Low hybrid range on new 2019 Prius Prime, 9 gal full tank?

Just editorial...

I seem to recall you need to add 3 gallons mininum, if you run it dry, at least with previous gen's? How about just keep a few more gallons in the gas tank, lol.

Just trolling now, I'll admit: you've already got hatch floor raised about 4", and once you throw in a doughnut spare, and a gas can, it's getting kinda cluttered.

 

True, but that's one feature I would rarely need in our climate.... Our Pathfinder has it too. Used it once, but didn't like the feeling of cooled rump. I like mine warm.

 

Our RX450H has the noble brown interior which isn’t as warm as the Black interior would be.

If you have temps climb above 90 and the car is out in the sun, the cooled seats are great.

It keeps a potential hot rump to the warm stage.

 

I'd add it when the low gas light came on rather than when the tank is bone dry.

Also, for long road trips, I'm probably going to have a rooftop carrier or (if I could swing it) a hitch rack/cargo box. It does hurt your fuel economy, but getting only 40+ mpg is better than 99% of larger vehicles.

 

For my last 2 fill-ups, I waited until my "Miles to empty" got below 30 miles and both fill-ups were less than 9 gallons. Does this mean I still have over 2 gallons in my tank when it says "empty"?

 

Yap, if the light has not come on yet, you have more than 2 gal still left in the tank. BTW, DTE changes every time you fill up, in fact I think it changes every time you drive HV even without filling up. The rate DTE decrease is not constant, it is based on recent mpg you drove. Therefore, the gallon remaining in the tank can be different each time even at the same DTE miles on the display.

 

Isn't a can of gasoline in the passenger cabin a bit of a safety hazard? A lot of people die in vehicle fires before they can be extricated from crash debris, and a filled gas can increases this risk. I carry one only for my intentional bottom-of-fuel-tank tests, never anytime else.

Yes, in most Prii, 1 gallon is not enough to tell the car that fuel has been added, so it may disallow start attempts. This can be overridden by disconnecting the 12V battery for a while to reset everything, but numerous drivers are ill equipped for this step too.

On top of that, there are many places where 1 gallon simply isn't enough to get to the next open fuel station:



For much of these fuel-less segments, if one gallon is not enough to get to the next station, at least you can turn around and go back instead. If you make that choice immediately, not after continuing a bit first. And if the weather isn't too foul.

But in the middle of that longest span, you are hosed. And won't have any cell service either. In fact, I believe all of these segments have sparse to no cell service.

 

I didn't get to 166 Fuelly fill ups in 84K kms by running it near-empty...

 

I recently drove 50 miles into a fuel light, then I had to keep driving another 20 miles on top of that for a total of 70 miles into an Out Of Fuel light before I found the next gas station. No issues...


Rob43

 

Oh, yes, that's why I carried it in my rooftop carrier in my previous car, a honda civic hybrid. I only did this on long trips where I would be using it.

And you're absolutely right, if you run the car bone-dry or very low, adding 1 gal isn't going to help. I kept it around so that if I miscalculated my available range, I could add the gal when I hit 1/4 tank. Normally, my HCH would get 40-45mpg, but with a rooftop carrier, fully loaded with gear, driving uphill in the Rockies, it wasn't usual for it to drop into the 15-25mpg range.

Thankfully, I never had to use it as I was super diligent of filling up regularly, but the peace of mind was invaluable.

 

Eek! The rooftop carrier shortens range more than a 1 gallon fuel can will extend it.

For me, peace of mind came from testing the gauge markings and near-bottom of tank ahead of time, well before any need. Test it at a time and place, and under conditions, where failure doesn't cause any significant problem or inconvenience. Then I know approximately what the car can do, whether it runs out above E (yes, my first car did), or has 2 gallons below E, or even more than 4 gallons after the first warning (yes, one did, and I needed part of that to bypass tourist traps prices on my most common long route). Then on those long trips, leave the fuel can and external carriers behind in order to get better fuel economy.

 

Gen3? Read just the very first post of this much-too-long thread, then adjust for the 'v' vs Liftback MPG difference. This should be a reasonably good guide, though still don't depend on it without first testing it out yourself in circumstances where running out would not cause any grief.

[WARNING] Running out of gas (Gen III) | PriusChat

Later, Bob did a somewhat similar test on his Prime, but I don't have that thread location memorized.

 

Prius Prime Advanced.


Rob43

 

These seem to be Bob's main out-of-fuel threads on his Prime, not as detailed as what he did on his Gen3:
[WARNING] Running out of gas | PriusChat
How to run out of gas | PriusChat

 

I use to try to look for the cheapest gas station while en route or at the destination. But now with PRIME, for my routine long trip of 500+ miles, I need only one gas stop for only 10 gal at most. Even at the most expensive gas station, the difference is less than $0.5, but usually $0.2~$0.3. That makes a saving of $2~$3 at most for getting off the interstate, looking for the cheapest gas station. I have been just stopping at the service area gas station on the interstate lately. My loss time for the pit-in is usually less than 5 min.

 

Who just gets off the highway and drives around to look anymore? Gasbuddy eliminated the looking around bit years ago. The map feature allows one to look ahead and see on-route prices, making it easy to judge price differences vs inconvenience off the route.

This would have been very helpful 35 years ago when getting caught driving that short-range car on a holiday weekend when most stations were closed, back when remote areas had much less service than today. I could have sworn off that extortionate clerk (demanding a pump unlock fee) out loud, with confidence. Planning habits gained in the aftermath of that incident, don't just die away.

Gasbuddy never has all stations updated, but it still provides good benchmarks. Harvest similar prices at unlisted stations as convenient.

You are fortunate in having such a narrow price spread in your area, limiting the cost premium of not checking around. I face much wider price spreads, making such a habit much more costly. On the usual retail row close to home, this morning's spread is $1.06/gallon ($2.93 to 3.99), with more stations high than low. I'm driving my common long trip (mostly off-Interstate) tomorrow, and currently see an even greater on-route spread of $1.19/gal ($2.70 to $3.89).

 

Yes, a case in point. On one such occasion, I relied on the Gasbuddy information to stop at a bit out of way gas station on my way back home from out of state trip. When I got to the station, the actual gas price was much higher than reported. Since I stretched my remaining gas in the tank to reach there, I had to fill up at higher price.

Lately, for my routine out of state trip, I have been making a habit of filling up at the last gas station before I get on the interstate, which is almost always as cheap as any other gas station near my town. As I stated, this is about $.20-$.30/gal cheaper than the service area gas station on the interstate en route to my distination. With ~650 miles range PRIME offer, I don't have to fill up again for my entire trip.

 

I've been lured in by a couple incorrect low prices too. But they were merely going to be opportunistic harvests on a below-half-tank gauge, not a required refill at the end of a stretched tank. Oh well, just update the Gasbuddy database with the correct price, then move on without buying there, just in case the station itself is monekywrenching the postings to draw folks in.

 

I did too until I realized the local Costco gas station pretty much always had the lowest prices.

Also, I know some grocery stores have "gas rewards" for buying certain amounts of groceries. Even if the grocery gas station isn't the absolute cheapest, it often is after you use your reward credits.

 

Some Costcos are convenient to my route, but others are too far off. E.g. Medford Oregon, it is nearly 5 miles round-trip off the highway, and way too many slow traffic lights. The cost of the extra distance and time can easily exceed the possible price savings over something closer to the route. Then there is the frequent problem of Costco's lines during peak traffic hours, an additional time sink.

Plus, I commonly drive through places too small to have a Costco. Outsiders forget that we have places where you can drive many hours without even a McDonald's. It isn't a matter of activist opposition, but simply a lack of population to support them.

For my household, this is usually good for only a single fillup per month, not adequate for significant road trips. These chains uniformly have higher prices than Costco (at least in my home area), so the awards must be stacked to have any positive value. We normally have only a single one stacked high enough any given month to be worthwhile. I commonly blow off the others.