I went down low in the tank for the first time. I drove about 32-33 klm (20 miles) with one bar before it started flashing. For a few klm. (mls) it started to flash on and off and then i drove some 55 klm 33 miles with it blinking continuously before filing up. I filled it up with 40.8 liters so there were 4.2 liters (1.1 gallons) left. The distance to go before fill up went down straight from 18 or 19 to zero. This happened a few klm after blinking commenced. From my experience you can drive quite a lot after the blinking starts even more than the manual says (there it is written 6 liters 1.6 American gallons) i think there is closer to 7.5 or 8 liters (2 gallons) when blinking starts Danny
I thought it depended on the outside temperature and how the tank's gas bladder was expanded. I'm sure the experience varies depending on other factors as well, but good to know your experience was positive. Still I don't recommend doing that... if the prius has the fuel pump in the tank, gasoline needs to splash on it to cool down or else it can overheat and fail. Happened a few times with other cars in our house...
Bladders are only in 2004-2009 models, and then only in North America (and maybe Japan?). Fillup and run dry (NOT recommended!) behaviours should be much more consistent in 2010s.
Hi Danny, I just did the same thing ... the last bar started to flash at ~851km (520mi) and I reset the B-trip (I use the "A" to track each tank) and drove another 51km (30mi) and filled up at 902km (560mi). I thought I would have been well into that 6 litre reserve but it only took 37.55 litres (9.92 U.S. gallons). In theory this means I still have 8.45 litres left in the tank but I always stop fuelling once the pump shuts off the first time (no topping up) and wonder if that can make much of a difference? I've filled up one other time right when the bar started to flash and the car took 36 litres (9.64) so I think for my car at least the bar starts flashing with about 10 litres (2.6) left. This may vary slightly from car to car is my guess. Oh my DTE did the same thing yours did went down to about 18km then to zero. Unfortunate .. as is it is not really very useful, but after 6 fill-up I'm getting a pretty good idea of what the car can do.
In hotter climates, it's best to keep at least 1/2 tank of fuel at all times as gasoline acts as a coolant for the in-tank fuel pump. Running it low endangers the fuel pump and if it burns out, it is expensive to replace.
