Ran out of fuel AND battery!!

A lot of those 4 pages became a meta-discussion about the thread itself... as a discussion forum it is fair to expect people to respond to this meta-discussion as well.

In my view there's a lot of tone on BOTH sides that has been unnecessary and unhelpful.

 

True, there has been plenty of bashing. But he called folks smug on page 1...

 

When my Prius broke down the other month the recovery guy sent by Toyota wouldn't even bother trying to investigate the problem.

His thinking went along the lines of; if it's a hybrid we flatbed them to the dealers.

 

Sure, why not?

 

You may not have noticed that YOU are a Prius owner.

MOST hybrid vehicles act differently from non-hybrids when they run out of fuel to protect the traction battery from damage. (Read article linked below.) So blaming your car or Toyota for your own ignorance of this fact has resulted in what you characterize as knee-jerk reactions from smug Prius owners. I've owned lots of cars other than Prii and I've been smug most of my life.

What Happens When Your Hybrid Runs Out Of Gas?

In point of fact, your car was smart enough to protect itself from YOU.

 

If you don't like the aol article above,here's another:

What to Do When Your Hybrid Car's Battery Dies - Popular Mechanics

 

Neither, from what I read, was the car PROPERLY refilled with the recommended amount of fuel before anyone attempted to restart it. I am not smug about owning a Prius, but I did read the manual before I set about using the car on a regular basis, because I had never driven, let alone owned, a hybrid before - and I learned enough to tell the others who might drive my car to never run it dry or fully drain the EV battery.

As others have stated, I think what set folks off was the fact that the driver was blaming the car for what was obviously an operator error.

 

You've taken a lot of heat within this thread.
But it's not because of what happened to you, it's because of your attitude and viewpoint about what happened to you.

Within your original post you make some statements that simply are not valid or correct.

Your honest admission that you are notorious for running cars when the fuel gauge is in the red, well? Prius owners are going to tell you this is NOT a good idea with a hybrid, better change that habit.

" I mean SHEESH! isn't the battery meant to give you the extra km or two? "-Quite frankly...no, the battery isn't designed to allow you to run out of gas.

" That pretty bad design logic when the car runs out of fuel and battery that there is no redundancy or fail-over"

-What vehicle hybrid or otherwise gives you a "fail over" if you totally run out of fuel? As far as I know, all vehicles stop running when they run out of fuel, hybrid or otherwise. If I run my Honda Fit to empty? The engine is going to stop. I am not then going to complain that Honda didn't provide a secret extra gas tank, or a magical process that allows me to drive further without fuel.

"With all the 'smart electronics' you'd think the electronic fuel gauge would have a FINAL warning (something like 'less than 5km please refuel'), much like the battery on an i-pad! I mean lets be honest here, the Prius is like a computer with wheels on it, I mean it fires up like a bloody Mac or Laptop FFS!!"

-Again, the vehicle is designed with a FINAL warning...it's that bottom fuel bar that was flashing. That would be that final warning. I think most people in this thread were trying to tell you...just don't let that happen. Your admitted practice of driving a vehicle to the "red" or low? Is not a good practice. Not a good practice for any vehicle, especially not a good practice with a Prius.

And then finally...

" maybe Toyota will issue a firmware update to fix this problem!!!"

What problem? The vehicle worked and behaved exactly as it should. Basically, YOU allowed YOURSELF to run out of gas, thought that somehow driving a Hybrid with a battery would allow you to drive further...not true, and not a good idea. Then you became frustrated when this electronic, gas and battery vehicle did not simply start right back up after you added fuel. Again people within this thread tried to tell you why it did not start right up, and outline the exact procedures needed to restart in your very avoidable situation.

Did you take too much heat within this thread? Probably. From myself and others. But it's blood in the shark infested waters when YOU make a mistake, then try to blame it on the vehicle.

It's too bad the vehicle does not behave in the manner you for some reason believe it should. But the further truth is The Prius, for all it's electronics, Battery and Hybrid reality is NOT "only" a computer. It is a automobile and a vehicle. And if you can find ANY vehicle that is designed to purposely allow you to run out of gas without consequence? Well good luck with that.

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Thanks for the link. Until now, I don't recall seeing a specific number of no-fuel engine start attempts allowed before it locks up to protect the battery. That number is THREE tries.

 

^ In both of the above links they talk about avoiding pushing or flat towing the Prius, that it might cause the car to generate excessively. AFAIK, with the car off there's no way to turn the front wheels, it's automatically in Park.

 

Put the car in accessory mode by pressing the power up button twice with foot off the brake, select neutral. True for Gen II Prius.

 

The C does not have a power button. Higher trim levels may have push-button start, is that what you mean?

 

for a packages 3 and 4 in the US... there's a power button.

it wouldn't be called a "push-button start".. though it accomplishes the same thing... but yes.. it's more politically correct to call it a "power button"

 

See, "power button" to me would be something along the lines of the EV mode button or the ECO mode button - putting the car into a stronger or more powerful mode. I would never consider calling a push button start to be a power button, I'd call it the start button.

It does seem a contradictory way of thinking, though, since it is clearly the power button I press to turn on my computer. LOL

 

...and it actually says "POWER" on the button.

 

lol.. yes... that too

 

Hey, don't pick on me! I only have a 2, haven't even seen the interior of the higher trim models, so how the heck would I know! ;-)

I still think it's confusing to have a power button that does not take you into "power" mode. It should be the "on" button or the "start" button... oh, never mind, I'm just being silly...

 

Sorry, I just couldn't resist.

You are quite right of course... it's not so bad for us with the c as there is no "Power mode", but it is a bit silly to have Prii with both a Power button and a Power mode which are two completely different things.