FYI: Running out of fuel

You definitely had a good resolution but several stories from folks that have run out of gasoline and continued on electric only are horror stories. Serious damage can be done to the vehicle's electrical system and battery when it is driven without gas.

I've been paranoid about the guess gauge since day-1 and make it a point to fill up once I'm at 2 bars. One of my co-workers has an older '04 Prius without the bladder and makes it a point to show me that he can run confidently down to 1 blinking bar...

 

I have a strange one for you. I have a 04 prius and the wife has an 06. Both bought new.
My prius can drive 100 miles when the beep hits and 1 bar is flashing for the fuel. I was not happy with the mileage I was getting per tank even though I was hitting an average of 47mpg but had to fill up by their warning lights every 8 gallons or so. The manual stated 10+ gallons so I pushed it a few times and figured out exactly where my out of fuel mileage should be...2 years never an issue of running out of fuel and always going a minimum of 80 miles after the fuel low beep and 1 bar blinking..
Now the wifes is a different story..We took hers on a trip about 2 years ago and were driving down the hwy when fuel hit 1 bar, wife said better get gas, I said dont worry it can go roughly 100 miles...low and behold It only went 30 miles and I was out of gas...luckily we were about 2 miles from the next station so we just cruised it on in...the next time this happended it was a problem..the car would not start again after filling it with 5 gallons and we had to tow it to the dealer. They said SORRY and reset a few things and we were off..
So the moral of this story:
My 2004 prius: 100 miles safely after 1 bar blinking fuel light
Wifes 2006: Better get gas right away or the famous "I told you so's start flying"

 

There will be a code stored in the cars computer that you ran it out of fuel. You can erase that code by disconnecting the 12V battery for a few min. (pressing the brake pedal with it disconnected will drain all power). You will then have to re-enter all radio stations and calibrate the window auto-down (instructions are in the owners manual). Both easy.
If you leave the code in the computer -some- dealers will get all huffy at you.

As you still had a few bars of battery charge displayed you did NO damage, so don't worry if some members get all concerned.

 

The situation could have been a lot worse. Can you imagine if, you had run out of fuel, and we in the middle of rush hour gridlock on the highway? You wouldn't be able to move; a tow truck would take forever to get to you; then it would take forever to get off the highway.

IN anticipation of any of those types of situations arising, I always make sure to have no less than half a tank - I did that in various cars, and my Jeep, and now my Prius, and it has served me well. Plus, even when gas was really expensive, it made me think I was getting a great deal on gas to only pay $20 for a fillup

 

Lets say you were going cross country, and were worried about running out in the middle of nowhere. Is there any safe way to carry an extra 5 gallons of gas somewhere? Jeeps used to have those 5 gallon jerry cans on the back bumper, for instance.

Conversely, it seems like a perfect after-market addition from some manufacturer....a bigger fuel tank bladder.

 

Paranoid? Why? A quick odometer check shouldn't be a big deal. I fill up shortly after 300 in the dead of winter, 350 in the spring & fall, and 400 in the summer.

As for a factory US Prius without a bladder, there aren't any. Blink is programmed to detect the 8-gallon level and has proven extremly accurate for that... but many don't like filling up so "soon".
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What is the big deal (fear) about running out of gas in the Prius? I don't get it. If you run out you glide down and park the car when out of momentum. What is the danger in that? And the car will cruise for about two miles at 25-30 mph on EV starting from a stop without ever getting into a dangerous battery charge state. I've not tried to determine how far it would run starting from 55, 65 or 70 mph letting it glide down, but I'll bet it is quite a distance on level ground. Sure it isn't going to climb any substantial inclines for you, but in most cases it should be able to get you to a station or at least near one without any danger to the battery.

Yes, if you try to run at the highest speed the EV can reach until you deplete the traction battery you are asking for trouble, but that would just be plain stupid.

I guess the key point is that anyone who focuses on doing a slow draw from the traction battery is unlikely to have trouble. Someone who sees they are out of gas, stomps the pedal and tries to maintain speed by discharging the battery as rapidly as possible is just begging for a really bad day.