Total Range for the Prime?

It probably leave at least a 1 gal. reserve.

 

I think it's because Toyota calculated 11.5 gallons of gas (the specified tank capacity) times 54 MPG ( the specified MPG rating) plus the 25 Miles EV 11.5 x 54 = 621 miles + 25 Miles EV = 646 total miles. Now realistically you wouldn't go 646 miles without running out of gas, would you?

 

after ~ 7500 miles, 9 fill ups, my "gas range" still shows ~ 430 miles, don't understand it as I never filled up with more than 1/4 tank, mostly less ... I am choosing to ignore it, un less i go onto a 400+ mile trip.
I know I can go 450+ miles as i've done that, at high speed (avg 70, resulting in ~ 50mpg), if i were to drive more economically on that trip, i'm confident i cold go 700 miles ... what makes me say that? my best tank in my Gen3 was ~650 miles (60.5mpg per Fuelly) and in that car above mentioned trip yielded ~40mpg (trip is ~ 400 mile one way to visit my daughter) and, the Prime is more fuel efficient.
I have also noticed, in my Gen3 i could top off by ~1.5gal, which i always did as I drive ~550 miles per week and I needed to get gas just once per week, in the Prime, i cannot even put 1/2 gal after the nozzle clicks ...
So I don't know what gives with the "gas range" displayed, it's way off and not learning ...

 

Read somewhere that "topping off" at the gas station, after the nozzle clicks, is bad for the car and also usually you end up wasting fuel as some of it overflows back into the gas station's underground tank..

 

In my Gen3, I routinely went 40+ miles after the range to empyty switched to 0, and i just went through my Fuelly record, the most I ever put in was 11.45 gal if for no other reason, I love @bwilson4web 's post about running out of fuel

 

I think that that applies only to states that mandate vapor recovery systems.

 

yea, and it says it's bad for the environment, which i agree with when it really spills over ...
I doubt it's bad for the car though, done it for many years on the Gen3 to avoid getting gas more than once a week

 

The Miles-to-Go gauge is pretty much useless. If you have driven 2,000 miles and you have the mileage, multiply the mileage times 10.5 and that is your typical miles to go. It will leave a couple of gallons in the tank. Rather than do all that, I just watch the miles per tank. If you let the tank get down to a flashing bar, you will have a good idea of your miles to go metric. I consistently get 600 miles per tank in my Gen3 (in summer), so you should be able to blow that away in a Prime.

 

I was surprised when the little gas pump icon came on after 500 miles on a road trip. I'd swallowed the 600+ propaganda without doing the math.

 

As confirmation:

My first full tank was 600 miles on the way home in January. My second full tank, to empty, was 699 miles. These were at speeds of ~70 mph following high-balling trucks although the 699 mile tank was around town for about 99 miles. My fourth tank was a 467 miles, 58.6 MPG, with an estimated 1/4 tank remaining by the 'guess gauge.' These are tanks with only one, fully charge session, at the beginning.

A Prius Prime in HV mode easily achieves +600 mile range.

Bob Wilson

 

What is wrong is your understanding of the "Miles to go on gas" display. It doesn't really mean the distance to fuel starvation.

To better understand, read the very first post of this Gen3 thread, paying particular attention to Bob's actual measured range after the last gas gauge bar started to flash. The Gen3 DTE (distance to empty) reads only about 25 miles at the point of flashing, whereas he actually achieved 122 and 132 miles. The difference is a safety margin, to cover the enormous variabilities in gauging and fuel consumption. The Gen4 DTE display ought to have a similar meaning.
[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | PriusChat

You won't know your actual range to fuel starvation, until you actually experience fuel starvation.

 

I've noticed that my low gas warning comes on with at least 2 gallons left in the tank. Seems a bit overly cautious by Toyota but at least I know how much farther I could theoretically drive the car before running out.

 

they don't want you to run out of gas. that's engineering. marketing and advertising don't care.

 

2 gallons in a Prius is 100-ish miles, which puts it squarely in the middle of the pack of the cars I've owned over the past 4 decades. Two Prii and a Honda and a Ford were essentially identical, one Subaru was significantly more, current Subaru is somewhat less, and my first Ford was drastically less.

And do you understand the answers now?

 

Sorry but to investigate this phenomena, I would at a minimum be driving around on gas and frequently visiting a gas station to test various hypothesis. I'm not that curious about another number that doesn't really help me because I already figured out how to drive the car long distances:

1. Full tank ~= 600+ miles driving like there is no tomorrow
2. When "low fuel" comes on, put car in "CHARGE" mode and wait for 80% SOC
   1. When %SOC begins to decrease, use the EV miles remaining.
   2. Park before %SOC reaches 0 when out of gas.

GOOD LUCK!
Bob Wilson

 

When are you going to modify the Gen 1 Prius magnet in your avatar to fit the Prime?

 

Just showing my age. I hadn't noticed that Saturday morning no longer has back-to-back cartoons which means Acme products are fading from memories.

Bob Wilson