How to run out of gas

I don't know specifically about the Prius, but in most cars, that's true.

 

Bob what I don't see is whether you drive the car to an empty tank then drove until EV mode stops.
Or if you stopped with a mile remaining.

On the volt with no gas miles and no EV miles I can still drive several miles past zero.

So I guess when the Prime says zero EV and zero gas it just stops?

 

Bob, when the gas tank on the Prime complains that there is 0 miles remaining, how many miles buffer is really remaining? The Gen3 had about 70 miles in reserve.

 

I filled up when it said I had 12 miles remaining. It took 9.9 gallons out of a claimed 11.3 gallon tank.

So, 1.4 gallons * expected MPG - 12 is the answer to your question.

 

Seems like none of the above are too helpful, leave the average owner without much of a clue, in need of a tow.

 

In all generations the EV battery is protected by the car? I mean, if run low and low, he stops before damage the traction battery?

Posted via the PriusChat mobile app.

 

In 60 combined years of driving, neither my wife nor I have ever come close to running out of gas. The closest I've ever come was a few weeks ago in the Prime, and that was intentional and I still had over 100 miles of remaining range including an 80% battery charge. With a regular car like my 2004, I usually filled up with 3-5 ticks still left on the gas gauge. In 13 years of ownership, I never once saw the warning light.

 

Lee Jay, you are worse than my dad. He let's it get a little below a quarter of a tank. I don't view my tank being low on fuel until I have driven at least 40 miles with the gas light on. I have tested my trip computer and drove 10 miles past beyond the end of range which is zero. So -10 miles and I chickened out and went to the nearest gas station.

I like how Bob Wilson thinks. 40 or so times he has run out of fuel. For the record, I have never actually run out of fuel. My dad for years insisted that I liked to drive on fumes.

 

I tank up whenever the gauge has dropped below half. Primary reason: I want to be the one filling it, using same technique, recording odometer at time of fill, and noting/resetting trip meter (just for insurance, and to log the ongoing Toyota mpg BS factor). Basically because I've been running a spreadsheet, pretty much since new, and whenever anyone else fills it, confusion reigns.

This works best for my motives, and with our low usage, still only means a fillup every 3~4 weeks. Plus gas prices are very stable around here, and all the stations in an area will have the same prices.

Still, if you ran outa gas, it'd be nice if the car showed one simple warning, that said "YOU RAN OUTA GAS".

 

You mean to tell me, that your fancy PiP Prime doesn't have a low fuel warning? I would ask for a REFUND of my 35K!

My cheap little '16 regular hatchback has this...

 

FWIW, I'm never going to see that: even gas gauge just below half, I go into Chicken Little mode.

 

Yes, the Prime has that same warning. I saw it the one time I intentionally drove until the light turned on.

And, yes, I don't plan to ever see it again. There's no need. I go to Costco for food more often than I need gas so filling up while I'm there anyway takes about 3 minutes. And in the Prime, that's probably just a few times a year.

 

I'll be joining that club shortly (if it were for the Prime!), I'll top 800 this afternoon. I think i'll have to get gas tomorrow though -- my first fillup...

 

I agree, sir. That was the one & only time I ran the car to the warning light. It was my very first tank of gas, and I wanted to approximate how many miles the Prius could achieve. Never done it since. I'm cautious & conservative. Rarely allow the fuel to go below 1/2 tank.

I may be wrong, but that warning only pops up while using the Navigation? Not sure.

 

May I guess that neither of you have memories of the OPEC Oil Embargo? When numerous people were trying to figure out how to make certain long trips on days when fuel rationing systems in certain states forbid them to legally purchase fuel?

Bob also mentioned fuel price gouging in some sparsely served areas at night. My first-hand experience with that happened in broad daylight, where the attendant (at a station I had previously used several times) was capitalizing on his holiday monopoly by demanding a pump unlock fee equivalent to a half tank of fuel. When I walked in just behind another customer, that attendant also made clear that we could not share that fee, each of us had to pay the full amount. Both of us walked out.

My gauge was still above a half tank, but with that short-fuel-range car (which previously ran dry with the needle still above E), it wasn't obviously enough to reach the next fuel station I knew to be open, so I sweated the next hundred miles. Since then, I haven't put up with the common multi-hour fuel gauging uncertainty, but have more carefully characterized the real fuel level of my tanks, to something more similar to commercial aircraft. So, if I'm ever again in a similar situation, I'll be in a better position to choose among (1) pay the extortion (if the station is even open at all), (2) backtrack to the previous known fuel, (3) detour, (4) camp out until fuel stations reopen, or (5) proceed forward on the intended path with confidence of reaching the destination or next open fuel.

Nowadays, the internet allows me to refuel based on price. Knowing the real fuel range expands the selection. And absent an emergency, I still arrive with more fuel range (expressed as operating time) remaining than do most commercial airliners.

But this tracking and computation and fuel planning does require some fondness for math, so it isn't for everyone.

gas163mi2.jpg by fuzzy1 posted Mar 13, 2014 at 9:27 PM

DSCN1334gas106c.jpg by fuzzy1 posted Mar 22, 2014 at 10:15 AM

 

I do, but it's irrelevant. If you can't safely make the trip you are planning on the available sources, you can't leave. Period. And in the Prime, with a 600+ mile range, it's even less relevant now.

 

I just like to top-off more often, (even in a Prius) because you never know about the unforeseen emergency that might occur. In my area it could be a natural disaster, mud slides, earthquake, riots, fires, 3 hour long freeway closures, etc. You just never know. I've seen it all.

Gas? Check.
Glock? Check.
Water? Check.
Left-over pizza? Check.