Have you ever seen the end of miles to go?????

All the digital assurances aside, if you’d somehow had a view of the inside of the gas tank (a few cups worth of gas sloshing around), maybe you’d be more inclined, to spend that extra dime.

 

for once, i don't know what to say...

 

Those last 20-30 miles to go can definitely disappear quickly. Same thing in my old VW. I often let it get pretty close down to 0, but I haven't gone much past that. Even when I drive it to 0 range, I often can only fill it with 9.5 gallons give or take, and I know the tank is bigger. So, my personal theory is that just like you can go a good 50-75 miles before you see the first visible tick off of Full, you also have that 50-75 miles of range once you get past 0. I haven't been willing to push it, but curious to see how far beyond 0 people have gone though.

 

So what do you call Bob Wilson, who intentionally ran all of his Prii out of fuel, for various engineering tests and curiousity? Here is his test report for his 2010, where he went about 100 miles beyond where you did:

[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | PriusChat

 

I believe that there is still 1 gallon of gas in the tank when the counter gets down to zero. YMMV of course...

 

Many of us have a bit more than that, somewhere between 1.5 and 2 gallons. But not everyone will find as much, especially if hills, foul weather, unfriendly conditions, or tight schedules are involved. The tank is rated for 11.9 gallons, and a number of folks who did run out have been able to refill something close to that. But there are variables involved in the gauging, and a certain fraction of cars will draw the short straws and get caught with less reserve margin.

I've gone only 40-50-ish miles beyond DTE=0, some others have been more daring, not including those who did go to actual fuel starvation.

Here is what the Owner's Manual says:

 

With all due respect (not really) you're an idiot. Tongue in cheek, of course. Why stress (shorten your life) over a few cents at the pump. Also, never "top off" the gas in new cars. Ruins the fuel vapor recovery system and may cause CHECK ENGINE light. This is actually a warning in the manual, probably never cracked it open I guess.

 

I find an average “error” of 7.5% too high, on the displayed mpg of my 2010, vs calc’d. Quotation marks used because I suspect it’s NOT an error.

 

i ran out of gas once, but not on purpose. i was an idiot, or just old

 

This looks @Grit signature worthy.

I bet this hasn't happen much in 17 years here or 60+ years either .

But I'm sure Mrs. Bisco would confirm she hasn't heard that much either.

 

never seen it go ————because our vehicle belongs in the:

 

We have a member here who started a thread to complain about how annoying it is once the refueling vapor recovery system gets jacked and keeps tripping the pump nozzle way early or spurting gasoline out. Mentions a habit of "topping off" the tank. Gets an explanation of the ORVR system and the components that get flooded when misfilling it.



Gets the filler neck replaced, with the attached ORVR valves. Posts "I am confident to say the the problem is resolved." Goes right back to topping the tank off.

Starts another thread eight months later, "I am seriously thinking of getting a new tank." Gets the flooded canister replaced. Seems to resolve the problem again. "So upon my first fill up it looks like I have a normal pumping Prius now. " And goes back to topping the tank off.

Can't make this stuff up.

 

Well I think you should buy a lottery ticket, Mr. Lucky!
We've only had the fuel light come on one time in my wife's 2017 Prius (she, apparently, doesn't know it's legal for her to refill her car....seems to always leave it to me!)
FWIW, I had a fuel line freeze on me in the winter when we first moved to Colorado from Texas so a bit OCD, now, on letting the tanks get low on fuel....usually refill at 1/2 a tank in the winter and between 1/2 and 1/4 the rest of the year. (And only at Top Tier gas stations!)