First PIP (Fuel Gauge) Blues

sorry, not sure what you're asking here.

 

ah, okay, sorry i can't help, all the best!

 

Don't overthink the fuel gauge, it isn't sufficiently accurate or linear or consistent for what you want it to do.

This is true of most cars, not just the Prius. The fuel sloshes around, 'F' isn't really at the top, 'E' isn't really at the bottom, each gauge increment doesn't represent the same amount of fuel, and the components are cheap enough that there is variation from car to car.

 

The only pip worth worrying about is the bottom one.

 

GOOD NEWS if we can find another recent 2013 Prius owner with similar observations.

We got our 2010 Prius in May 2009 and I'm seeing close to 120 miles on the first 'pip' and roughly 50 miles on each subsequent 'pip'. I have long wondered how long it would take for someone in Toyota to 'fix the problem.' Sounds like the 2013 may have fix.

If you can get a copy of the "New Car Features," you might be able to find the fix described.

Bob Wilson

 

or you can drive another hundred miles and then fill up.

 

Several points:
* Your OP claimed 52-55 MPG, with exceeds the EPA label. I fail to see a consumption problem here.
* Regarding the roughly 50 miles per gauge pip, that sounds reasonable. Don't overthink the fuel gauge accuracy beyond that, see my previous post at #5.
* Regarding the flashing pip at 400 miles, the industry norm is to leave a considerable safety margin beyond the low fuel warning or 'E' position of the needle or display. You cannot measure the real refill volume without first consuming all of that safety margin and actually running out of fuel.

For an example of how far a typical GenIII can go once after the pip starts flashing, see Bob's earlier post at: [WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III). Before testing this yourself, remember that fuel consumption varies drastically with conditions, and sensor and gauge accuracy will vary from car to car. You may have drawn a longer straw than Bob, or a shorter straw.

This topic has spawned many many threads.

 

My 2012 Five loses the first Pip at about 40 to 45 miles. No fail.

SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 ? 2

 

It seems that in the new Prius the pip goes down early while in the older ones including mine very late - I don't believe it means anything other than you need to learn the gauge in each car. I can almost know exactly how nmuch it will take to refill after learning how to "read it"

 

Honestly, in the 3+ years I've owned my car, I can't tell you when I lose the first pip. I'm with RDGrimes, only worry about the last pip.

 

Thanks for the shout-out but I would like to cite one specific post in that thread:
[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | Page 10 | PriusChat

The arrows in the energy display go away when the last of the gas is gone. The car silently goes into EV mode and depending upon the battery SOC, you have a couple of hundred yard to a mile to find a safe place to park . . . RIGHT NOW!

Bob Wilson

ps. I've added details about the energy flow arrows going away to the first post. It now pretty well describes all that is known about running out of gas in a 2010 Prius.

 

I've been doing a "pip study" on our Gen2.
We are seeing about 100 miles on first pip and 25 to 30 miles thereafter.
The next to last pip lasts more like 50 miles.

Here is what the data looks like so far:

1. 10 pips Filled
2. 9 pips at 110 mi at 49.4 mpg
3. 8 at 146 at 49.9
4. 7 at 170 at 50.5
5. 6 at 199 at 51.2
6. 5 at 229 at 52.2
7. 4 at 261 at 51.8

So I plan to calculate MPG at each interval and normalize miles to 50 mpg. Some of these intervals I am getting ~60 MPG but the miles traveled per pip is only ~25 miles. I know the next to last pip lasts more like 50 miles, so at some point the curve is not straight.

The reason I am doing this is to understand if the display MPG varies randomly based on tank fullness or other variables. Also in combination with SCANgauge (new user) I am trying to see if there is some way to estimate energy content of the gaso in the tank and correlate this to MPG.

 

Yep, first click only. The floats in the tanks probably have a big variance in how they are calibrated.