I am curious what the Prius does in either of two scenarios:<br><br>- No electric motor available (let's say a battery failure)<br><br>- No ICE (let's say the gas tank has run dry)<br><br>My hope would be, if one propulsion system fails, it would run on the other as long as possible. But I can easily imagine that for some good engineering reason, this might not be true and the car might just shutdown in one or both of these cases. Does anyone know?<br>Thanks!

Out of juice (battery failure): The car will run on gas alone. This would be equivalent to "turtle" mode - you can drive but won't have the electric assist.<br><br>Out of gas: My understanding is that the car will continue to run on electric alone, but the manual strongly warns against this as the life of the hybrid battery may be compromised if you continue to drive after running out of gas. You're supposed to pull over and stop. <br><br>I tried to run out of gas, because I'd like to know how far you can drive after the last fuel gauge bar starts blinking. I carried around one gallon of gas on the passenger seat floor for 68 miles (suburban driving, 0-40, ~50mpg) after SOB (Start-Of-Blinking), then could no longer stand the suspense and stopped for a fill-up. <br><br>Sam Williams

Sam Williams said: "I tried to run out of gas, because I'd like to know how far you can drive after the last fuel gauge bar starts blinking. I carried around one gallon of gas on the passenger seat floor for 68 miles (suburban driving, 0-40, ~50mpg) after SOB (Start-Of-Blinking), then could no longer stand the suspense and stopped for a fill-up."<br>--I'm glad the car can go 68 miles after the low gas warning got to blinking! <br> When I tried this stunt on my Subaru Legacy, I think it had gone 400 miles on one tank of gas. It will be neat to go 700-800!<br> Awaiting Green "Genie" Prius due 11/7/00--<br>Eric in Enfield, Maine

If you run out of juice and shut the gas engine off, you have no way of getting it started again. Running down the HV battery must be avoided.

What a pity you didn't complete the experiment. It would have answered another question: is it possible to pour gasoline into the bladder from a jerry can?<br><br>&gt;&gt;&gt;I tried to run out of gas, because I'd like to know how far you can drive after the last fuel gauge bar starts blinking. I carried around one gallon of gas on the passenger seat floor for 68 miles (suburban driving, 0-40, ~50mpg) after SOB (Start-Of-Blinking), then could no longer stand the suspense and stopped for a fill-up.&lt;&lt;&lt;

Good question. I'm convinced that, with the right equipment, it is quite possible to pour gasoline from a jerry can into the bladder, though to date I haven't actually transferred any gas. Before I risked running out, I had a "test fit".......<br> <br>The "male" spigot of my plastic gas can was accommodated quite nicely by the car's "female" fuel filler receptacle, surrounded as it is by a nice tight rubber orifice. The fit was so good, in fact, that had I found myself tranferring gas "ex stazione" I think the evaporative emissions would have been negligible. ;) <br><br>(I know the temptation is great to continue this theme, but please remember, this is a family car site!)<br><br>Sam Williams

&gt;&gt;...how far you can drive after the last fuel gauge bar starts blinking<br><br>Hmmm... interesting experiment, but a little extreme :-)<br><br>The last time I noticed the blink, I pulled in to fill the tank with about 10 gallons. So I figure the blink starts when there are 2 gallons left. No?

I guess there's nothing to keep you from pouring that one gallon into the tank anyway... If you decide to try it, please let us know if any spillage results.

The problem is Prius' variable volume gas bladder. Your calculation is correct if the gas tank is truly 11.9 gallons, and the temperatures have been moderate. In my case, the wife put in 10.9 gallons (topped off) soon after SOB (start of blinking), on a warm day (implies about 1 gallon was left) , and I put in 10.4 gallons (topped off) 68 miles after SOB, on a cold morning, about 35 degrees F. If the bladder volume at 35 degrees is reduced by 10%, then I had about 0.3 gallons remaining when I filled up, and perhaps 1.3-1.5 gallons at SOB.

&gt;&gt;The problem is Prius' variable volume gas bladder &lt;&lt;<br><br>I've just experienced some odd behaviour by the gas gauge. I got the chime and the blink and put in ten bucks' worth -- about 12 liters, or less than a third of the tank capacity. But the gauge went well above the halfway mark. It stayed there for a while, then started dropping quite rapidly, till after 200 km or so it was back to the blink.<br><br>Has anyone else had similar experiences when putting in less than a full tank? The gauge dropped way more rapidly than it did on the previous two fill-ups.

That's very interesting.<br><br>One possible explanation: The bladder is only fully distended to the 11.9 gallon (45 liter) capacity when filled to the top. When you added 3 gallons (12 liters) the bladder expanded only enough to accomodate that much gas, and the level sensor thinks the tank is more than half full. The level then dropped quite rapidly because the bladder is behaving like a smaller gas tank. 200 km on 12 liters is roughly the mileage you'd expect. (You should get a bit better than that.)

&gt;&gt;The problem is Prius' variable volume gas bladder &lt;&lt;<br><br>I think the goal of the blatter is to be sure that the gas will not expand and spill over after fill up. Worst case, You fill it completely up when it's very cold outside at a gas station next to your house. Then drive it straight home and leave it parked in your heated garage without driving it for a few days.

&gt; fchog said:<br>&gt;I think the goal of the blatter is to be sure <br>&gt; that the gas will not expand and spill over <br>&gt; after fill up. <br>The design purpose of the Prius bladder lined fuel tank is to drastically reduce fuel vapor emissions by eliminating the air "void" present in conventional gas tanks.<br>Details are available from your dealer in their Totoya University training material - that they are encouraged to share with (prospective) customers.<br>Bill Powell<br>(waiting... waiting...)