[2VoltFamily]

Wanted to see how far it would go so the Fuel gauge said I had about 39 miles left.

Drove 61 miles and used 1.45 gallons before the engine shut down.

Still had plenty of charge to get home on reduced propulsion mode. Although that did not seem to slow me down any the accelerator was just a little less responsive.

Update:

One annoyance about the "Low Fuel" warning is that it appears on both the DIC and the Center Console. Then if you run out of gas you get even more messages, 3 on the DIC and one on the Center Console.

Since I never ran out of gas I did not know that after a fill up, the engine will start when you turn the car on even with a full charge. I guess It has to "Prime the Pump" so to speak. I thought I would borrow that phrase for our President who invented the phrase all by himself.

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

That's the neat thing about most hybrids. You can literally run them out of gas and you can still drive them for a little while longer.

 

[llninja]

Thank you for doing this experiment in the interest of science.

I'm not gonna try it, you try it...

https://youtu.be/CLQ0LZSnJFE

 

[Rickoshay]

That's the neat thing about most hybrids. You can literally run them out of gas and you can still drive them for a little while longer.

We had a 2010 Honda Insight. If you ran out of gas you were not going anywhere. Except for a walk with a gas can. Not all hybrids will do what our awesome Volts will.

2014 Volt Premium - Safety pkg 1 and 2, Navigation

 

[obermd]

This is good to know that it works. The owners manual implies it but isn't explicit about being about to run without gas.

 

[VoltenRock]

hey 2volt i take it you had some "charge" left? I can't recall how many miles you get after no gas + "empty" battery.

 

[Sean-a-Tron]

We had a 2010 Honda Insight. If you ran out of gas you were not going anywhere. Except for a walk with a gas can. Not all hybrids will do what our awesome Volts will.

2014 Volt Premium - Safety pkg 1 and 2, Navigation

Hence why I said 'most'. Once I think about it, I actually think the only hybrid capable of this aside from PHEV's is the Prius.

 

[wordptom]

Wanted to see how far it would go so the Fuel gauge said I had about 39 miles left.

Drove 61 miles and used 1.45 gallons before the engine shut down.

Still had plenty of charge to get home on reduced propulsion mode. Although that did not seem to slow me down any the accelerator was just a little less responsive.

Update:

One annoyance about the "Low Fuel" warning is that it appears on both the DIC and the Center Console. Then if you run out of gas you get even more messages, 3 on the DIC and one on the Center Console.

Since I never ran out of gas I did not know that after a fill up, the engine will start when you turn the car on even with a full charge. I guess It has to "Prime the Pump" so to speak. I thought I would borrow that phrase for our President who invented the phrase all by himself.

I drive my 2012 Volt ~99% ev around town, so by the time I reach the Low gas level, my Gas Range Estimate is way off because it is usually derived from gas burned during EMMs and a few short trips of ~2 miles or less. During my first FMM, the gas range estimate was showing 27 miles before it changed to Low (the Gen 1 display switches to Low at about ~1.5 gallon volume). During an FMM, however, the gas engine runs all the time and gets properly warmed up, so I drove 82+ miles using the final 1.8 gallons in my tank (45.6 MPGcs), most of that after the display was reading "Low." (And yes, once the tank was empty during this FMM, I had access again to my fully charged battery, albeit in Reduced Propulsion Mode.)

I have run out of gas, so I’m familiar with the engine’s post-refill behavior, as described in the manual: "Once the vehicle is refueled, the engine will start the next time the vehicle is turned on to perform a self test, and DIC messages will not be displayed. Once the engine starts successfully, normal operation will continue in either Electric or Extended Range Mode. The engine will stop running after the self test is completed, and based on the current mode of operation."

I will note that my 2012 Volt’s engine did this self test twice after filling up after running out of gas. On a third occasion, I refilled my tank when Torque Pro was reporting "0.0 gals gas / 0.0% tank volume" while parked on level ground, and the engine made no self test upon starting the car. Clearly, the tank is not "engine has no fuel" empty when the OBD port first reports the car is out of gas.

 

[BAZINGA]

I have about 5 gallons of gas that I'll be forced to burn off sometime this Aug from my original dealer fill up from Aug 16 and since I operate almost 100% electric I will only add about 2.5 gallons back which will be my "emergency" fuel for my second year of ownership.

Thanks for the confirmation that I can safely run my tank to empty and then add some fuel and carry on.

 

[Raymondjram]

That's the neat thing about most hybrids. You can literally run them out of gas and you can still drive them for a little while longer.

The Chevy Volt managed that situation perfectly, warning the driver but still driveable. Not so with modern fuel injection systems. Running completely dry may be harmful even for a hybrid or a plug-in. Most new cars, and maybe some hybrids will be in trouble if the gas tank was ran dry, allowing air or vapor into the lines and not restarting after adding gasoline. Older cars with carburetors were easy to restart: just pour some gasoline down the intake.

A discharged battery isn't harmful since the EV will keep a minimum charge and just power off when that low level is reached. But if that happens on the road, you need a very long extension cable or a "jumper" from a vehicle with an AC generator or DC/AC converter. No one has a portable SAE J1772 HVDC charger yet, but if more BEVs, such as the Bolt EV, are on the roads, then someone will make and sell it.

 

[turboguy327]

The Chevy Volt managed that situation perfectly, warning the driver but still driveable. Not so with modern fuel injection systems. Running completely dry may be harmful even for a hybrid or a plug-in. Most new cars, and maybe some hybrids will be in trouble if the gas tank was ran dry, allowing air or vapor into the lines and not restarting after adding gasoline. Older cars with carburetors were easy to restart: just pour some gasoline down the intake.

A discharged battery isn't harmful since the EV will keep a minimum charge and just power off when that low level is reached. But if that happens on the road, you need a very long extension cable or a "jumper" from a vehicle with an AC generator or DC/AC converter. No one has a portable SAE J1772 HVDC charger yet, but if more BEVs, such as the Bolt EV, are on the roads, then someone will make and sell it.

You can run anything gasoline powered dry without concern for it restarting, although damage to the fuel pump from heat my result. Diesel engines can be troublesome if run dry though.

 

[vawlk]

I have about 5 gallons of gas that I'll be forced to burn off sometime this Aug from my original dealer fill up from Aug 16 and since I operate almost 100% electric I will only add about 2.5 gallons back which will be my "emergency" fuel for my second year of ownership.

Thanks for the confirmation that I can safely run my tank to empty and then add some fuel and carry on.

I only ever add between 1.5 and 2 gallons of gas when I fill up. If I know I am going on a long trip, I just fill up on my way out.

Lugging around an extra 8 gallons of gas hurts your electric range

 

[ewiggins]

One annoyance about the "Low Fuel" warning is that it appears on both the DIC and the Center Console. Then if you run out of gas you get even more messages, 3 on the DIC and one on the Center Console.

The thing I don't like about the "Low Fuel" light is the estimated mileage disappears unless it is hiding and I don't see it.

 

[LANMAN]

Hence why I said 'most'. Once I think about it, I actually think the only hybrid capable of this aside from PHEV's is the Prius.

I ran my 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid out of gas once. With the small battery only got about 3/4 of a mile though.

 

[hellsop]

The thing I don't like about the "Low Fuel" light is the estimated mileage disappears unless it is hiding and I don't see it.

Just think about how mad people would be if they were counting on the display that said "22 miles" and only got 17 from it. Then tell me whether it's a good idea to show that.

 

[glasspilot]

You can run anything gasoline powered dry without concern for it restarting, although damage to the fuel pump from heat my result.

Yah, I'll let you guys do the experimenting! Modern cars (last ~25 years) have the pump in the tank and depend on gas for lubrication and cooling. I ain't gonna run my tank dry! (My 18 yo Monte Carlo still has the orig pump (fingers crossed)).

 

[canehdian]

You can run anything gasoline powered dry without concern for it restarting, although damage to the fuel pump from heat my result. Diesel engines can be troublesome if run dry though.

IIRC the volt doesn't actually run dry, it still has a very small emergency reserve left after 'shut off because empty' - was discussed here at some point.

 

[glasspilot]

IIRC the volt doesn't actually run dry, it still has a very small emergency reserve left after 'shut off because empty' - was discussed here at some point.

That wouldn't surprise me at all! Chevy really thought things through when they designed this car. My friends are always asking me questions and my reply usually is: "No, Chevy thought of that!". Things like burning off fuel if it gets too old.

 

[alfon]

I don't ever recall running out of gas in any of the car or motorcyles I have owned and at 66 years old there has been a few. I do recall the first car I ever drove, was my Dad's, 58 VW Bug. There was no gas gauge if I recall but there was a lever near where your foot would be by the brake area where you would switch the lever over and there would another small tank that would supply gas to the engine. You could do this in motion and when you can feel the engine running rough due to running out of gas you could move the lever and it would start running as normal with the gas flow from the spare fuel tank.

With 24 hours gas stations and most cars getting 30+ mpg, there is little worry about running out of gas, unless you don't have the money to pay for it....

 

[2VoltFamily]

Just think about how mad people would be if they were counting on the display that said "22 miles" and only got 17 from it. Then tell me whether it's a good idea to show that.

Very good point.