My gas gage started blinking when I was about 10 or 15 miles away from my destination. After 10 or 15 minutes the gas engine quit.<br><br>The battery took me 4 city-miles to the next gas station. For the first two miles, the car would not exceed 34 mph. For the next two miles, it went down to 24 mph max. The battery was almost discharged according to the meter.<br><br>It was a scary experience, but definitely better than the last time in my other car?<br><br>Questions, for those who know:<br><br>How many gallons are left when the gas gage LED starts to blink?<br><br>Would it be fair to say that I barely made it? Would the car go on for much longer?

Brrrrr - scarey - of course you could have walked the 4 miles and got a healthy exercize time..

My memory says that you are the proud owner of the "longest stealth drive" award within the Yahoo Prius community. Others have reported (my memory again) a mile or so, but I don't think anyone has talked about 4. Also, I don't recall anyone mentioning speed limitations after they fill up, though I guess I can understand it.<br><br>Did you have to keep stopping and restarting as you drove along, or were you able to just go steadily? How fast? What was the temp? And finally, when did you get your Prius?<br><br>As to how much is left, well, we don't call it the "guess gauge" for nothing! It does not seem to be consistent.<br><br>Glad all was well!<br><br>Burns

Hi Adejesus2000:<br><br>Here in Southern California, my 2001 Super White's gas guage starts blinking with a consistent 2 & 1/2 gallons left! I've driven the tank down to 1 1/2 gallons remaining, but then chickened out...<br><br>-Michael<br>CA "01 Prius"

I had a similar experience driving to Florida right after I got my Prius. My display told me gas was low. I figured I had at least 75 miles (almost two gallons) left, but after only 15 more miles I was out of gas and the hybrid system warning appeared and my CRT went blank. I was about 2 miles from an exit so I drove under 40 mph and coasted in stelth mode down the exit ramp and into the nearest gas station.<br><br>After I filled up, the gas engine ran for quite awhile to recharge the battery.<br><br>This has been my only complaint about the Prius. The manual warns several times against driving while out of gas, so I'm vewry careful. But the gas guage does not seem to decrease linearally as I use gas, and before I know it I'm almost out.<br><br>Did you get the hybrid system warning message?

Yes... I had a screen with three icons: one said "PS", another had an exclamation mark, and I forgot what the third one looked like. I think it was the sign of an engine... Definitely a final warning!<br><br>My engine also ran for 5 or ten minutes to recharge the battery. Meanwhile, I could feel that the battery was not available for acceleration or backup...

Thank you all, especialy Burns the Fish, for the "longest stealth drive" award. I can't hold my tears!!! Sniff.. Sniff...<br><br>Let me say again... before I got to the gas station, the speed was 34 max, then 24 max. I hit my emergency lights and don't remember anything after that. Just crawled among rush hour traffic... The screen showed "PS" and and engine sign and an exclamation mark. It took 5 or 10 minutes, maybe more, to recharge the battery. Meanwhile, it was not available for acceleration... <br><br>Sniff... Sniff...

My out-of-gas experience went this way:<br>- "add gas" warning rec'd when I was 30 miles from<br> intended destination (a gas station). Quick mental<br> math suggested I had 1.5 gal left, should be able to<br> make it. <br>- got 26 miles (on interstate at 75 MPH) then the <br> engine cut out, with "malfunction" light on multi-<br> display. At first I thought something was wrong <br> with the engine, but then figured it was just out<br> of gas. <br>- drove on three miles on battery power alone.<br>- at first could nearly reach 40 MPH. Then max<br> speed fell to 25, then 20 MPH. <br>- On the dregs of battery power, pulled into a <br> truck weigh station. Hitched a ride to get gas,<br> filled up and the engine started right up, no <br> bad effects, battery charged up after approx.<br> five miles.<br>- So I figure there is less than a gallon left when<br> the "add fuel" warning sounds on this car.<br>- Driving in Colorado, winter, around town mileage<br> while in the break-in period (400 tot miles) is <br> around 42 MPG at this point. Expect it to improve.

&gt;Driving in Colorado, winter, around town mileage<br> while in the break-in period (400 tot miles) is <br> around 42 MPG at this point. Expect it to improve.<br><br>It's not going to improve if you drive 75 mph a lot.