Gas tank half full pros/cons?

pro: battery has to push less weight tf more milage.
pro: sending less money at fuel station

con: you will be at the station twice as much

 

idk I never looked up the weight of fuel before. But when I drive around down to the second to last tick mark.

I noticed I am able to drive much further on EV. its not an energy dense source. so it responds well with weight reduction

 

That is spending less money at a time, not less money. Sort of like paying your taxes in 10 parts - you still owe the same amount...

 

Yes. You could save almost half this weight by removing the owner's manual from the glove box...

Went to the kitchen and checked. The owner manual alone is 1.62 lb, the nav manual is another 0.65 lbs.

 

good catch!

 

But without the installment fees. At the moment, with gas going up pretty quick, it might be a good time to fill the tank thus putting off some expense. You can always reduce weight in the car in other ways. Like have the kids run alongside

 

i'm only adding 5 gallons when i need to fill up. i dont travel anywhere where there isnt a gas station every few miles.
tank is sealed and pressurized to keep out moisture. the 5 gallons will take less time to burn off and refresh.
i havent had the car long enough, but i fill up so infrequently i dont mind if its once a month or once every two months

 

With my regular driving habits, I'll be going to the gas station to get gas for the riding mower a lot more often than to put gas in the car. Different station for the unadulterated gas for the string trimmer and chain saws and yet another for off road diesel for the tractor.

 

We just had another one of those "accidental fire incidents" at the local refinery down here in SoCal. $4 per gallon ain't enough? Create a fire!

 

I don't follow. For the folks who rarely burn fuel and are at risk of it going stale (apart from the controversy about whether or not it even goes stale in these better-sealed tanks), a partial tanks means less fuel to go bad, or to be burned off preemptively. Or less to be diluted with fresh fuel on a fixed calendar refresh schedule.

These 'twice as many station visits' arguments would apply only to those who burn more significant amounts of fuel, closer to non-plugin cars than to electric-only cars. We have many Prime owners falling on each side of this divide.

 

My point was that you don't save money by putting in less gas at a time. You burn what you burn, and replacing it costs the same whether you replace it all at once or in increments.

I keep mine sync'd to a DropBox account, which is sync'd to Goodreader on my iPad. When I travel, all the manuals are on my iPad, and not in the glove box.

That's a good strategy. At the end of my upcoming long trip, I may not fill the tank when I get home. Half full may make more sense.

 

My point is, that is the view as seem from a regular gasser. It doesn't necessary apply to PHEVs that burn so little gas, that the car or driver needs to take actions to deal with gas that is getting too old.

 

For me, with 25 miles EV range, and ~40miles/day commute, I use up a full tank in 4-8 weeks, depending on how much out of EV range drive outside of my daily commute I do. There is no pro in filling only half of the tank at a time.

I am such a pessimist, I see a half-full tank as a half-empty tank. lol

 

All true, but none of that changes the cost. Unless price changes work in your favor.

 

I "topped off" my tank today in preps for a road trip, where I want maximum range. 1.53 gals and I drove the car 1063 miles since 2/26/2019. For my driving habits, I could easily have started with 1/2 tank and not hauled around the extra 5 gals of fuel for 2 months.

 

Yes it does, if one is needing to burn off old gas because of its age, when one would otherwise be sticking to EV driving.

I won't be getting into this situation, but it seems that numerous Prime drivers already are.