually bought gas when the miles driven on the trip Odometer hit about 425. I knew I had 50 or so left (10 gallon tank), but better safe than sorry. It will be nice to have one that is more accurate when my car gets here.

 

Good to see some of these old threads revived.

I have been down to the last pip blinking a few times and 2 gal remaining is about what I have seen if I fill it up at that point. But to be on the safe side I try to fill up at two pips or before.

 

My experience seems to match that of most other people. There appear to be about 2 gallons left when the 0 miles mark is displayed.

I'm a low mileage driver with most of my driving being local. I don't really look at the "miles left" part of the screen. I tend to just take the mpg displayed on the screen and multiply by 10. That gets me pretty close to what trip mileage I will have to fill up at.

If I am doing local driving/not paying attention to mileage and I get the beep, I'll fill up when it is most convenient for me. If I am on the highway, I'll start looking.

When I fill up, I stop at the first click. It is very rare for me to put more than 10 gallons in the car, although it is usually close.

Better safe than sorry. Especially in the winter when the engine will be running more.

 

I burned out a fuel pump by running my gas tank to empty (It was a Chevy not a Prius). Never again. Don't make a practice of running low on fuel, or you may be stuck with a towing bill, plus the cost of replacing the fuel pump.

 

The fuel pump, or the Chevy?

 

I get about 46.5 mpg in my Prius 3 2012. I run it to 0 weekly but I drive 128 miles a day roundtrip, 5 days a week. I run the cruise at 75mph for 60 miles or so roundtrip. I try to fill up around 430 miles to a tank. I wouldn't worry about it hitting 0. The first week I had my car I actually stopped at a business to ask how far the next gas station was in case I had to walk because I hadn't realized the car was at 0, ha ha..

 

I'll quote myself from the other thread...

 

I've gone 60-70 miles after the gauge read 0. I filled 11.2 gallons. It was stupid of me.