IS 300h fuel still in tank when miles remaining is zero

[wharfhouse]

In case anyone is interested, I found myself a few miles from a fuel station today when the mileage remaining in the fuel tank registered zero (well it actually just says "Refuel" when you get to that point and then stays at that). The fuel light had been on for some 30+ miles before this. Yes, I know - living on the edge!!!

I did about another 5 miles, mostly in EV mode to the fuel station after it hit zero miles left as it was mainly A roads, and then filled the tank to the fuel shutoff, and then just a tad more to account for any frothing. With that I put 58.1 litres into the tank.

Given that the tank holds (according the specs) 66 litres, that means there is around 8 litres remaining when the miles left being reported hits zero. I generally achieve at least 10 miles per litre (using the car computer), so in theory that means at least 80 miles of range left (taking it steadily) after the car reports zero miles. Now, I don't know whether the full 66 litres can be used (the take off pipe may leave some still in the tank, I have no idea) but if you ever do any maths and wonder why it doesn't seem to add up the reason is the 8 litres left in the tank once the car reports zero miles remaining.

[Gaurav Bhandari]

7 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

In case anyone is interested, I found myself a few miles from a fuel station today when the mileage remaining in the fuel tank registered zero (well it actually just says "Refuel" when you get to that point and then stays at that). The fuel light had been on for some 30+ miles before this. Yes, I know - living on the edge!!!

I did about another 5 miles, mostly in EV mode to the fuel station after it hit zero miles left as it was mainly A roads, and then filled the tank to the fuel shutoff, and then just a tad more to account for any frothing. With that I put 58.1 litres into the tank.

Given that the tank holds (according the specs) 66 litres, that means there is around 8 litres remaining when the miles left being reported hits zero. I generally achieve at least 10 miles per litre (using the car computer), so in theory that means at least 80 miles of range left (taking it steadily) after the car reports zero miles. Now, I don't know whether the full 66 litres can be used (the take off pipe may leave some still in the tank, I have no idea) but if you ever do any maths and wonder why it doesn't seem to add up the reason is the 8 litres left in the tank once the car reports zero miles remaining.

Hats off to u sir

[Cotswold Pete]

I always assumed with any of my cars (not just Lexus) that an emoty tank had somewhere between 6 to 8 litres still swilling around.

But running the tank dry meant over time sucking tank debris into the fuel line. 

Only ever ran a car to zero once, but it was a 6 month old Ford Escort and all seemed fine, not so sure would have try that on a 10 year old motor unless I had no choice.

I know fuel filtering better than it was years ago, so maybe less of an issue to 'go low' on reserves.

My E350 says fuel is low when there is near enough 100mile range which is about 10 litre in the tank and with my old LS I recall getting over 50miles when I had 'run out of petrol'

[wharfhouse]

23 minutes ago, Cotswold Pete said:

I always assumed with any of my cars (not just Lexus) that an emoty tank had somewhere between 6 to 8 litres still swilling around.

But running the tank dry meant over time sucking tank debris into the fuel line. 

Only ever ran a car to zero once, but it was a 6 month old Ford Escort and all seemed fine, not so sure would have try that on a 10 year old motor unless I had no choice.

I know fuel filtering better than it was years ago, so maybe less of an issue to 'go low' on reserves.

My E350 says fuel is low when there is near enough 100mile range which is about 10 litre in the tank and with my old LS I recall getting over 50miles when I had 'run out of petrol'

Yes, I don't do it on a regular basis - usually refuel at around 1/4 tank and before the light comes on but had a few more miles to do this time than I had planned for so it was one of those moments that I probably won't experience again so thought I'd see what numbers it presented when refilling.

[Notamech]

44 minutes ago, wharfhouse said:

In case anyone is interested, I found myself a few miles from a fuel station today when the mileage remaining in the fuel tank registered zero (well it actually just says "Refuel" when you get to that point and then stays at that). The fuel light had been on for some 30+ miles before this. Yes, I know - living on the edge!!!

I did about another 5 miles, mostly in EV mode to the fuel station after it hit zero miles left as it was mainly A roads, and then filled the tank to the fuel shutoff, and then just a tad more to account for any frothing. With that I put 58.1 litres into the tank.

Given that the tank holds (according the specs) 66 litres, that means there is around 8 litres remaining when the miles left being reported hits zero. I generally achieve at least 10 miles per litre (using the car computer), so in theory that means at least 80 miles of range left (taking it steadily) after the car reports zero miles. Now, I don't know whether the full 66 litres can be used (the take off pipe may leave some still in the tank, I have no idea) but if you ever do any maths and wonder why it doesn't seem to add up the reason is the 8 litres left in the tank once the car reports zero miles remaining.

Not surprised. I was in a similar situation last year and was on the motorway halfway back to London from Southampton when i reached the red-zone where it asked me to refuel. I just ignored it and continued driving some 30-35 miles till i reached the fuel station close to home (its much cheaper than ones on motorway services) and filled around 58-59 litres. Like you I was pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of range left even when the refuel light comes on. This is the complete opposite of "range anxiety" more like range tranquility. And for this reason alone i wouldn't buy an EV yet.

 

[wharfhouse]

1 hour ago, Notamech said:

Not surprised. I was in a similar situation last year and was on the motorway halfway back to London from Southampton when i reached the red-zone where it asked me to refuel. I just ignored it and continued driving some 30-35 miles till i reached the fuel station close to home (its much cheaper than ones on motorway services) and filled around 58-59 litres. Like you I was pleasantly surprised that there is a lot of range left even when the refuel light comes on. This is the complete opposite of "range anxiety" more like range tranquility. And for this reason alone i wouldn't buy an EV yet.

 

Yes, I get close to 600 miles from a full tank - which I have needed many times and I couldn't have been stopping for the few hours extra that would have been needed (at least with today's EV tech) to complete those trips.

[Mr_Groundhog]

20 hours ago, wharfhouse said:

Yes, I know - living on the edge!!!

Be careful so it wont become "living on the hard shoulder" next time

[GMB]

I found that they will do quite a few  miles on an empty gauge indication, which is fortunate as the two times I picked up the car from Lexus (- once after buying the car and secondly after the fuel tank re-call ) the tank was showing empty and also showing a low fuel warning. Neither dealer would put any fuel in the car as any type of gesture of goodwill or whatever. I would have had to pay for the privilege but did not want to take up the miserly offer. It was a bit worrying after 15/20 miles on an empty tank. I suppose somebody has to pay for the biscuits🥲

[binnocorp]

On 3/20/2024 at 4:13 PM, GMB said:

I found that they will do quite a few  miles on an empty gauge indication, which is fortunate as the two times I picked up the car from Lexus (- once after buying the car and secondly after the fuel tank re-call ) the tank was showing empty and also showing a low fuel warning. Neither dealer would put any fuel in the car as any type of gesture of goodwill or whatever. I would have had to pay for the privilege but did not want to take up the miserly offer. It was a bit worrying after 15/20 miles on an empty tank. I suppose somebody has to pay for the biscuits🥲

Bit rubbish that they sold you it with low fuel. In comparison, mine came with a full tank!

[GMB]

It must just be me that gets ripped off. Even Marks and Spencers ripped me off for £2 last week.  I must admit that I was surprised and disappointed by the meanness of the Lexus garages concerned. Even though I asked nicely for just a gallon of fuel to get to the nearest petrol station without worry they just would not do it. It was too much trouble for them ( even after parting with £20,000 quid!). Problem is that one does not know who to trust with car purchase and servicing. At one time you could do it yourself so that you knew it was done right with the right products but those days have passed unfortunately.😢