My TCH usually reaches "0 miles to empty" with about 3-4 gallons left in the tank.

I have driven as much as 105 miles after first seeing that message, and never have put in more than 16.48 gallons at a fillup.

 

My TCH fuel gauge does not appear to display "quarters".
It is divided into 16 equal spaces, but the large tick marks are at 3/16, 1/2 and 13/16.

 

Well I filled up last night. Got 34.2 mpg. Not too bad! the gas light was on it was close to E and range was 15

 

According to the Toyota Camry Hybrid Repair Manual (page ME-52):

"The fuel level warning light will come on when the fuel level is below 9.8 liters."

This is ~2.6 US gallons. This confirms the measurements made and reported by many TCH owners, that the fuel remaining when the warning light comes on is between 2 and 3 US gallons.

Stan

 

Some of the "early" posters on this forum (it's been in existence since May) have responded with "3 gallons reserve even after the miles to empty reading says 0", not just when the warning light goes on...

Hmmm....

 

On my second tank I drove about 70 miles past the 0 miles remaining. I did not run out of gas, and only put in just over 16 gallons of fuel. I will be planning most of my fillups when I am betwenn 0 miles to remain, and -30 miles to remain.

I am one of those that hates to stop for fuel, and would rather have a 25 or even 30 gallon tank on this car (ooh, 1200 miles between fill-ups, man that would be nice). Heck, I can drive 1800 miles on one tank of fuel in my truck, but then again it holds over 130 gallons with the second tank in the bed. I get some interesting looks when I go to pay for a tank of fuel that runs well over $300. And with my driving habits, that was every two weeks. Man this car will save me a ton of money on fuel!

 

To maintain adequate fuel and vapor pressure in the system, I'd never push a car to 2 or less gallons left in the tank. 2.5 to 3 gallons is safe. One time I tried that, my car started to sputter and I barely rolled in to the work parking lot! Play it safe. Also, fuel contaminates like soil/particles may be concentrated on the bottom of the tank and might clog fuel filters. My 2 cents.

 

One of the things that fuel injected cars brought us was submerged electric fuel pumps.

These pumps are inside your fuel tank and rely upon the fuel itself to cool the pump.
While this is not a big problem in the cooler months - the summer months put greater demands on the engine (running AC) as well as the heat itself.

I urge people to use the 1/4 tank mark as their "empty" mark for a couple of reasons;
1) It keeps the majority of the body of the fuel pump submerged / cooler.
2) It keeps you from running out of fuel.

Having lived in Texas for a dozen years and being associated with the automotive industry - I can tell you that a majority of fuel pump failures came from cars / trucks that were only filled when the needle approached the empty mark on the guage. My wife's car was one of them.

Certainly there are going to be many many cases where people will tell you that they've always run the needle to the empty mark and never had a problem.

The warranty will be of little solice to you and your family on a lonesome road at night..

Better to be safe than sorry.. Please think about it..

 

I agree with the fact that a car should never be run down past the 1/4 tank mark for the sole reason of fuel pump cooling. I however don't like to fill up as often, so I push my luck with less fuel to cool the pump.

Now as far as contaminates go, your fuel pickup is at the bottom of the tank regardless of whether or not you are running on fumes or not. If you have trash in your tank, you are just as likely to have a problem when the tank is full as when the tank is near empty. If the fuel pickup was located at the 2 gallons left mark, when you got to two gallons left in the tank, your car would die. Now if we are talikng about motorcycles or 4-wheelers where there is a mechanical valve that opens a lower fuel pickup point, then yes running off of reserve will introduce more contaminates into the supply line, but the fuel filter should keep all of that out of the fuel injection system, assuming it is not too much, and does not kill the fuel supply all together.