Low fuel light

my motto is if you're under half you need to fill up that way it doesn't become a concern

 

No. I wouldn't count on that. You don't know how full you got the tank and how much is actually usable.

The Gas Gauge Says Full, But That's Not Quite True: NPR | PriusChat might be insightful, even though it's a Ford engineer talking.

If the low fuel light came on, I'd personally get gas ASAP.

 

[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | PriusChat documents what happens when you run out of gas.

The Gen 2 Prius w/its variable capacity (depending on temp) bladder tank and guess gauge meant needing to be pretty careful when running low. The amount of miles people can go on the the last pip can vary a lot, and most of the time, it doesn't seem like there are 11.9 usable gallons (How many gallons of gas does Prius hold? | PriusChat and many other threads on this). The most I've ever put in my Gen 2 was 9.975 gallons and I think I was down to 1 pip.

You have a Gen 3 and no bladder.

 

There are so many threads about this, just do a search. Lots of good info if you look for it.

Ah! I see cwerdna did it for you while I was typing.

 

I had put as much as 12.2 gallons in my gen 2 during summer months. My average fill up was over 11 gallons over 80,000 miles before I got rid of it with the wife. I just purchased a gen 3, package V on Tuesday. I have done some reading here. It seenms as if there are 1-2 gallons aft the pip blinks. I have yet to prove this for myself.

 

^^^
You must've run your Gen 2 to pretty low. I don't dare run around too long on 1 pip. It's also possible your guess gauge calibration was a bit different than mine.

 

Yes, I ran it low, drove slower than most, and pumped my tires up to levels where some here will flame me. I also had confirmation from experience with the fuel burned using the scan gage II. The gen 3 tires are pumped up now, but I haven't driven slow enough yet.

 

Don't expect to go more than .1 to about 1.o miles max of EV and if car shuts down do not atempt to restart until you get 3-4 gals of gas first.

 

retired4999,

Did someone say that the 2010+ will not move once out of fuel; even to just get off the roadway?

 

No, You will have some EV but not very much.

 

11.9 so 2.4 left - From my experience there are about 2.5 gallons left when the pip starts blinking

 

Isn't it bad to let the fuel almost run out? Does the Prius not have an in-tank electric fuel pump like other cars that rely on the fuel around it to keep it cool? All of these "500, 600, 700 mile club" etc.... they sound like a recipe for disaster to me... ? I don't want to brag that I got 700 miles on a tank, but now I have to replace my fuel pump...

 

Yesterday I went about 30 miles with a blinking light, DTE went from 12 miles to 0 in two blocks...and I drove 22 miles after that and put in exactly 10 gallons.

I was nervous the entire 22 miles, putting along at 55 mph and causing a lot of angry folks behind me on I95. And I even had a spare gallon in a can in the trunk just in case (I wanted that 500 mile tank).

But it was good to know that I've got at least a gallon after the light blinks.

In my thread it's been reported that Gen III's hold 11.9 and some folks have put in 11.3...

 

My low fuel warning light starts blinking around 2.5 gallons left.

 

A problem with the 2010+ was in even noticing that the car ran out of gas, before it ran down the battery. The Gen2 dashboard lit up with warnings as soon as the tank went dry, giving the driver enough warning to plan what to do with the remaining battery capacity. The Gen3 gave no such warnings until the battery was also starved. With the ICE dead, available power dropped sharply, but in some conditions this will not be noticed in time.

 

Not necessarily. Did you listen to what the Ford engineer had to say?