How Far You Can Drive Your Car on Empty, in One Chart
yourmechanic.com
yourmechanic.com
I wish I could down-vote this by 1x10^9. What, you think the gas is taken from the top of the tank by a floating tube? The pickup is already on the bottom of the tank, which is pretty dang clean. More FUD spread by mechanics.
When reading the sentence about debris at the bottom my face went into an unnatural position.
The pump is usually located inside the fuel tank on modern vehicles and submerged in the fuel. The fuel is used to cool the pump during operation. When running low, the pump is exposed to air, runs hotter and may possibly overheat and be damaged.
> The good news is that the "low fuel" light comes on when there's anywhere from 1 to 2 gallons left, which is plenty to keep the pump safe.
Yeah, but you pretty much have to be under 1 gallon for it to be an issue.
Similarly, for what the OP mentioned:
> But modern fuel pumps have a protective screen or porous sock-like cover that catches any contaminants before they enter the fuel system. And those small bits that might get through would normally be caught by a second filter closer to the engine.
The location requires a filter to avoid that problem, regardless of fuel level. xD
> Even the simple act of driving with a low amount of fuel in your tank can damage your fuel pump...
I agree, driving up to fuel reserve shouldn't be a problem but I wouldn't use the reserve all that often.
Most gas tanks are pretty wide and flat and fuel pumps tend to be built "vertically", so 1 gallon fuel left of 14-16 gal will not cover/cool all that much surface area of the fuel pump.
> Most gas tanks are pretty wide and flat and fuel pumps tend to be built "vertically", so 1 gallon fuel left of 14-16 gal will not cover/cool all that much surface area of the fuel pump.
Its intended to operate safely and efficiently at a level equal to or above the fuel reserve.
If it didn't, they would fail frequently in many cars as most people drive it pretty close to E regularly and you'd have in warranty repairs.
The stated reason may be wrong but it's not advisable to often drive below reserve (on hot days, in many modern cars).
As I stated before, I agree with you that driving up to fuel reserve is usually fine but I would not routinely drive on reserve.
The article disclaimer we are discussing:
> That said, driving on empty can also do damage to your vehicle. If you do run out of gas, you can do damage to your catalytic converter, which may then need to be repaired or replaced. Even the simple act of driving with a low amount of fuel in your tank can damage your fuel pump...
My distance record was 798 miles. I was going for 800, but my nerve gave out after the low-fuel warning had been on for 50 miles.
However, it had nothing to do at all with gas contamination (the pump couldn't care less), and everything to do with cooling (or lack of, due to the extended low fuel condition). I used to live in a hot climate (30oC every day). The pump self-destructed and part of the casing melted.
It takes quite a few days of constant driving with the gas light on for it to be an issue. At the time, I was filling up just enough to get me from A to B and didn't think it would be a problem.
> Here is the range for how many miles you can drive [...] for the 50 best-selling vehicle in the United States in 2015.
Matches up with http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2016/01/usa-vehicle-sales-by-mo...
Unfortunately (my car being a Kia automatic) even with a full tank that's only 220 miles. I have range anxiety as if I was driving an electric car.
On the first occasion, the fuel gauge failed, so I thought I still had gas. I got used to that after a while. I knew how many mpg I got, and how much gas I'd put in the tank.
Then my odometer failed (I told you it was a beater!). Without that, I was up the creek.
To be clear, the "low fuel" sign comes up well in advance, but as soon as the needle hits 0 (Full is 1. Half Tank is 1/2 and Empty Tank is 0) the car will stop, without any extra buffer for driving beyond that mark.
In addition to the fuel pump's well-being there's also condensation - if your vehicle experiences large temperature swings, it makes sense to keep the tank reasonably topped up to minimise condensation and water build-up in the tank.
Not in mine (in Germany, recent C class). It depends a bit on whether you define "reserve level" as 0 or not. On the one hand, the needle does go below reserve level all the way to physical zero, but from a UI point of view, reserve level itself is clearly what they want you to see as "running on empty". And that's what they mean in this article, too.
In my car, it actually shows you in the dashboard how much range you got left based on your current driving style, too. I have a medium-power Diesel engine, so that works out to about 40 miles remaining once the warning light goes on, and that's pretty accurate. After half of that is used up, the dashboard stops showing the estimate and instead begins to flash a "fill up immediately!" message.
What am I missing?
My girlfriend has been driving it for the last year or so and the only times I drive it anymore is to take it in for an oil change or maintenance, but I often check the statistics and it averages 34 mpg overall (most of her driving is highway). The "low fuel" indicator in it also comes on with somewhere around 100 miles remaining.
I did drive it far enough once without stopping for gas that the "miles left" indicator read "---". I was about 10 minutes from home and figured I'd chance it (there's a gas station at the intersection where I turn off the highway to come home). My thought was that if I had designed the "countdown indicator", I would be in a bit of a buffer so that the car doesn't actually die going down the road when it hits zero, so I was certain I still had enough gas left to make it.
My truck (large 2013 Dodge Ram) averages right about half of that. Its "low fuel" indicator comes on with about 50 miles remaining. The Harley gets around 50 mpg (and offers to find the nearest gas stations when there is ~35 miles remaining).
Continuously variable transmission? They do wonders for gas mileage (and the opposite for power).
My Nissan used to stop registering the "Distance-until-empty" measure one it dropped below 40km, I assume because the accuracy isn't high enough.
I own an older Nissan Leaf and set it to charge to a maximum of 80% per Nissan's recommendation. That gives me an indicated range of 68 miles when I start my trips. Range is never an issue for me personally (and we have a gas car for long drives) but I tell people that if they are the type to stress about driving around town with a fuel light on, they should avoid shorter-range EVs like the Leaf.
Mine has just passed the 12k mile, I don't notice any degradation. Indicated range is usually 100+ miles, which is meaningless. Once highway driving starts, it's more like 80 miles and is pretty accurate if doing 65MPH. Higher speeds will decrease that range.
Fun anecdote: I went to a park late at night to watch the perseids meteor shower. A arrived near the park with 20 miles remaining. Which was fine, as there was a quick charger nearby.
Me and my wife decided not to waste time and just hit it on the way back. Due to unfamiliarity with the area, I was misled by the GPS and went to the other side of the park. So I had to circle back and go uphill to reach the rendezvous point, a parking lot inside said park. Estimated range showed "---", 7% state of charge.
We had about 8 miles to go to reach the charger. We added 2 more miles by taking a wrong turn in an area with no phone and GPS reception. So 10, which took two times the amount of energy I figured I had.
Since it was almost 3 am, I just drove at the slowest possible speed I could, 15 MPH. Arrived at the charger with 4% remaining(dash showed "--%", still one bar lit). I doubt I would have made it at normal speeds.
Now, this is only possible because EV battery charge is extremely accurate, compared to fuel gauges in ICE cars.