I had my first full tank over 50mpg ending at 577 miles when I filled it up. Long story short I had to put 10.5 gallons in and it seems like I had enough to make 600 miles then the fuel bars started to go really quick climbing up the Sepulveda pass to get in the valley. Before I knew it I didn't have any more bars left and I started to get a bad feeling driving with no bars of fuel. I've run out of gas before and didn't feel like walking on the side of the freeway as with previous cars. After thinking about it this car is dangerous it has the ability to have an extremely wide range of distance you can travel or not til empty. My Scion has a range of about 350-380 miles on a tank(30 mile difference between high/low FE). This car has a range of about 430-700 per tank(270 mile difference). I arrived at this by the lowest mpg to the highest on the site. Anyone else find this scary if you decide to push the tank alittle?

 

My advice for what it is worth is:

As well as being concerned for the future of the earth, I believe the members of this site are also sensible of their duty to their fellow man. That said , to run out of gas on any part of any road can cause a serious hazard to others!

If I was a police officer and I came across you having run out of gas and if you had passed a gas station in the past 60 miles I would charge you with driving without due care and attention!

With the HCHII you get two warnings - one at about two bars remaining, the other when the last bar goes out.

To go further to try for some ridiculous personal record is in my view criminal!

 

Somebody needs to chill...

He made the right decision, no harm was done. Getting hostile about it doesn't serve much of a purpose. Running out of gas would have been enough of a lesson all by itself.

James, congrats on the great efficiency for that tank!

 

I know with my Acura when I get the fuel light dummy light on the dash I have 2 gallons in reserve remaining or 34 miles at 17MPG (the worst I've ever gotten-so I use that as the benchmark).

The key question, and again, I don't have the manual handy-so someone please check or let me know if they know off the top of their head, is how much fuel is in reserve if the dummy light comes on---assuming there is a dummy light.

Then take the worst MPG, multiply it by the reserve and that's your minimum safe driving distance before refueling. I take the minimum and hold to it!

Best,

Michael

 

The lesson was learned a few times in my life so I headed to the gas station. I will make another attempt to get 600 miles again. After having no bars I'm looking for a gas station. If I don't visit the other half in San Pedro with mountains it would be easier. I always tease her about losing points from my MPG when visiting. I wanted to see if I could make it happen with real traffic going places I really visit. It comes down to mostly my night driving when I can get the best FE and gliding from 405 south top of the Sepulveda pass to about the 10 freeway. P&G really does work especially during stop and go traffic. Just make sure you glide more than you pulse to get the car moving.

 

Or, if you really want to push the envelope, put a 1 gallon tank in your trunk just in case. My best tank so far this year was 523 and I still had 1 bar remaining so probabaly could have gone maybe another 77 miles but I didn't have any spare fuel in the trunk. Reminds me of the old Sinefeld show when Kramer takes the car salesman on a joy ride to see how far they can go without running out of fuel.. lots of laughs.

Good luck on your next tank.

 

Good idea for the most part but, going up a mountain kills the FE very quick. With this car I'm going to punk out and fill it up when no bars are left.

 

When I had 0 bars left and filled up I was at 550 miles and only put 10 gallons in so it appears that we have a few gallons left after there are no bars. That being said, there is no way that I will risk it. Not worth finding out the hard way.

 

I have driven mine to zero bars on several occasions. Never took more than 10.8 gallons to fill.

Seems there is lots of gas still in the tank with zero bars.

Ron in SoCal

 

I'm on my 5th tank now, and I've run every one of them down to zero bars. Some facts:

1) Each of my tanks have taken about 10.7 gallons... but you can pump another 2 gallons in after the pump clicks off. That gives me 680 mile range. I've seen some claim up to 900+ miles (with extreme hypermiling!)

2) I've never run out of gas (on any vehicle, in 29 years of driving!), but I've seen several posts from HCHII folks who did... and NONE of them had to walk. The car will drive (slowly) on the 20 HP IMA battery. At least it will take you up to 3 miles (that's the highest amount I've seen in the posts). There are concerns that the fuel pump could be harmed by running it dry (the pump will continue to attempt to run fuel to the ICE while driving on the IMA battery)... but I've not seen anyone say they suffered any damage (yet). I suppose you could pull the fuel pump fuse just to be safe, though.