All Electric - Quarter-Filled Gas Tank

i'm now at 80% electric, so i tank i will adopt your strategy since the pip recommends fresh gas every 6 months.
i'll have to review my mileage over the last 6 months, and put enough gas in to cover 20% plus safety.
i'm guessing 3,000 miles x 20% = 600 miles, so probably 5-6 gallons.

 

There is no such thing as a electric engine, for over 100 years it’s been called a motor, electric motor if you prefer. It is confusing enough when the ICE is referred as a motor. This nomenclature of yours would make it doubly confusing. Keeping a low tank is a good idea, with 2 gallons of l reserve. But, NEVER run out of gasoline! Calm cause complications.

 

I just put 5 gallons in, on top of the reserve. We’ll see how it goes.

 

gud ider

 

Absolutely.

 

Actually it isn't a really good idea.

In addition to collecting more water due to condensation (might be a serious concern near the ocean), a mostly empty tank makes it much more likely that you will get into a situation where you run out.....either because of lack of attention or lack of fuel availability.

But everyone is free to do whatever makes them feel good.......until it doesn't.

 

I plead guilty. but, I did not say it, I posted it.

 

A lawn mower put away for the winter needs a stabilizer added to the tank.
So I think a ~$30k car should get a fresh tank at least every 6 months. I wouldn't want to
put anything weird in the tank - it's not a lawn mower.

 

I’m going to siphon gas out of the Prius if possible and burn in in my wife’s crossover every year.

 

Most of the recent cars one cannot siphon gas out. you can always siphon gas in tho.

 

Brilliant. NOT.

Take the gas OUT of a vehicle that gets maybe 45 MPG when running on gas alone........and put it into a vehicle that gets maybe 25 ????

And there is nothing "weird" about fuel stablilzer. Many owners manuals even recommend it.

 

If I could find something authoritative that says STA-Bil is OK for a Prius Prime I'd be fine with that.

 

What exactly makes you think that the the fuel requirements for the Prime is somehow basically different than any other gas engine ever made ??
It isn't.

Is there maybe a mention of long storage periods somewhere in your owners manual ??

My guess......based on working on/with gas engines for 50 years: If you can burn off most of the tank and refill it every 3 months or so, then just don't worry about it. If you go more like 6 months between using up the full tank, put in the recommended dose of fuel stabilizer at each fill......and then don't worry about it.

If you do find some reference to this subject in your manual, others reading this thread might find that information useful.

 

I'm wondering about this, too. When I bought my new Prime two weeks ago, they gave me a full tank of gas. It's still practically full and at this rate it will take me a few months to use most of it (I've run maybe 10-12 miles on the ICE in one trip). It makes me wonder how healthy that is, or if it's a good idea to force the ICE to run once in a while so the gas doesn't get too old.

 

I do frequent enough longer than EV range trips, so I just fill up the tank whenever it gets empty. During last one year of Prime ownership, the longest I drove without filling was just over two months. As per manual (on page 96), Prime ICE requires only a half tank of refuel every 12 month. I go through far more of gasoline than that.

 

I saw somewhere that he car will force the ICE to run if it determines the gas in the tank has sat too long. It will also display a reminder as per the following from the owner's manual (p.96, from the 'plug-in hybrid system' section):

■Notice about fuel
●For plug-in hybrid vehicles, fuel may remain in the tank for a long time and
undergo changes in quality depending on the how the vehicle is used.
Refuel at least 5.3 gal.(20 L, 4.4 Imp.gal.) of fuel every 12 months (refuel a
total of at least 5.3 gal. [20 L, 4.4 Imp.gal.] over a 12-month period), as this
may affect components of the fuel system or the gasoline engine.
●If the vehicle has not been refueled for a certain amount of time and it is
possible that the quality of the fuel remaining in the tank has changed, “No
new fuel has been added recently. Please refuel” is displayed on the multiinformation
display when the power switch is turned to ON mode. If the
message is displayed, refuel the vehicle immediately

 

You should start by reading your owners manual.

 

Yeah, all 1000+ pages combined, cover to cover, word by every word. I did searches on the PDF version but perhaps I didn't use the right search words. Still, no justification for being a snarky jerk about it in response.

 

Thank you. At least someone decided not to be a jerk.