What happens when a Toyota Prius runs out of gas?

Just another myth conception.

When you run out of gas in the Prius, all that happens is that you get an array of warning lights on the dash. You can still drive a short distance on electric power but don't count on more than half a mile or so (this distance will vary by the amount of charge in the battery, speed, and terrain). Put more gas in and the lights will go out. Some Yahoo group members have run out dozens of times on purpose (for testing).

The manual indicates it's possible to run the traction battery down so far that you won't be able to start the Prius and will need to have the traction battery charged. However, Prius group members who've run theirs really far when out of gas indicate that the Prius shuts down before then, so perhaps it's only the earlier years this applies to. If you shut it off while there are still two bars on the battery icon, you'll never have to worry.

As in most modern cars, the fuel pump is located in the gas tank and is cooled by the gas so running out of gas won't be that good for the fuel pump. I've never heard of anyone actually having to replace one due to running out of gas.

In 80,000 miles on a 2001 and 104,000 miles on a 2004 my wife and I have yet to run out. Just fill as soon as you see the "Add Fuel" light and the blinking fuel gauge bar. If it's cold out or you are in an unfamiliar area, then fill when there is one or two bars left but before it starts blinking. This is really no different than what you would do in any vehicle.

I ran out of fuel today with my Prius C even though the last bar on the gas gauge was still lit and flashing. It lost power and then a warning light came on saying something about lost power to steering. I had always assumed that if I ran out of gas I would be able to go the extra half mile to the gas station in EV mode, but that s wrong. The car simply stops and will not start. I was going to walk to the gas station but called the Toyota service center. They told me that putting gas would not solve the problem and that I would have to get a tow. I got it towed to the Toyota dealer and was told that even if the only problem was no gas, the computer system would have to be reset, that it would cost me $125 for this service, and that it wasn t covered by the warranty. This is a real problem with the Prius that most people don t know about. Having to pay the dealer $125 for running out of gas seems unconscionable.

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RE:

What happens when a Toyota Prius runs out of gas?

Okay, first things first.

My girlfriends' mom/dad seem to think that if they ever run out of gas in their 2007 Toyota Prius (hybrid) that the car's engine or some part of the car will "blow up". Now I don't think this is quite the case and I've tried some mild research...

Mine ran out of gas today, quite surprisingly. I had only gone 404 miles on the current tank, was getting about 45 mpg (according to the car and my every-fillup calculations), so should have gotten a good 530 miles. I didn't hear any alert and never noticed a warning, but there I was, in the middle of nowhere, and the car suddenly started to slow down, lurch, and clearly was about to die. I prepared to pull to the side of the Interstate as I rounded a curve on top of a hill and—lo and behold—there was a sign for an exit one mile ahead. I tried to creep forward to it, but the car was having none of that and died good and dead. A terrific Wyoming state patrolman pulled behind me to verify I was the one who had notified them while I located a towing service, and he took me to get a gas can and some gas. I put 2-1/2 gallons into the tank and the car started! For about 5 seconds. It then died and refused once again to budge. I tried a variety of schemes, mostly confined to turning it off and on again, although at one point the cop and I got out and pushed the car from the berm, which tilted down to the right, to the apron, or whatever the side of the road is called, thinking the fuel line may have been on the up side of the tank. I was at wit's end. No go. I told the amazingly patient patrolman that I was just going to call a tow truck, wait until Monday and see if someone in this small town knew about Prii. I thanked him profusely and he took off, while I was calling my insurance company again. Just as I was connected to a human I tried starting it one fifteenth time and—WooHoo!—it started! No idea why. But it did and I ran with it and headed right for the nearest gas station. It's been running totally normally since then. Divine providence? Karma? Luck? Who knows? I'm just happy it's running again. But I certainly wouldn't recommend running out of gas to any Prius owner.

I've only run out once, the car shut down, reasonably gracefully, allowing me to pull over and stop, but the electric motor would not run. I was able to stop, shut down, start up again, put it in EV mode and run a very short distance. I was fortunate enough to be on a downhill slope with fuel at the bottom. I took a couple of tries, but soon was rolling, generating power enough to keep the hybrid system happy enough not to notice the lack of fuel. Filled up and away.

The hybrid control system does everything it can to protect the main battery and will do it's very best not to let you run it down too low to start.

It won't do any great harm, but don't rely on the electric mode to get you out of trouble.

1

Yes I agree with most of what's been said

If the battery is discharged, it stops like any other car that runs out of gas. If the battery has a bit left in it, it may be able to proceed at slow speed to the next station to refuel.

I'm curious too

it stops moving

if you want a real hybrid get a Fusion better gas mileage and it does not look nerdy