When Gas light comes on, how many miles (approx) can you get before it runs out ?

... on our next fill up, apparently the pump failed to stop, so we got a bit over 11.4 gallons, minus whatever spilled.

Also the first time we've seen it go 230 miles before the first pip dropped. We're looking at 500+ on this tank!

 

just run it out ,, and then you will know,, it will cost you a bunch of $$$$ then we will know,,, the best thing to say is NEVER EVER RUN THIS OUT OF GAS! I have never ever figured out, why push it you going to have put gas in it anyway,,, and the gauge is guess depending on the weather and how much the bladder expanded when you filled up.. but if you are going to get daring, let us know how far you got blinking and what was the total cost for your experiment....

 

Maybe, maybe not.

Forum member Bob Wilson has run his two Prii completely out of gas something near 50 times, for fun, sport, and engineering tests and curiosity. And last I remember, he reported no problems or repair costs.

Some other members have reported repair expenses from running dry. The lessons there seem to be (1) don't keep driving to see how far the car will run on battery alone, and (2) don't continually try to restart before adding sufficient fuel, thus tripping a software counter that locks out further start attempts.

 

Bob Wilson deliberately ran out out of gas and had gas can with him.

If you run out of gas and really stupid you'll do what alot of people have done on this forum and then after running out of gas will drive the car on battery till you think your going to reach the gas station and drive till the Hybrid battery dies.

Tow to the dealer and then you get to wait for the special 200 volt Hybrid battery charger to arrive from Japan. Usually a 2 week wait.
No free loaner on that one as the ECU will report RAN OUT OF GAS.
While the Hybrid battery sits there dead. It really likes that. Great for its life.

Its a hoot at the dealer when they see that. Oh and a hoot for your wallet.

 

Please let us know how far you manage to fly on this tank of fuel. Yes, I said fly. The Prius is a lot more than an ordinary car, a little less than a Spacecraft

 

I went 70 miles before it switched to battery only mode.

 

Does your Prius have a fuel tank with a bladder? That corroborates something I recall reading from someone else too.

What were the conditions for achieving that distance before fuel starvation? Flat road? Ambient air temperature? No rolling hills? Traffic congestion?

I do believe that in some perfectly ideal conditions, it would be possible to achieve 70 miles on reserve. Thanks for letting us know.

 

Under perfectly ideal conditions, I'd think a GenII ought to nearly match the 122 and 132 miles that Bob Wilson got on his 2010 tests.

But do balance that against the numerous reports here of folks running out far far earlier under less than ideal conditions. Jimbo once ran dry in just 7 miles. I seem to even remember a few running out with 2 bars still remaining on the gauge, likely due to poor or changing calibrations.

Driver beware. And don't claim to have not been warned.

 

And I believe they ran out super early because they had that damn bladder in their tanks - probably in colder weather. On my last tank, 2 bars got me 185 miles, though I did fill up within 18 miles of the reserve bleep going off. So theoretically, I could have got another 32 to 40 miles safely.

But I don't gamble with my Prius Spaceship

 

doing this is like saying ,,,, how fat can i get before i have health issues,,, it proves nothing,,, just goes back to what my ol buddy Steve (autobeyours) JUST DRIVE IT, KEEP GAS AND OIL IN IT!

 

Getting ready turn over 200,000 miles. Have not yet run out of gas in the Prius. We aim to fill within ten miles of when that last pip starts blinking. Our life time average is 52.x mpg. We generally need to fill 7.x gallons at that point. So to answer your question, I'm guessing there are a few hundred miles left after the pip starts to blink. No, I don't understand it either. Bladders do what bladders want to do.

 

We've still got 1 pip, the MFD shows 48.2mpg and 510 miles. We'll be filling up first thing when we go out next, lots of errands to run for school prep :-S

 

Just thought I would add my two cents to this old but good thread. I had once gone about 100 miles after the flashing pip so I assumed that was my range. But yesterday I ran out of gas after about 35 miles, stranding me 15 miles from a gas station. The nice thing was that it seemed to switch over to electric power and so I was able to stay at about 50 mph for a mile or more to the next exit of the 70mph highway. But then the 12v battery seemed depleted so it wouldn’t power off with the button.
Anyway, from reading this thread I now know that I don’t have more than a few miles guaranteed when the pip starts flashing.
The interesting thing was that adding my fillup to what roadside assist brought, and subtracting the gas used to drive 15mi to the gas station, I was pretty much spot on the capacity of the tank, 11.9 gallons. But I know from reading horror stories that I should probably not count on more than 10.5 gallons in determining my range.

 

While a good number of miles seems typical, based on GenII experiences posted to PC, I'd say that even 'a few miles' are not 'guaranteed'. A small but significant fraction of readers here went dry even before that pip started flashing.

A good number of GenII owners have well behaved fuel tanks and gauging. But with that bladder and problematic 'guess gauge', North American GenIIs also seem like they have a higher rate of prematurely empty tanks than non-bladder cars.

 

Go directly to the nearest gas station! That's the only thought you want to think in this situation.

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Yes James is right if you calculate wrong and the engine dies many a nitwit continued driving on the hybrid battery thinking it was a Space ship till they discharged the hybrid battery till it was dead jim requiring an expensive 200+ volt charger from Japan.
That was many years ago before Prolong but if you do that now on a 11 year old battery that running out of gas will cost you a new hybrid battery.

One stupid screw up on this car will cost you all your gas savings $. One of the stupidest screw ups is draining the gas tank dry like its extending your mpg's. That's the dumbest.

Even now with new buyers of very old Prius's all there thinking is the gas mileage savings on 11 year 200K+ car. I'm thinking hell just keep it running.

 

^ Agree. That's a high price to pay for the(meaningless) achievement of high miles per tank.

 

Added gas tank complexity, which I don't completely understand is the "baffle" that expands as the tank empties. That system supremely challenges gauge accuracy, especially in older g2 machines. This is my son's ride and I told him to not run lower than the top side of 2 bars on the fuel gauge. I hope he listens. Running out of fuel in the Prius is up there with "jump starting"one: to be avoided.

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Barnhart my friend, I get where you're coming from, but as an example, I sent my customers on an extended demo ( with half a tank of gas, and they called me to see how many miles they had left before they would run out when the gas light starts 'pipping" so there are cases for this discussion.
To give some feedback. My guests drove about ten miles with the light on and were able.to get the Prous back to us to refill.
Unfortunately that's the most accurate parameter I can offer but I hope it lends someone the answer they need.
Shout out to anyone in the 502 area! Happy driving, be safe in the rain!

 

I've drove about 45 miles after then blinking to leave me at 9.8 to fill up next. Usually I'm in the mid 8's on fill.
So if I have another gallon will only be tested if that's my only option.
Running empty pushes that old high mileage fuel pump which isn't replaceable without a fuel tank a very risky test.

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