
How Far You Can Drive Your Car on Empty, in One Chart - zabielski
https://www.yourmechanic.com/article/how-far-can-you-drive-your-vehicle-on-empty-by-brady-klopfer
======
backyardmech
"Even the simple act of driving with a low amount of fuel in your tank can
damage your fuel pump, as any debris or contamination in the gas (which
naturally settles at the bottom of the tank), will be sent through your fuel
pump when the tank is nearly empty."

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.

~~~
oneformo
What I have heard and seems to make more sense is that fuel is used to cool
the fuel pump.

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.

~~~
fweespeech
[http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/dispelling-two-pesky-
ca...](http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/dispelling-two-pesky-car-
myths-1.aspx)

> 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

~~~
oneformo
> Yeah, but you pretty much have to be under 1 gallon for it to be an issue.

> 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.

[http://www.motorcarmall.com/avoid-fuel-pump-
failure](http://www.motorcarmall.com/avoid-fuel-pump-failure)

~~~
fweespeech
Yeah but up to the fuel reserve is the level which was under discussion by the
OP (which kicks on the light in most cars).

> 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.

~~~
oneformo
Don't want to be pedantic but the article was discussing how far you can
"drive on empty" and parent post stated that the warning over driving on
reserve in said article is FUD spread by mechanics.

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...

~~~
fweespeech
I don't know about you but I don't hit the reserve until I'm actually slightly
past E.

------
deadmik3
Cool info, but I cannot figure out how that chart is organized. At first it
seemed almost alphabetical by model, but that's not right. It's basically just
random.

~~~
chrisbolt
It's in order of 2015 sales:

> 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...](http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2016/01/usa-vehicle-sales-by-
model-2015-calendar-year-december.html)

~~~
gr3yh47
Nice catch, but man what a miserable sorting method. Does not assist lookup in
any way.

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dyeje
I really wish that they would use HTML tables in their writeups. Being able to
Cmd+F for models / makes would be much more convenient than visually scanning
images.

~~~
rezashirazian
We are in the process of replacing all our image charts with html table.

~~~
Jtsummers
Where you don't use html tables (should more image charts be generated in the
interim), provide a more sensible ordering. Alphabetical by make, then model,
for instance. This one is a jumble and difficult to use as a quick reference.

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jordache
I don't get why a lot of people ask "how many miles do you get per tank?" Then
they just go by x miles when the light comes on. Argh.. Why don't people just
use simple algebra and go by MPG!?

~~~
rwmj
My car has a "miles til empty" indicator which is pretty accurate.

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.

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nobrains
In a Mercedes (at-least the Gulf countries Specifications model), the tank is
really empty as soon as the needle hits 0 (Empty), unlike Japanese and
American cars, where you can drive quite a bit even after the needle is below
the "red" empty mark.

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.

~~~
Udo
_> In a Mercedes [...] the tank is really empty as soon as the needle hits 0_

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.

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dodders
The chart suffers from the same problem as the fuel light - how far you can
drive depends on both the amount of fuel left and the current driving
conditions. I don't see how the chart is any more accurate than the on-board
computer, given the difference in MPG for different road conditions.

What am I missing?

~~~
rhino369
The on-board computers lie to you so you don't end up stuck on the side of
road. The computer tells you that you have no gas when you still have some
left.

------
EvanAnderson
I rented a 2016 Nissan Altima last weekend for a +1,000 mile trip. I was
surprised the when the "low fuel" indicator came on while the diagnostics
system reported over 100 miles until empty. I just assumed the diagnostics
system was being wildly optimistic about fuel consumption. After reading this
article, though, it looks as though I may have been able to drive on a little
longer and do some more price-shopping for fuel.

~~~
jlgaddis
I have a 2014 Nissan Altima. It gets better gas mileage than any vehicle I've
ever driven, other than motorcycles. On long highway/interstate trips, I get
550-600 miles on a tank of gas (the tank holds about 12 or 13 gallons, if
memory serves).

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).

~~~
forgetsusername
> _I have a 2014 Nissan Altima._

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.

------
fnj
There is one thing which simple characterizations like this miss. That is the
effect of fuel not lying level, given that at any instant the car may be
accelerating longitudinally and laterally, not to mention driving on an
inclined surface. So when the fuel is very low, at any given moment it may all
be pushed into one end, or corner, of the tank, away from the pickup.

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sushid
Why are their charts always an image file? There are so many easy to use
charting libraries with sorting, formatting, etc. Even easier to use out of
the box with no need for async data...

~~~
prmph
Maybe they don't want to make it easy for their data to be copied. There is
even a watermark on the image

------
amelius
They forgot one important metric: the size of the tank. This is because for a
car with a large tank, it is less costly design-wise to have a larger residual
tank space.

------
matthewmcg
Interesting--the higher end numbers on many of these ranges with the fuel
light on in an ICE car is further than the best-case range on my EV!

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.

~~~
outworlder
Newer Nissan Leaf (Leaves?) do not have that option. I guess this buffer is
now built in?

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.

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jordache
their 3 column story boxes do not have fixed height defined.. the different
heights of juxtaposed boxes bother me

