GAS/FUEL TANK CAPACITY - 2020 MODEL

[BruceHF]

I live near Niagara Falls and my daughter and 2 grand kids were visiting from Halifax but stayed overnight with friends in Brampton about 130km away. I went to pick them up knowing that I would have to use gas to get there and and back and while I started with a full battery charge ( 21k) and about half a tank of gas the guess-o-meter (for the lack of a better word) indicated I could go just over 420 km so in my head I had sufficient gas to do the 260 km there and back home which we did but.....

The minute we pulled into the driveway one grand kids noticed he had left his Omni Pod ( for diabetes) and was needing it urgently, so after dropping the rest off, my daughter asked for the car and immediately left going all the way back.

Needless to say hat when she returned she was exhausted saying the the fuel gage kept tell her to fill up as both the battery was showing --- and fuel --- ( both out) before I could fill up I charged the battery to get to the gas station) and when I did fill the tank it took 38.2L. According to the manual it should have taken 43L.
Anyone experience something similar. I know the tank was empty , it was flashing like mad.

 

[DaveL59]

I'd guess the range and flashing warning would kick in when it hits the 'reserve' level which on a regular ICE car would give you around 30-60 miles remaining, so maybe a gallon or so before there's not enough to reach the pickup well? That'd seem about right (43L less 4.6L gets approx your 38.2L).

That said, if you brim the tank when filling there's potentially an extra gallon more than the tank capacity, so dunno really

 

[ronnieracoon]

I live near Niagara Falls and my daughter and 2 grand kids were visiting from Halifax but stayed overnight with friends in Brampton about 130km away. I went to pick them up knowing that I would have to use gas to get there and and back and while I started with a full battery charge ( 21k) and about half a tank of gas the guess-o-meter (for the lack of a better word) indicated I could go just over 420 km so in my head I had sufficient gas to do the 260 km there and back home which we did but.....

The minute we pulled into the driveway one grand kids noticed he had left his Omni Pod ( for diabetes) and was needing it urgently, so after dropping the rest off, my daughter asked for the car and immediately left going all the way back.

Needless to say hat when she returned she was exhausted saying the the fuel gage kept tell her to fill up as both the battery was showing --- and fuel --- ( both out) before I could fill up I charged the battery to get to the gas station) and when I did fill the tank it took 38.2L. According to the manual it should have taken 43L.
Anyone experience something similar. I know the tank was empty , it was flashing like mad.

I'm not clear, but it seems you drove 4 segments of 130km or..520 km...with half a tank in winter
which is 350km approx. How did you not run out of gas let alone stress out?

 

[BruceHF]

Thanks DaveL and Ronnnieracoon, You both have valid comments especially that I did NOT fill it to the rim. The minute the gas hit the inflow pipe I stop and I guess it would have taken more, how much more I am not sure.
Ronnieracoon, yes we were stressing out, but one thing to remember that with the PHEV it runs in 'series' mode' so with the motor running it is still adding small amounts of power to the battery and every now and then the battery was driving the wheels; it showed over that distance it used just under 20% of EV battery so I guess even though I had exhausted the original battery power and driving in B and D it added power to the battery without recording just how much but used whatever it added.
Whatever the case I am thinking of the next long trip I take I will take a gascan of a few lites and really see what I get although someone said you should never run completely and athen fill it up (unless doing slowly) as it can cause an air-lock??????

 

[littlescrote]

I live near Niagara Falls and my daughter and 2 grand kids were visiting from Halifax but stayed overnight with friends in Brampton about 130km away. I went to pick them up knowing that I would have to use gas to get there and and back and while I started with a full battery charge ( 21k) and about half a tank of gas the guess-o-meter (for the lack of a better word) indicated I could go just over 420 km so in my head I had sufficient gas to do the 260 km there and back home which we did but.....

The minute we pulled into the driveway one grand kids noticed he had left his Omni Pod ( for diabetes) and was needing it urgently, so after dropping the rest off, my daughter asked for the car and immediately left going all the way back.

Needless to say hat when she returned she was exhausted saying the the fuel gage kept tell her to fill up as both the battery was showing --- and fuel --- ( both out) before I could fill up I charged the battery to get to the gas station) and when I did fill the tank it took 38.2L. According to the manual it should have taken 43L.
Anyone experience something similar. I know the tank was empty , it was flashing like mad.

Why didn't she just put some fuel in and not be stressed?

 

[BruceHF]

Only she can answer that. I asked the same question and she said she did not know how to open the filler cap AND just wanted to get home to sort out her sons omnipod.
Of course I just wanted to know what the real capacity of my gas tank is and this was a pretty good exercise though unplanned for

 

[AndyInOz]

The fuel cap defeated me when I first bought mine.

I was in the servo, had the manual with me, and it still took half an hour to find it.

What a strange place to put the release!

 

[DaveL59]

The fuel cap defeated me when I first bought mine.

I was in the servo, had the manual with me, and it still took half an hour to find it.

What a strange place to put the release!

huh? I guess its in the same place as all the ICE cars I've had over the last couple decades so for me it was natural to just reach down and yank the lever, tho I do have to remember that the filler is on the left side when I stop at the pumps

 

[littlescrote]

huh? I guess its in the same place as all the ICE cars I've had over the last couple decades so for me it was natural to just reach down and yank the lever, tho I do have to remember that the filler is on the left side when I stop at the pumps

You don't have to remember that, there's an arrow in the gauge to tell you, like there is in most cars

 

[littlescrote]

The fuel cap defeated me when I first bought mine.

I was in the servo, had the manual with me, and it still took half an hour to find it.

What a strange place to put the release!

I feel like a brightly coloured part of the lever would make it much more obvious.

 

[Phev2016]

Most manufacturers state a max tank capacity and a fuel gauge/warning that will result in at least 1 gallon when it indicates it should be empty. A good reason for this is to consider the depth of one gallon spread over the base of your fuel tank. It only needs a long fast corner, or a steep hill for your pump to be sucking fumes.

 

[Moley 17]

It's a button on the dash for my 2020! My Daughter lives 320 miles away, just about the range limit, "refuel now" with much beeping for the final 50miles, normally top up at 300 miles with approximately 5 to 8 litres left in the tank, My Transit custom van can almost make it both ways on a tank full, only slightly less mpg, is nicer to drive and nothing beeps constantly..

 

[themaiz]

I can't say if this is likely to be the same for the older models, but my 2023 Exceed fuel tank has two levels of "full". The first is when the pump handle releases, and there are a just few more squeezes of the handle left before the pump refuses to deliver any more. And for the longest while, I trusted that was as much as I was going to get in the tank. WRONG!

In fact, at that point the tank is not full - as I realised by listening to gurgling of the fuel. So... by withdrawing the nozzle so that I can see the flow into the pipe, and by then carefully managing the flow (squeezing gently) I will typically get another 10-12 litres - 2.5 US gallons, I think - of fuel down the pipe before the tank is REALLY full. I think that gives me around 650km of range with a full battery, with the battery accounting for maybe 60km of that.

Of course, your mileage may vary.

BTW, I don't know if it's legal to stand there and dribble more fuel into the tank. I do know the servo operator (especially at CostCo where there is ALWAYS a queue) wouldn't appreciate what I do, because it takes easily another 5-10 minutes at the pump. 3x as long for 15% more revenue. But... not my problem!

 

[BruceHF]

Thanks guys for our input.
First of all on my model there is no lever on the floor next to the driver's seat. There is around button in an obscure position on the dash on the side of the steering wheel
The arrow on the gauge just shows what side the the tank is filled from, no record of tank capacity
I understand the principle of say 1 gallon out of a 11 gallon still in the tank laying at the bottom but wondering what sort of 'pump' would there be to carry it to the carb or injector.
Either way I just don't believe that my tank holds 43L and will stick to my assumption of it to be around 40L or less so when I see that I am averaging 8.5L/100km my range should be around 475km or at the most less than 500km. Anyway I personally will ensure that I will never let my tank be less than a quarter because there is no way I want to run out especially on any highway even though I am a CAA member where in an emergency they will bring me some gas to get me going.
All this was a good experience for me

 

[Polyian]

Only she can answer that. I asked the same question and she said she did not know how to open the filler cap AND just wanted to get home to sort out her sons omnipod.
Of course I just wanted to know what the real capacity of my gas tank is and this was a pretty good exercise though unplanned for

It's not good to run the fuel tank low or empty. The fuel pump is in the fuel tank and is cooled by the surrounding gasoline. Running very low or empty can overheat the pump and shorten it's life. This applies to most modern cars with the fuel pump in the tank.

 

[HeliNurse]

You should not add any more fuel to any modern car after the pump stops with the spout properly seated. The environmental (EVAP) system relies on an air gap, you can really screw up the car by 'dribbling in ' extra fuel.

 

[DaveL59]

You don't have to remember that, there's an arrow in the gauge to tell you, like there is in most cars

True, never really noticed nor paid attention to that tho, after a while it becomes habit when heading in for petrol unless I'm in auto-pilot mindset. Will have a check tomorrow tho as I'll need fuel since I'm at a couple miles battery and GOM says 70 miles petrol, after a 200 mile round trip with a prior 80 mile round trip added since I last fueled up. I don't like leaving the tank that low parked on a slope, esp in cold weather.

Some days I miss the 19 UK gallon tank my Citroen XM used to have... Well until I remember the cost total after filling that up from low. Used to joke that when done the pump printed out the bank loan application for for you ;-)

 

[themaiz]

You should not add any more fuel to any modern car after the pump stops with the spout properly seated. The environmental (EVAP) system relies on an air gap, you can really screw up the car by 'dribbling in ' extra fuel.

Thanks HeliNurse - that was worth the price of admission!

I wasn't familiar with EVAP but some quick research was vaguely helpful. Most of the online dissertations are rambling and non-specific, and point to bizarre behaviours that I would never have expected (eg: reminders of what to not do. But...what sort of idiot pumps fuel while smoking or running the engine? Really? Is that a thing in North America? Here you are scolded very quickly just for using a phone while refueling).

These two links were helpful:
https://www.autolinepro.com/blogs/h...evap-system-and-how-does-the-evap-system-work
https://mechanicbase.com/cars/overfill-gas-tank/

 

[Moley 17]

It's not good to run the fuel tank low or empty. The fuel pump is in the fuel tank and is cooled by the surrounding gasoline. Running very low or empty can overheat the pump and shorten it's life. This applies to most modern cars with the fuel pump in the tank.

I often hear people say running low can damage the pump or drag up debris, for the vast majority of vehicles with fuel pumps in the tank it's not really an issue, the pump housing holds fuel around the pump body for cooling, that fuel remains after the tank is empty, if you remove the pump that fuel needs to be tipped out.
Apart from plant normally with metal fuel tanks that have sediment drains, cars take fuel from the very bottom of the tank and debris/water is carried to the filters, car tanks are normally very clean, I had the pump out of a 200k mile Golf a few weeks ago the tank was spotless. And logically if you only have 1 gallon left in the tank you won't be going very far anyway.