Gauges on Clarity (maybe belongs in new user area)

[Dan Albrich]

I think folks should be warned about how this stuff is reported. Had a friend recently run out of gas on non-clarity phev because the car showed about 40mi of range, then went to zero and died.

So why can this happen? The car is rated for 40-44Mpg. Seeing range of 40 miles may sound like something (or a lot) but you wouldn't keep driving your conventional gas powered car on one gallon of gas.

So I coached my wife early on if the gas gets down to like 3 bars or total range 80 miles, that's like the normal warning time-- orange light, on a normal car. It means you maybe have 2 gallons of gas.

Also, bear in mind that tanks are subject to ups and downs in the road. if you're on a non-level surface with like 1 gallon of gas, are you sure you can use it?

In full disclosure I've never run out of gas in our clarity, but I also don't keep driving on a long trip when the gas bars go too low. For me, 80 miles of range left is 'warning mode'

-Dan

PS: I admit, PHEV users have another 'tank' for electric battery. So if your electric range is 30 and your gas range is 40 (total 70 miles), I'd grant you likely have at least the 30 mile electric range regardless of which direction your car happens to be tilting.

 

[V8Power]

I think folks should be warned about how this stuff is reported. Had a friend recently run out of gas on non-clarity phev because the car showed about 40mi of range, then went to zero and died.

So why can this happen? The car is rated for 40-44Mpg. Seeing range of 40 miles may sound like something (or a lot) but you wouldn't keep driving your conventional gas powered car on one gallon of gas.

So I coached my wife early on if the gas gets down to like 3 bars or total range 80 miles, that's like the normal warning time-- orange light, on a normal car. It means you maybe have 2 gallons of gas.

Also, bear in mind that tanks are subject to ups and downs in the road. if you're on a non-level surface with like 1 gallon of gas, are you sure you can use it?

In full disclosure I've never run out of gas in our clarity, but I also don't keep driving on a long trip when the gas bars go too low. For me, 80 miles of range left is 'warning mode'

-Dan

PS: I admit, PHEV users have another 'tank' for electric battery. So if your electric range is 30 and your gas range is 40 (total 70 miles), I'd grant you likely have at least the 30 mile electric range regardless of which direction your car happens to be tilting.

With this dual fuel setup we’re not relying on the predicted Range too heavily when deciding when to fill up because the range doesn’t seem too reliable at this time. Rather, going old school when the fuel tank gauge gets low, it’s time to get gas. Now getting gas has happened only once since owning the Clarity, so not too worried here!

 

[Robert_Alabama]

I've run out of gas once about 30 years ago in someone else's truck. Tank went empty before the fuel gauge hit bottom. Painful enough that I've never done it again. I try to put gas in the Clarity when I get to the last couple of bars, just like when the battery usually cuts off. I know there's probably a gallon of gas left in the tank, but generally just don't want to push my luck (even with a good bit of the battery as a backup).

 

[Dan Albrich]

I've run out of gas once about 30 years ago in someone else's truck. Tank went empty before the fuel gauge hit bottom. Painful enough that I've never done it again. I try to put gas in the Clarity when I get to the last couple of bars, just like when the battery usually cuts off. I know there's probably a gallon of gas left in the tank, but generally just don't want to push my luck (even with a good bit of the battery as a backup).

Yep, that's the sentiment of my post. In short, don't get too enamored with range in miles. Cool, but most of us aren't used to thinking this way. Your point about watching the bars for the gas I think is good. i.e. you may have 80 miles of range but the salient point is the 2 bars you have left on the gas gauge. i.e. don't think "cool, I have 80 more miles to drive. Think two bars of fuel, better stop soon."

 

[lanb]

Agree, we should always follow the remaining 2 bar rule.

2 bars of battery means needs charging asap.
2 bars of gas means needs refueling asap.

 

[BrettB]

Low fuel light came on at 2 bars for me - stopped for gas almost immediately and it took 5.93g, so there was only a gallon or so left at that point. This is based on a sample size of one since that's how many times I've added fuel! (Though it was nice how fast I was in and out of the gas station. Felt more like filling up the gas can for the lawnmower than filling a car...)

 

[MPower]

The first time I drove my 2006 Prius hybrid to a dance out of town, I looked at the gas gauge and saw that it looked like about a quarter of a tank which on my previous car would have been plenty to get me to the dance and back.

It was a dark and rainy night and it turned out the gauge was calibrated differently from my old car. It ran out of gas just before my home exit. It was past midnight bucketing down and there was no visibility so since I was dressed all in red (which is black in the dark), I did not think it was wise to get out and walk. So I looked around for something white and found a sweaty t-shirt that was printed on white turned it inside out and waved it out the window until some one saw it and stopped.

Then in my 2012 Plugin Prius, coming home from a dance weekend, I foolishly believed the then "state of the art" mileage estimate. It was a dark and snowy Sunday night on a country road where they would pull in the sidewalks at dark if only they had sidewalks. We cut our speed to 25-30 mph, hit the regeration B gear every time we hit a slight downgrade and thought that we might just eke it out to at least walking distance from home, but through the snow we saw a light on a gas station that was just closing.

Now we don't mess around with gas any more. "Never pass a gas station or a toilet." Words to live by.