All this needs is the title changed to 'Prius *C* runs out of gas and battery power'.

Very cool! That was a lot calmer than I expected.

I have a 2004 (Gen II) Prius with ~170K miles on it, & the original traction battery. I don't know why it would be that much different than a Prius C aside from being a bit heavier. I've never run out of fuel as I don't care to chance the cost of (expensive?) repairs. I practice in seeing how long my Prius will go, in electric-only mode, as an exercise to maximize mileage. Of course, I turn off heavy-electric items, such as the air conditioning (this includes while in the usual/normal hybrid mode). I live in a relatively flat area, nothing more severe than an occasional very mild grade. I always get a few miles in electric-only mode (never took any serious measurements nor kept any record). On a flat surface, I can get to 40 mph before the IC engine cuts in. In the usual hybrid mode, on several occasions, I've gotten ~72 mpg. On a recent trip from the northern area of the state to the southern area, ~100 miles, I got 63 mpg. In that 170K miles I've only had 1 repair that wouldn't be something considered the usual maintenance, & that was the IC engine coolant circulation pump; for me, it was ~$350, parts & labor at the dealer. Original exhaust, original brakes. My opinion, the Toyota Prius is the best car, hands-down, that I've ever owned (& I'm 60 years old & a professional driver) & when it comes time to buy another, it'll be another Prius, or a variant. Wish it came with the rear-view camera back then... & my only complaint is the brake-turn-backup light assembly. The LED brake lights do fail after a time (mine lasted 13 years) & those can't be replaced unless one cares to do some cutting & dissecting of the LED light assembly (it's plastic-welded together). I found comparable aftermarket & replaced them myself. I also wish the fuel tank was larger, & that I knew of the plug-in variant, if it was even available in 2004. All in all, excellent engineering job, Toyota!

Good vehicle. I have Avalon hybrid, love it. Big car at 40 mpg. Toyota make best hybrids. This little thing had 5gallons that filled tank at almost half. People should start buying this kind of vehicles. Maybe we will be semi independent on fuel sometime. Toyota- good job!!!

My Prius manual absolutely warns against letting the car run out of gas.

Turn AC and HID lights off and you could have went MUCH further.

First off, Kudos for doing the 'forbidden experiment'. I've done similar experiments with the 2003, 2010, and 2017 Prius Prime. The 2003 typically went 60-70 miles, 1.2 gal., and the 2010 would go ~120 miles, 2.1 gal., on 'low fuel' warning before the engine stopped. Then use the traction battery to find a safe place to park and refuel. Using a 1 gal spare can, I had no problem starting the 2003 and 2010 although the low fuel warning requires more than a gallon to turn it off. The 2003 lit up the dash when the gas was finally gone but the 2010 power-flow indicator was the only way to tell that the gas was finally out. There were credible reports that after three failed restart events, a flag is set that requires either a dealer tow or power-on, reset of the 12V by disconnecting and reconnecting the 12V ground. That was the default with our Prius Prime as I had no indication when the last of the gas was gone. The Prius Prime just set the 'power steering' fault and with no motive power, I had to coast into a parking lot. After adding a gallon, the Prime would not start but a 12V, power-on restart worked perfectly.

The music is annoying AF

The Gen 3 Prius gives the low gas warning when you reach the last 50 miles of “projection to empty.” Based on how much gas goes in even after reaching zero and the total capacity of the tank. Toyota seems to factor in 1.5 gallons to compensate for human stupidity.

Can't hear engine struggles over stupid music.

good video and info.thank you very much.Steve in Clearwater,fl.

Wow ! That's crazy, amazing video man!

Thanks Joe that was informative!

You are a hero.LOL I just bought a used Prius 2 weeks ago.Today I found out a little leaking from the bottom but no lights on.I am really scary now.

Just an addition, If your prius runs out of battery and gas, you charge it or get it gas and it still has some battery left but won't start after adding gas. The computer needs a reboot and the easiest way to do this is to simply disconnect and reconnect the 12v battery in the rear passenger side of the vehicle.

Very helpful video, my prius fuel indicator is faulty. The car stopped and steering wheel blocked. I had refueled 2 days before and wasn't expecting that the car ran out of gas. After viewing your video, I understood what exactly was the problem. I filled a gallon of gas but still the car wasn't running. Luckily I had an obd2 which I used to clear the fault and the engine started to run. Thanks again and keep up the good work. Chavi

If I had a Prius, I could easily see myself getting 70-80 mpg while hypermiling. :P

Very informative! I bought a 2015 Prius C One just like this one a couple months ago, and I've been filling up as soon as my cruising range hit zero every time. Good to know I can safely stretch it a little bit further if necessary!

Excellent video

Why do you need all of that music in the background we can't hear you talk as well with it

Great Vid man, I have the same C model and always wanted to push it when the gas light came on. I thought maybe 35 miles of reserve, but was I wrong. 70 miles on the gas reminder is solid. The C is a beast, it definitely has won me over with fuel and it has enough power when you need it. The only really con is jot enough juice when going up a hill for a long period of time.

I have a 2012 lexus ct200h (same engine and battery as a prius) and i absolutely love it, never had any problems with it. Very reliable car.

Cool Video! Amazing to know that I can stretch My prius a bit further. And I have always wondered what will happen if I eventually run out fuel one day.

Cool video! love the geeky techno music.

It was strange it was so flawless. The manual shows that the OSD would warn to stop the vehicle to avoid damage and is supposed to tell the driver to wait until 2 bars show on battery before driving.

Thank you so much. Very helpful.

I was wondering about this today. Thanks for your sacrifice..

Prius:I suggest you always fill up on the light

You are pretty smart. Salute to this great information. I don't care model as far as I know about 50 to 60 miles on Prius.

I have Prius. I enjoy watching this experiment.

Amazing how clever the engineers were behind this design. It seems unlikely this fella realizes that MG1 will require a certain residual Traction (HV) battery capacity to rotate the engine to start it…To say nothing of the Aux battery having the remaining capacity to close the MSR’s. If I am mistaken, apologies in advance.

If it's a hybrid.... you charge the battery as you brake. You could go farther then you did.

Frankly, you got lucky. Prior gens of Prius would throw a code if it ran out of power and gas. That results in a tow to Toyota to have the code reset. You can’t/couldn’t just add gas and go.

V. Useful! So after fuel gone 2-3 miles is the answer and around 35mph. You'll get stranded if the 12v battery dies, for example sitting in the parked car, no idling, AC on. As one does in the summer. For that a little jumpstarter Li battery is sufficient.

Love it Jo👍

You should say Prius C on the title, not just Prius.

very cool experiment & thx... now I know but how far could it have gone with the A/C off and lightly driven?

Hello great video. BTW , your T-Shirt looks like a surgery doctor :) . Greetings from Romania.

Very informative video! Would you tell us if to run out of gas can cause Toyota Prius to stuck in Neutral mode, car engine sound goes off and shift in gears also stuck! Thank you

Good experiment I like it.

For my 2013 Prius plug-in I got over 100 miles after low gas (the last gas bar blinking fast) and car keeps beeping randomly to make you look. It was 2.1 gallon left in tank. Plus I ALMOST drained the battery. You can't go over 40 in this state, even though you normally go 60ish on plug-in battery. I filled about 11 gallons from empty.

The prius has no electric starter on the engine. It uses the traction battery and MG1 (the generator) to start the engine. If you run it out of gas and if the traction battery gets low enough it won't be able to start and you can't charge the battery. You will be truly up the creek. Not many places have the equipment needed to charge a prius high voltage battery to get the car running again. Most dealers don't have this equipment.

Your the man! Awesome

I’m going out on a limb here... but I’m guessing... go with me on this one... the car will stop?

Also all you Prius video makers need your video title to state year and generation and model (C, V, Touring, Prime, etc). Your results do not apply to all Prius types. Just saying.

Toyota's technology is amazing!!

So, from your experience in hybrid cars, which one has the highest battery power to drive linger distance by only battery after gas is out? Thanks.

I'm curious to know how long it took the recharge the hybrid battery from that depleted state.

This is why I love my Toyota Prius v!!! Dude you are a rockstar!!!

At 5:50, the hybrid system cuts out when normally at this point, the fuel engine would turn on to prevent further discharge. The big READY light next to the fuel gauge turned off to indicate this... So from that point on, you are coasting :) Power steering will still work on the normal 12V battery, but will not work optimally because there is no power left. This is quite a lame test, because Toyota has figured this out beforehand of course and you should have read in the manual about the READY light.

I need someone to do one this same demo on the 2012 Prius Liftback... Thanks

I have always looked into getting a Prius but I didn't know which one to get. I'm tied between a Prius C or Prius V

Would be way more fun if you discharge 12v battery as well.

those sunglasses are obnoxious

Cool video, (except music, I really hate music in these videos). You aren't ever supposed to let gas completely drain from the gas tank, but for the sake of information of "just knowing" this real-time knowledge of information is well worth it!! One time, should not do any damage, and those parts need changed eventually anyhow, in the Prius probably every 400,000 miles! LOL. Great video!!

Would not recommend running low on fuel. Doing so will expose the fuel pump which intern will overheat and destroy the pump.

Bro very nice video .....By the way I bought the same model in Pakistan it's called Toyota Aqua not Prius...

Yo, what year is that prius? I don't know they ever have the info cluster like that... I bet it's a custom third party one? How did you install it? How much did it cost?

The problem with owning a Prius is you start getting over conscious on the MPG meter. I covered mine and check it only once in a week. I am getting 50mpg average.

You should try no oil next

I'm really trying to be a better person on and offline. But this is really testing me.

Awesome thanks.

My 2012 prius C ran out of gas and battery. I added more gas and it still will not start. I unplugged the Hybrid battery and have left it on the side of the road. I hope it will start up when I get back to it this afternoon after work.

I've run out of gas twice on my Prius while trying to push it to the limits on fuel capacity. I was able to get to a gas station both times to get gas. Although I have several other large cars, I still enjoy the little car...I wouldn't advise doing this though as you could do damage to the motor over time.

Hey that's a great video I was always wondering what would happen with my Prius V if I let it run out of gas. Funny thing after liking this video my Prius V absolutely refuses to let me in. Only my wife can get in that car now!

Awesome video thank you my battery went out on my 2012 Prius I drove it with no Hybrid battery for one week average 28 MPG the engine just stayed on continuously Toyota said it's okay I put a new Hybrid battery in it and the average back to 52 MPG

What type of fuel do you recommend using

When my tank is near E I can barely make it down the road xD

All the people hating have either not understood the definition of 'Hybrid' and the insane payoff it gives, or have never driven a Prius. Thumbs up from me, cool vid.

I've had both 2008 Prius and 2013 Prius V. Both were able to run a good few miles after the low fuel warning light came on. But I love my cars too much and rarely go below the light.

Thank You

If you try to see how far can you get you must turn off the AC. You could do another 5 mi

This video in my opinion, proves that Hybrids do make sense especially around town. I believe he would have gotten more than the 1.4 miles with the A/C off and sitting in city traffic.

It's a Prius C!! They're so cute. And they do have much smaller batteries than the regular Prius which probably impacts the miles driven in EV mode.

I'm sure you are at an Advantage as you are driving the C, Which is the mist fuel efficient Prius. Doubtful this would be similar in a V model.

the only problem with this kind of experiment is that you can burn the fuel pump.

How many 'right now' can we get to the mile?

Subscribed love from Pakistan

We have a 2016 Prius C and when the distance estimation remaining hits anywhere near 10 miles left my wife starts to get really nervous. I know that at 0 there are still several miles left with gas and more remaining with the battery cell. Still she gets mad at me. :)

My 2007 gen 2 in Australia has an EV button...Can run ev mode for around 1 km if under 45km/h (approx)...By the way it still gets after 10 years 4.5 litres per 100km's which in miles is 63 mpg

Knowing that at 0 gas mpg left but you still have 1.5, some will stretch that out.

I PREDICT you will be left stranded.....i sugest you never try this test in an airplane !

Bet your glad you didn't run out of gas where that dog was.

doesn't that damage the battery?

Thanks Jo-Check my 2013 Prius ran out of gas and Battery today. Tow driver brought gas but car didn't Restart. Had car towed home, it's Sunday. However I don't think that was a full 5 gallons and the Light still blinked after gas was in the car. My question is: Will I be in trouble if I tell Toyota what happened? If the whole battery needs to be replaced., If the car doesn't eventually start after I add more gas. I truly think the Tow driver didn't bring enough gas. All the Electronics are working Just that the ready light won't come on. I didn't know I was out of Gas.

I kind of like how Toyota lets you go past this failsafe. I wonder if it works the same for my fusion hybrid.

you stopped in the middle of no where😂

Perhaps it needs an emergency diesel generator. Take a hint from ships at sea. Or you could have a foldable windmill generator and/or solar cell panels.

Hi JO-Check Im owner too of prius c 2014 Im from Latinoamerica Paraguay, as I saw with ODBII connector the SoC of the battery is from 40% to top 70 % according to my calcutaion is about 500Wh only

Nice video. Thank you. I love my PRIUS 2013.

frequent fuel voids on 2nd generation prius is a good way to ruin the traction battery. if it's an old battery the sudden loss of synergy places power load on t.b. causing some of the individual cells to "pop."

Don't forget gasoline changes volume, with changes in temperature. A gallon @66 degrees weights more than a gallon @76 degrees. In America the tax only calculates to a even number if you buy ten gallons like the man from Texas.

can u push it or wheels are lock?

I ran my 2008 out gas 3 times & had no problems what so ever.. I have 185,000 miles on it now. The piston rings are shot. Other than that, she still runs great. Putting a qt of oil in every 1,000 miles until she dies. Hoping for 200,000!

I wish fuel was that cheap here in the UK lol

went 96 miles on empty 0.5miles on battery with a HCH unfortunately got a p0420 code 15miles after fill up

Dont think folk ever did this before youtube

Can you put E85 in a Prius ?

The engine with no electric: I am too weak The electric motor with no engine: *my time has come*

Have you ever wash the engine