Is there a way to see if I've used *any* fuel on a Prime?

So far I'm using the PPPXP exactly as I hoped, 99% electric for city driving and gas for road trips. I filled up the gas tank after the last trip and am getting ready for the next really big (5,000 mile) trip. I clearly want to start the trip with a full tank. The tricky bit is, is there any way to know for sure if I've used any fuel since my last fill-up?

I've only filled up twice so far and seem to recall like most cars you can use a gallon or two before the gas gauge moves off of the 100% full reading. To the best of my knowledge I have been exclusively in EV mode since the last fill-up with my puttering around town, but between maybe not hearing the engine for one of those many possible exceptions they list or not fully understanding the manual, I may have been using some gas without knowing it.

Yes, I can just go visit a gas station to make sure, but wondering if there is any way to know somewhere if any gas has been used. The car knows about the last refill as it gives me a mileage since last refill reading, but when in pure EV mode that just pegs at 99.9.

I like these kind of "problems"! With some of these smaller trips and purposely using HV mode even though not needed I figured that using up two tanks worth of fuel should meet the break-in requirements before this road trip. Even though I only have just under 2,000 miles logged, I'm also getting an oil change ahead of the trip. Gotta get off to a good start so my Gen5 can be as good as my Gen1. I got 20 years and 220,000 miles on it with only $2,500 in unscheduled maintenance. It's still going too, I gave it to a nephew who has a 50 mile daily commute.

will

 

HacksawMark: Yea, with hindsight I wish I had noted that. Since the car changes that based on driving habits, I was also wondering how stable it is though.

Mendel: Fully understand both sides of the discussion on that point. I'm erring on the caution side knowing you are probably right. I am doing the service 3 days before the trip starts for that reason too.

will

 

HacksawMark: Ah, good to know, thanks for that insight. I already note the fill-up data at the pump, so will just add that DTE info as part of my logging. Not that I'm logging that much! I'm approaching 2,000 miles and have only needed to fill up twice.

will

 

Trollbait: Good point too! I have the %EV meter set for trip, but forgot it can be set for the tank. I remember seeing that when perusing the manual and wonder why anyone would want that. This is a potential use!

will

 

@Trollbait : Thanks for the heads up. I'm not into social media and only really visit two online forums: this one and a Disneyworld forum, so not "wise in the ways"

I did try setting the %EV to tank vs trip this morning (some seriously buried menus!!) but when I went back to the display it still showed trip, not tank? Hopefully it is user error somehow, but fear it may override tank info if in EV mode. Weirdly, if it does, that may be giving me the answer I'm looking for indirectly. I need to fiddle some more--but not while driving!

will

 

@GREEN BAE: There are some good chats about that scattered around the forums. Opinions vary as you'd expect, but my takeaway from them isn't far from the manual, try to use up at least half a tank every six months. I drive almost exclusively electric around town too, 40 miles is good for 99% of any errand runs for the day. I usually have a decent road trip at least a couple times a year, so using up gas eventually isn't hard.

I like to fill up at the end of a road trip just to "close the books" on travel data, but that does mean I do have a full tank of fuel while puttering around town for the months after a road trip. Probably not the best approach, so may need to re-think that.

Another fun one is the break-in period. The manual for this is boilerplate ICE language which is weird for a prime. You will see lots of varied advice for this too. My final solution was to declare the break-in period to be two tanks of gas since mileage was a useless metric to use. For me it was important as I had a 5000+ mile road trip not too soon after getting the car so wanted to wrap up the break-in period before starting that trip.

Two weeks to being Primed! Yay! It's gonna be fun!!! What flavor are you getting. I've declared mine the PPPXP (Pretty Prius Prime XSE Premium). After Road and Track came out, I'm debating renaming it to PPPPXP, adding Prize-winning to it. Don't forget to post a picture in the Newbie forum https://priuschat.com/threads/newbies-lets-see-some-pics.42188/

will