Prius Two Eco Tank Depletion

congrats and welcome! yes, it's just an estimate, and compares your current driving to historical average.

 

The DTE (Distance to Empty) is an estimate based on some algorithm (not clear yet which one), supposedly based on historical fuel consumption.

When it reaches 0 though, it seems (I am going through a second tank on my Gen3 exactly to check this; results on a first tank here) to calculate the DTE based on 2.5gal/10L left in the tank. Essentially, when DTE gets to zero, you have still at least 2gal of fuel left. Which means a good 100mi worth at 50 mpg average.

The best way though is to calculate that yourself.
Simply take the miles driven so far, dived by the current tank average MPG and you get the gallons left in the tank. Based on that, you can make your estimations on how many miles left you have to drive.

• E.g. (500mi driven so far) / (50mpg average of tank) = 10gal used
• Fuel tank on Gen4 is 11.36gal) - (10gal used so far) = 1.36gal left at that point.
• If you continue to *average* 50mpg, it means your range should be 1.36*50 = 68mi to EMPTY tank (*really empty tank*).

Because your average MPG from the moment of calculation point onward could be lower, I'd leave a bit of leeway in the calculation to give yourself some buffer. (e.g. (1.36gal left) * 40mpg = 54.4 mi left to drive, in "comfort)

I have never used the DTE in my Gen3, because for EU distances, it is way too conservative. When the fuel gauge beeps, it means I have still 7-8L at least of fuel and it is time to visit a gas station sooner or later, depending on where I drive in the next days (city commute) or in that specific moment (highway in the middle of nowhere - which in EU means then next gas station is *at most* 30-50 mi away...).

There is another post where I uploaded an xls that can be customized on one's own fuel consumption averages and "comfort level" to know how much is there left to drive before the tank goes dry.

 

Maybe just watch the tank status blips, fill when it's getting low.

 

This is what I do using 2.1 gal (US) and resetting a trip meter. I then calculate how much remains and refuel before it falls below 0.5 gal (~2L).

Bob Wilson

 

Must be different on us spec models. My DTE shows 140 miles and that is approx 2.5 gallons left in tank since it takes about 9.5 gallons to click.

LG-H901 ?