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How many miles you can travel out of a full tank gas?

Discussion in 'Gen 3 Prius Main Forum' started by ian2002525, Mar 15, 2015.

  1. ian2002525

    ian2002525 Junior Member

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    Start of from mine, drove 470 miles when the last gas level bar starts flashing. 52.1 shows on MPG
     
  2. Ashlem

    Ashlem Senior Member

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    The prius tank is 11.9 gallons, so if you drove it until it ran on fumes, you could theoretically almost reach 600 miles averaging 50 mpg. By the time the last fuel bar starts to blink, you have approximately one gallon left in the tank.

    The trip computer tends to be a little generous, so whatever it displays, subtract 3-5 mpg from it to get your "real" mpg. Also, on my prius, the trim five comes with 17 inch wheels, so that takes an additional 2-4 mpg on average. So if my car says I was doing 58 mpg, in reality it's probably more like 51-53 mpg.

    Winter blend gas and colder weather also plays a huge factor in mpg. Though it's true for all cars, it's more noticeable on the prius because you'll notice a 10% increase more if your car suddenly goes from 50 mpg to 45, than you would in a gas car that goes from 22 mpg to 20 mpg.

    Now that it's starting to warm up again, and summer blend gas is going to start slowly making its way back into gas stations, your mpg should start improving significantly. I've already noticed my mpg going from the low-mid 40's to low-mid 50's after it warmed up from teens to around 50 degrees here in SE Wisconsin, and I'm still using my winter tires (because it's WI, so it may still snow a week or two later lol).
     
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  3. CardiffChris

    CardiffChris Member

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    I usually get 600 out of a tank.

    When the mileage counter gets to zero, I have over 2 gallons left. It usually takes 9.5 at this point
    I figure I can go another 100 miles on the last 2 gallons.

    ECO mode 98% of the time, always accelerate slowly.
     
  4. gooberethics

    gooberethics Junior Member

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    I don't even have 400 miles on my Prius yet... looking forward to seeing how far everyone else can get on a tank of gas!
     
  5. Mendel Leisk

    Mendel Leisk Senior Member

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    I usually get around 500 km's, 'cause I tank up any time the gauge is below halfway and I'm going by my favourite brand of station.

    Due to low usage that's maybe once a month, so no big deal. I can see if you're higher use you want to stretch tanks more, but still I completely don't get this obsession with running the tank near-dry, lol.

    My one pursuit at present would be to get that dang 5.0 (below) down to 4.9.
     
  6. The Electric Me

    The Electric Me Go Speed Go!

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    I hesitate to say, because the experience might vary from Prius to Prius and driver to driver.

    Most of the time, I wait until I get the flashing final pip and warning beep, and then I drive until cruising range or DTE reaches zero. So that's actually beyond the final flashing Pip.

    I find my Prius to be very conservative, because every time I do this and fill up, I usually have closer to two gallons left. It's usually a 9.XXX fill up.

    But I have no interest in running out of gas, so final blinking pip and distance to empty zero is enough for me. Distance driven using this filling routine of course varies, depending on the driving I've been doing and my MPG up to that point, as well as weather conditions. In the Spring, Summer and Fall these are usually tanks closer to 500 miles, in Winter or when temperatures are lower, or if I've exclusively done a lot of short trips, then the miles can be closer to 420-440. Which on less than 10 gallons of gas I think is great.

    I also live in an urban environment. So finding a gas station isn't a problem. I'd adjust this routine if going on a long trip OR in an area where finding a station could be problematic.
     
  7. theotherone

    theotherone Junior Member

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    On an average, I drive slightly over 500 miles per full tank of gasoline (E10) from Costco. I'm pretty sure I can go further, but I tend to chicken out whenever I pass the 500 mile mark. Even though the 2010 Prius is a 11.9 gallon tank, I can barely put 10 gallons in the tank...
     
  8. Sfcyclist

    Sfcyclist Senior Member

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    Once you get to know you car well enough, it's fun seeing how far one can go.. my first 500 was a little sketchy as I was about to cross a fairly long bridge.... looking back I could have easily cleared it but better safe than sorry..

    500 miles 3 times now. The last was my best and furthest on a full tank. I don't drive in ideal conditions neither.. hilly and often fast traffic. This particular tank, I was able to cruise more on the freeway than normal. Proves than EV and ECO modes def. help when you can use them

    [​IMG]
     
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  9. Sfcyclist

    Sfcyclist Senior Member

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    And for this 530 mile tank, I put in 10.8 gallons.. so about a gallon left..

    600 miles not quite safely within reach. I don't see how 700 miles is attainable without really planning on it.
     
  10. Starship_Enterprius

    Starship_Enterprius Active Member

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    Around 500 to 600 if you drive normally. There's also the 600, 700, and 800 mile club threads if you really wanna know how far people push their tank.

    I easily qualify for the 600club but always end 10miles short from the 700club whenever i tried.
     
  11. kc410

    kc410 Active Member

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    Here is a list starting Jan 1, 2015

    date - - - odo - - - - miles - -$ - - - - gal - -mpg - - MFD
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    010815 139800 534.5 22.47 9.861 54.20 57.1
    011515 - replaced traction battery
    011615 140324 523.6 21.22 9.651 54.25 57.0
    012615 141029 705.2 24.14 11.610 60.74 63.6
    020215 141655 626.0 23.94 10.888 57.49 59.9
    021015 142215 559.4 22.45 9.984 56.03 58.8
    021815 142751 536.5 23.12 10.055 53.36 55.5
    022315 143240 488.7 19.93 8.486 57.59 58.0
    030515 143817 576.8 25.82 10.587 54.48 58.4
    031315 144314 497.3 22.32 9.229 53.88 56.1
    032015 144845 531.2 22.70 9.748 54.49 56.1
    032515 145404 558.8 24.99 10.728 52.09 54.0

    miles - is from when I reset tripA at fillup
    mpg - is calculated mpg using miles/gal
    MFD - is the reproted mpg that I record at fillup

    The tank holds 11.9 gal.
    Whatever type of driving I am doing, I just look at the MFD mpg & multiply that by 10 - that will be the minimum miles before I need to look for fuel.
    If I am getting 50 mpg on a tank, I can easily go 500 miles, then as long as I get fuel in the next ~50 miles I still have 0.9 gal in reserve.
    Well, its easy for me - ymmv - & south FL is very flat!

    I have 3 - >700 mile tanks - all done in the winter (without AC) & no hi-speed driving.
     
  12. DoubleDAZ

    DoubleDAZ Senior Member

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    I must be the only Prius driver here who doesn't care how many miles I can drive on a tank of gas, I see no point in even thinking about it. Most of the time, I fill up when I'm getting ready for trip. When traveling, I fill up wherever Gas Buddy says has the cheaper gas along the route and my butt says it's time for a break. :) At home, I'll run the gauge down to the where the display starts blinking, but just as often I'll fill up when I think the price at Costco is set to rise. Basically, I get gas whenever I feel like it and it's based more on price than distance. I've put in as few as 3.75 gallons and have yet to put in 10 gallons or more. I don't care about joining the 500, 600 or 700 mile club. I certainly won't go through the trouble of planning a route to get me to any of those "milestones". I get that some do it simply because they enjoy seeing what they and the car are capable of, but what someone else can do doesn't translate into what I can do. At times, I am a little more aware of the distance to the next traffic light and often slow down earlier than I did in our van, but not by all that much, I've always tried to "time" the lights if traffic allowed. It's more a result of the responsiveness of the Prius accelerator (or lack of it) and to some degree the ease at which I can let the car slow down without using the brakes.
     
  13. bingee3

    bingee3 Active Member

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    I never thought it's good to run a car with little gas in the tank , just me , I'll fill up with two bars left usually getting 320 miles ,,, Michigan winter COLD still cold , I block the grill and run winter tires in the winter
     
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  14. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    I've done a few 700+ mile tanks before
    [​IMG]
    Total miles driven at fill up. About 12.3 gal.
     
  15. qdllc

    qdllc Senior Member

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    To date, my best is just over 550. Considering I live in mountainous terrain, that's pretty good, and I'm sure I could easily do 600 if I was willing to risk going well past the "E" (so to speak). I don't take chances when that last pip is flashing and my distance to empty readout hits zero.
     
  16. fuzzy1

    fuzzy1 Senior Member

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    I've done 600 (619 miles), but didn't get a picture.

    Those challenges were for us mere mortals. The really good hypermilers have done significantly better:
    Another World Record 1,460 miles/tank | PriusChat
    1,562 miles, New World Record with a single tank | PriusChat
    New World Record - 1619 miles per tank | PriusChat
    New World Record - 1680 miles per tank | PriusChat
    New World Record Challenge: over 50km/L(117mpg) tank | PriusChat
    That final one went 1889.4miles, over 3000 kilometers.
     
  17. Redpoint5

    Redpoint5 Senior Member

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    I'm amused by those nervous people with the gargantuan 11.9 gallon tanks that nervously broke into the 500s. I go to 500+ as a matter of habit on a 10.6 gallon tank (Plug in Prius), not because I'm a wonderful hyper-miler; I only have a higher tolerance for range anxiety.

    The math is easy to figure and will reveal the range with more accuracy than the clumsy pip bars that Toyota has conservatively programmed.
     
  18. cyclopathic

    cyclopathic Senior Member

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    Depends on conditions. Dduring summer commuting 600, traveling ~500, in winter less (try to keep st least 2 bars)
     
  19. cproaudio

    cproaudio Speedlock Overrider

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    There's no need for range anxiety. It has been proven time and time again that when the last pip starts flashing, you can drive another 90-125 miles before you run out of gas.
     
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  20. Silver bullit

    Silver bullit Right Lane Cruiser

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    I fill up after I'm down to six pips left