[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III)

[DetPrius]

Originally Posted by ramdisk01

I drive a Prius Gen 3 and believe it is the easiest car I've owned in 40 years to let run out of Gas! Here is why.

Owners manual says fuel capacity 11.9 Gal. Computer says Prius is getting 50 MPG (or similar). Soo I'm thinking 500 miles no sweat. Last Fuel Gauge pip is blinking at 400 miles.

Bob Wilson ran the gen III out of gas intentionally at least twice and found that once the low fuel beep and flashing final bar starts flashing, you have about 2.1 gallons left. I have taken it 90+ miles after the beep on several occasions and have not yet run out of gas.

What was your calculated MPG for the tank when you ran out of gas?

[teiresias]

Originally Posted by DetPrius

Bob Wilson ran the gen III out of gas intentionally at least twice and found that once the low fuel beep and flashing final bar starts flashing, you have about 2.1 gallons left. I have taken it 90+ miles after the beep on several occasions and have not yet run out of gas.

What was your calculated MPG for the tank when you ran out of gas?

This would be my experience. Yesterday, I got the fuel beep and blink for the first time since owning the car. My commute is basically a mile (maybe 1.5 miles) with two gas stations between home and work, so I just pulled into the Shell and filled up, and it took about 9.2gallons to fill up.

My previous car, a 2007 Civic Hybrid, had about 3 gallons left in the tank when the fuel light would come on, so this is pretty much what I'm used to.

I have noticed that the car's displayed trip mpg seems to be more off the mark (it's over estimating) now that it's gotten colder. Granted, I haven't really owned the car in "hot" weather yet (bought it the last day of October), but it seemed to be a bit more accurate with the slightly milder weather a few weeks ago.

[fuzzy1]

Originally Posted by ramdisk01

I drive a Prius Gen 3 and believe it is the easiest car I've owned in 40 years to let run out of Gas! ...

My easiest car to run out of gas in, was 'my' first car, back in the days of no idiot lights or buzzers a bit less than 40 years ago. It did run out with the needle still above 'E'.

This was not long after my parents ribbed me about being concerned about fuel range in their car with the needle actually on E.

On this score, this Prius is really no different than any of my cars built in the past 30 years.

[pakitt]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

This was not long after my parents ribbed me about being concerned about fuel range in their car with the needle actually on E.

On this score, this Prius is really no different than any of my cars built in the past 30 years.

Well, at least the Prius *does* sound, well *before* you are dry...

[Erik Aalto]

Originally Posted by fuzzy1

My easiest car to run out of gas in, was 'my' first car, back in the days of no idiot lights or buzzers a bit less than 40 years ago. It did run out with the needle still above 'E'.

This was not long after my parents ribbed me about being concerned about fuel range in their car with the needle actually on E.

On this score, this Prius is really no different than any of my cars built in the past 30 years.

My first vehicle, a 1979 K5 Blazer, was so unpredictable, you could run out of gas with the gauge at 1/4. I ran out of gas at least 2-3 times with that, once in my Z28, twice in my 2G Prius, and my wife once in the 2G Prius (one of my times was her fault, she took my car because she was low on gas). I haven't bothered risking it in the 3G Prius, but I am curious about how far it COULD be pushed. I put in 9.5 gallons or so this morning, with 50 miles left on the range gauge.

I only bothered to read through about 15 pages, and it just seems like people agree to disagree. Having personally ran out of gas on the freeway at 65, I loved the fact that I could limp to the gas station. I made it just as my battery bars had turned purple.

I've had to walk to a gas station while running out once (died 1/4 mile from the station, would not go any further on the battery).

Anyway, my 2 cents - the limp mode is certainly a cool feature, but I define it as a necessity when you have an unpredictable fuel tank/bladder. If the 3G has a more accurate gauge, I see no point in having limp mode as it should become harder to run out of gas.

When I ran out of gas in the 2G, it was with about 480 miles on the trip meter, and an economy of about 48 MPG. I was POSITIVE I should have been able to go at least another 45 miles, but sure enough I ran out of gas. The culprit? A wife who doesn't pay attention when she fills up the tank, and if the pump stops, she must be done fueling up. I always try to make sure that I am filling up as much as the car calculates I have burned, and if it takes more than that, fine.

If anything, if I had to pick something that frustrates me, it would be the fuel bladder in the 2G.

[mathan]

I actually ran out of gas when picking up my mother-in-law at the airport. I totally thought I had more gas than I thought when it turns out my other half used the car and didn't tell me, and didn't bother filling up!

But yes, my habit is that when the gas gauge beeps, I'm at a gas station within reason.

My mother, used to fill her '86 Ford Escort whenever it hit quarter of a tank.

[Rªzª]

Originally Posted by bwilson4web

I can buy a new traction battery and have no problem with being put in "EV" mode. But the car would not shift into "D" nor respond to "EV." Compared to the NHW20 and NHW11, this means a valuable safety feature has been lost.

Bob Wilson

Has anyone done any recent experiments on the 2012's? I'm curious how crippled my car would be if it runs out of fuel. Seems silly that the car would potentially stop dead even if there is a perfectly good traction battery with more than enough charge to pull the car off the road...

[Rªzª]

Originally Posted by mathan

I actually ran out of gas when picking up my mother-in-law at the airport. I totally thought I had more gas than I thought when it turns out my other half used the car and didn't tell me, and didn't bother filling up!

But yes, my habit is that when the gas gauge beeps, I'm at a gas station within reason.

My mother, used to fill her '86 Ford Escort whenever it hit quarter of a tank.

So how bad was it when you ran out? Was the car completely crippled?

[mathan]

Originally Posted by Rªzª

So how bad was it when you ran out? Was the car completely crippled?

This was a Gen 2 2009 rather than a Gen 3 - I literally ran out driving to the airport and ended up driving up to the gate to get my parking pass, and pulled into a spot just as the electric went purple. I was s******* myself.

I have no plans on running out in my Gen 3 2012.

[sub3marathonman]

Originally Posted by Rªzª

So how bad was it when you ran out? Was the car completely crippled?

The car completely crippled?? Didn't you read, he was picking up his mother-in-law. It was mathan that suffered the effects of running out of gas.