Fuel remaining 2020 RAV4.

[scar]

Hi, the fuel low warning light came on the other day. That’s the first time it’s been illuminated. I drove about 15 miles before refilling.

Does anybody know the fuel remaining quantity in the tank when the warning comes on.

Alternatively what’s the farthest you have driven with the light on.

When the low fuel light is on I lost some information that would have been of use to me. The range to go was the important one. 

Whilst the owners manual may give me some info it’s some actual users knowledge I’m after.

Thanks

 

 

[philip42h]

I got the low fuel light on for the first time the other day. As I recall the remaining range was given at 25 miles at that point - but that's really not a very useful figure. I drove on for a few more miles to get to the next filling station and brimmed the tank - with 47.75 litres of fuel.

Given that the RAV 4.5 has a 55 litre tank this implies that there were around 7.25 litres remaining in the tank - that's about 1.6 gallons.

If we assume, conservatively, that the RAV 4.5 can achieve around 45 mpg that gives an actual range to really empty (and in a bad way) of about 72 miles ...

But, far more simply, when the low fuel light comes on, add fuel ASAP ... 😉

[FROSTYBALLS]

Should be approx 8.3 litres left in the tank when the low fuel light comes on.

[Avalon]

I’ve always found the more interesting question is how many miles can you do after it says the tank is empty/range is zero? So far every time I have played this particular game (and never with a 4.5 - you really don’t want to do that), it’s not been out of choice, and the answer has always thankfully been ‘enough’.

[Roy124]

Saying refuel ASAP may be true but often you might find a scarcity of filling stations.  This is especially true of new roads.  Not driven it recently but the A214 west from the A1 is one such with I think 25 miles. 

Pick the right time of day and you can be in deep poo.  One evening I got in the car for a 50 mile journey.  Unknown to me my wife had been driving on empty and there were no open filling stations on my route.  I almost made it and ran out 2 miles from the garage.  I was extraordinarly lucky.  No sooner had I got my empty can out someone stopped and gave me a lift.  Once filled another gave me a lift back. 

[scar]

Thanks for the info. Phillips 7.25 and Frostie's 8.3L sound right to me. 1.6 and 1.8 imperial gallons for us oldies.

I thought the deletion of the range left was a bit of poor software writing. But when I think back to the Honda CR-V that was my previous car it had a similar quirk. If you had a warning from the TPMS ( tyre pressure ) that to would dominate the dash and useful information was never to be seen till you corrected the tyre pressures.

Perhaps its the way they do things in Japan.

Running out of fuel is to be avoided, bad in a petrol car. Possible disaster in diesel car . Those HP fuel pumps do not like running dry.

[philip42h]

58 minutes ago, scar said:

Thanks for the info. Phillips 7.25 and Frostie's 8.3L sound right to me. 1.6 and 1.8 imperial gallons for us oldies.

I thought the deletion of the range left was a bit of poor software writing. But when I think back to the Honda CR-V that was my previous car it had a similar quirk. If you had a warning from the TPMS ( tyre pressure ) that to would dominate the dash and useful information was never to be seen till you corrected the tyre pressures.

When you get the "Low fuel warning" message dominating the display, you need to press the 'return' button on the steering wheel to acknowledge that you've read the message and then you get whatever display you normally have back again. The same applies to other warning messages.

And when you get to 'empty', there's not much point in the car trying to tell you that you've got somewhere between 0 and 50 miles before the car runs to a stop ... you simply need to get fuel now!

The "range to go" seems reasonably accurate - given that the car can't have a clue how you are going to drive nor the conditions you will encounter on the journey. So I suspect that sensible folk would look at that info before setting out and work out when and where to fill up, in good time, to avoid unnecessary excitement. Others might enjoy the jeopardy ... 😉 

[robo1]

I agree the range to go is quite accurate and consistent.  My wife’s Suzuki Swift, on start up, appears to produce a range using worst case driving and as you drive the range gets longer. You can drive 30 miles and the range is greater when you arrive than when you started your journey. 

 

[scar]

2 hours ago, philip42h said:

When you get the "Low fuel warning" message dominating the display, you need to press the 'return' button on the steering wheel to acknowledge that you've read the message and then you get whatever display you normally have back again. The same applies to other warning messages.

And when you get to 'empty', there's not much point in the car trying to tell you that you've got somewhere between 0 and 50 miles before the car runs to a stop ... you simply need to get fuel now!

The "range to go" seems reasonably accurate - given that the car can't have a clue how you are going to drive nor the conditions you will encounter on the journey. So I suspect that sensible folk would look at that info before setting out and work out when and where to fill up, in good time, to avoid unnecessary excitement. Others might enjoy the jeopardy ... 😉 

Hi Philip,

Thanks for that additional info. I just assumed ( incorrectly ) that the low fuel warning display remained until you refilled. Lesson learnt.

[philip42h]

19 hours ago, FROSTYBALLS said:

Should be approx 8.3 litres left in the tank when the low fuel light comes on.

Randomly reading the owners manual for my RAV just now - as you do - I note that on page 88 it states:

"When the vehicle has run out of fuel and the hybrid system cannot be started, refuel the vehicle with at least enough gasoline to make the low fuel level warning light (P.556) go off. If there is only a small amount of fuel, the hybrid system may not be able to start. (The standard amount of fuel is about 8.8 L [2.3 gal., 1.9 Imp.gal.], when the vehicle is on a level surface. This value may vary when the vehicle is on a slope. Add extra fuel when the vehicle is inclined.)"

So it would appear that the magic amount between light on and empty in a RAV 4.5 is 8.8 litres or 1.9 gallons.

(Which suggests that I used another litre between noticing the light on and stopping to fill up.)

... and then on the other hand (Edit) on page 556 it states:

"Low fuel level warning light: Indicates that remaining fuel is approximately 8.3 L (2.2 gal., 1.8 Imp. gal.) or less ==>  Refuel the vehicle."

which is exactly what Mike said above! (Where's the 'doh!' emoticon)

 

Edited May 6, 2021 by philip42h

[MrNuts]

I had the same complaint when I first got my RAV, at the first service i raised the issue and was told that the shortfell of 10L was due to a safety margin required as the hybrid system needs the petrol engine for cooling, so with no petrol there is potential to damage the hybrid system, so the car "scares" you into getting fuel long before the danger point, they also said that if i ran out of fuel the car would need to be recovered to the dealer to restart and there was a £100 charge for this.

So i refuel mine around +/-10 miles from zero, most fuel I've put in is 52l of fuel which was before i had the above information.

[2bikes]

My mrs drove our 2021 hybrid down to zero( my fault !) She got 53.8 litres in a 55 litre tank !! Zero range left REALLY means zero range 😳