My 2007 prius ran out of gas last weekend. I drove with the battery/motor only, and managed to get close to the gas station. Then it completely shut off. I tried to coast it to the pump, but it finally stopped at about 30 feet away from the pump. I got off the car and pushed it but forgot to change from "D" to "N", we 4 people tried hard and pushed it to the pump. Now I am concerned, will it damage the transmission? Also completely drain the battery will have any side effect? I saw another post that the error code "add fuel" or something like that will void the battery warranty. Thanks a lot
On a Prius the transmission is always mechanically engaged, whether in D, N, R, or B. Shifting only changes the instructions to the computer as to behavior. In N you don't have to fight any of the motors. In D there may be a bit of a struggle, but you shouldn't have done any damage. As for the traction battery, it's a bad idea to drive after you run out of gas. You wouldn't try it in a regular car - don't try it in a Prius either. With the Gen III it's not an issue, since it goes dead when you run out of gas. As for your misadventure, running it down once isn't going to kill your battery. If you reset and keep driving you can do some damage, but as long as you didn't do that you should be okay. Tom
Let's take this one step further. What happens if you accidentally kept the car in "D" whilst in an auto car wash that you drive through? The reason I'm asking is sometimes the shifter is a little finicky when you try to jiggle it into Neutral. One time it happened and I was in "D" but only for around 7 seconds while being pulled through.
If you leave it in D in an auto car wash... it rolls forward. Unless, of course, you're holding the brake.
The Prius does have a drop dead voltage that is higher than the battery kill voltage. So your traction battery is probably okay.. but I wouldn't make it a habbit of running out of gas. Now having the car in D while pushing it is not a problem at all, since it's all just software. The only thing that can be an issue is trying to push the car while in park. Now if you had some juice in the car and you were pushing it in D, it will be a bit harder to push, but it will actually charge the batteries... In theory you could have pushed for a bit and drove for a bit... though it's probably better to just push... So things are probably still okay...
It's not a bad idea if you don't run the battery down too far. Two weeks ago, I ran out of gas on the freeway. I was already going 75 MPH. I put it into N and coasted to the next off ramp. I had 6 bars left by the time I put it back into D at 30 MPH. I then drove another 1/2 mile to the nearest gas station. I pulled in with 3 bars left. No chance of damage to the battery since it frequently goes into the 2 bars if you sit in park with the AC on.
Actually moving the car in "D" with other than its' own power can be dangerous for the car in some situations. It will generate power, which -may- not be manageable by the electronics. But pushing by hand wouldn't cause a problem. You can't generate enough power to cause damage. In fact, you probably put a tiny bit of charge back into the battery. People can generate around 0.5 HP short term. So even if ten people were pushing that would be only about 5 HP of power. MG2 and the inverter can handle 40 HP for short periods. People can only generate power for even shorter periods. DO NOT push/pull the car with another vehicle though, because that way can generate enough power to be dangerous to the systems. If it happens again, or if someone else wants to push a Prius, do so in "N" if possible. It will be easier, and it won't generate as much power.
The biggest problem I see in running out of gas if someone continues to keep their foot to the floor trying to maintain speed. That is going to result in a futile high amp drain on the batteries. Any seasoned Prius driver should know better than to do this if they run out of gas. You want to glide to your destination, using battery traction as little as possible. Unless one has to climb a hill to get to a station it really shouldn't be a major problem. Considering that mountain climbs routinely drain the batteries of some Prius, it is like they are running out of gas daily. Some folks have repeatedly restarted their car after running out of gas and moved it on electric. That is a bad idea as it will draw the battery down below normal minimums What was your battery SOC display showing when you restarted with gas in the car?
Not to worry, the computers only show you ~40% to 80% range on the battery. 3 years ago a friend of mine drove his '05 out of gas then on electric until it totally died at the original destination. Put gas in, not had any problems. Like others said, don't make a habit of it, nor push the electric range if you do run out of gas. Just get to a safe place and call AAA or hike to the station with a gas can.
Shouldn't be a problem then. The high amp draw would not have been a good thing, but like I said there are other situations that will draw hard on the battery as well.
