dashboard icon - car with 3 arrows pointing to gas pump

It seems like it is clearly telling you to get gas but the low fuel indicator is not in that location. What is your fuel gauge showing?

NM...It's the DTE icon like Don says. I finally found it in the manual. Never paid attention to it before.

 

If the icon is the one in your Google Photos, it is distance till empty (DTE).

 

It's what DonDNH says. You should see it together with the 527 MI to the right of it, so the car predicts you can drive 527 miles before you have to fill up again.

 

Yes, it is 'Distance to Empty' (DTE) according to Toyota. I have a 2013 Prius model 5 loaded. The Fuel gauge is just about useless and so is the DTE number. I have often driven over 100 miles with the DTE showing '0' the whole time. Also, the DTE has shown '0' with the Fuel gauge saying there's 1/4 tank left.

I wrote Toyota about their very lax engineering with the fuel gauge, miles to empty (DTE), fuel remaining warning (a very innocuous beep which is barely heard when driving down the highway at 70 mph listening to your favorite music or Podcast), and the inability to know exactly how much fuel is in the fuel tank.

In comparison, my SMART ForTwo when less than 1/4 tank would count down in tenths of a gallon as the fuel was consumed until it read '0.0' which was VERY close to nothing left in the tank. The SMART car cost 1/2 of what my Prius cost and averaged, especially in winter (35 mgp), better mileage than the Prius (28 mpg). I haven't done this yet but am working on a yearly average to compare my Prius to other cars. I'm not sure that taking into account the winter MPG it will compare very well to other cars. The culprit is that the Prius runs the engine constantly to heat water to privide heat for the passenger compartment. To get around this, I often drive on short trips with the Heat off (what an innovation!)!

I really don't think I'll buy another Prius. It seems like a decent endeavor for 1997 and mayBE up until 2009 or so but there are some really good competitors on the market now that are very close or exceed the overall performance of the Prius at comparable price tags.

 

yeah, that 50 mpg is a real bummer. my smart for two hauls everything i need in my rucksack.