88 mile commute to work

I've always wondered about this, since there is at least one person in this forum that intentionally runs his Prius out of gas for fuel efficiency purposes. Like....multiple times.

I don't want to go completely off topic here, but this is probably not a concern for the G4, since there's enough Prius DNA in the car to prevent it. My car (a lowly G3) has a fuel capacity in excess of 12.5 gallons.
I never buy fuel until DTE = 0 and most of the time I never pump more than 10 gallons.
Theory: Either Priuses are so fuel efficient that they actually manufacture fuel or the lower 20-percent of my fuel tank is not measured accurately by the fuel gauge, and thus I would have to travel more than 100 miles past DTE=0 before I actually run out of gas.

Actually?
I'm thinking that you have to draw fuel from the bottom of the tank anyway, otherwise what's the point of carrying around the extra fuel?
I'm guessing therefore that it would be the nasty stuff at the top of the tank that would cause you trouble....or perhaps the nasty mechanic that wanted to make a boat payment.
Sometimes automotive theoreticians also specuguess that fuel pumps require gallons of liquid for cooling - which I personally believe not to necessarily be the case since the pump would be required to be in the very bottom of the tank.....where the "sludge and undesirable contaminants hang out"

Here's the thing.
If you're a hypercommutter, and you buy a car that rigorously measures fuel efficiency, then you should be just as familiar with fuel capacity.
Otherwise?
You don't know juuuuust how far you CAN go if you have to....like if your usual gas station is closed and it's oh-dark-thirty and you have to make an informed decision about whether to stop in an undesirable location or press on to a more favorable location.
Or?
How long you can power your house with a Prius when the power has been off for 7 days.....

I'm completely down with the concept that you should get fuel whenever the little light tells you to....or when you reach a half tank....or whenever they have fresh sticky buns for half off at the 7-11.
Your car...
Your call.

However (comma!) If I have a 12.92 gallon tank, and my car gets 50-MPG, AND i have the ability to quasi-accurately measure fuel efficiency on the fly, then I need a definitive answer for why I don't have a theoretical 600-mile operating range with a nearly 10% reserve.
If there's some kind of wierd defect in the design of my car that prevents me from using 20-percent of my fuel load?
That just doesn't sound........efficient.

That's just how I roll.

Good Luck!!!
Drive safely!!

 

The fuel acts as a lubricant in the fuel pump, so if you run out of gas can cause the pump to fail. Generally speaking you want to be on your way to a gas station should the light come on. More than likely if you wind up running out of gas you'll probably be climbing a hill where the car will consume most gas.

As far as debris in the tank. I'd think that you don't run the tank low you would more than likely end up with more overall crap settling in the tank versus the person who runs their tank low. Either way this is what the fuel filter should be catching anyway.

 

Damn bro your wife has one hell of a drive to and back from work . She's got the perfect vehicle

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I can get 60 plus MPG out of my 2014 Prius if I drive light footed

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