This reminds me of the Seinfeld episode, where Kramer takes a test drive of a Saab (I think) and is exhilarated by trying to see how far he can go below the E mark. lol

 

One of my favorite episodes - high five!

 

A week ago I pushed mine on empty just because I was getting close to the magic 1000 kilometres on a single tank. First the light came on, later the cruising range dropped to zero then the gauge fell off the last line. I drove another 40 k to the next gas station making 1001.5 k on a single tank about 620 miles. It took 58 litres to fill the tank completely which means I could have gone well past the 1100 kilometre mark or close to 700 miles.
As a matter of interest my last tank I filled at 890 k (550 miles) and the light had just come on. The last 250 k or 155m miles of that tank were driven by my daughter with 4 adults and a lab at 120 kph or 75 mph, the car returned 6 litres per 100k or 39.2 mp US gallon.
I am more impressed with this car's economy by the week or more correctly by the filling.

 

Makes one feel thrifty when looking at suvs and hummers filling up a lot more times then your tch. Great sensation huh?

 

According to the Manuals, you have ~9.8 L (~2.6 galUS) left when the low fuel light comes on. The "cruising range" display seems programmed (after it gets used to your driving style!) to reach zero at about the same time as the fuel gauge reaches 'E.' (As already pointed out you have quite a bit of fuel left at this point.) Consequently, the "cruising range" drops very rapidly after the fuel light comes on.

Stan

 

AndyB,

I am quite impressed with you getting 1000+ kms on a tank.

On my first tank after 716 KMS, I re-filled tank although display was showing about 1/4 tank left. I heard that gas was going up so I did not wait until warning light.

AndyB: I am assuming you are in Canada. What was your mileage in winter. Please give some idea on mileage with temp ranges if you could.

Thanks

 

I typically fill up at about -75 to -100 miles to empty.

I mostly do this so I don't have to refuel every third-fourth day, and I can go every fourth-fifth day on average.

 

My experience is the low fuel light goes on with a good 3 gallons of fuel remaining. Empty is about 2.5 gallons remaining.

I often go 40 to 60 miles past E and rarely take over 16 gallons to fill. Yesterday I filled up after driving 64 miles past E (I set the B trip odometer when the gas gauge hits E.) I had about 1.5 gallons remaining after 705 miles, and used 15.7 gallons.

On Edmunds.com, hybridriver ran out of gas, and said it took 17.8 gallons to fill the tank after driving on battery to the gas station. I've reposted part of hybridriver's post below:

Anyway, today the car ran out of gas at 613 miles. I tried to accelerate, and the engine did not kick in. Fortuitously, I was a few hundred feet from a gas station at that moment, and just glided in with the electric motor to the pump. As I was filling up, I mused at how accurately the gauges had worked in forecasting that moment. But, then the pump blew through the 17.1 gallon mark, and it ended up taking 17.82. Soooo, either the gas companies are even greedier than we thought (is that possible? ), or Toyota underspec'ed the tank capacity, or there was some fuel in the lines that isn't officially tank capacity.

I got back in the car, pumped the accelerator a couple times to prime the fuel pump (unsure if that actually does that on the TCH), hit start, pulled away, and voila, the engine started. Drove home, as normal, feeling happy that the whole thing had been relatively painless (to both me and the car), and secure in the knowledge that I had performed a huge service for [a very small percentage of] the human race...

 

I took delivery on April 18th 07 so I've only seen frost on the windshield twice. (In the first 3 weeks the car covered 4800 k) I should also point out that a great deal of focus has gone into achieving my gas mileage to date i.e. adhering to speed limits, watching traffic and lights well ahead and getting out of the gas early etc. These TCHs coast forever

 

It's funny how the fuel light means different things to different folks. To me, it means I need to get gas in the next 100 miles or so, which can translate to up to 10 days. For my wife, the fuel light represents a must-fix condition that can cause hyperventilating, rasied blood pressure, and uncontrolled sweating. The next gas station, regardless of brand or cost, will be the next destination.