Overall Mpg Reading Pretty Accurate, If Tank Full
MY Prius gives me a constant average MPG between fillups if I press the reset button. I am in the habit of doing that, so on one particular tank, I had to drive highway miles to St. Cloud and on the way there, the fuel light starting blinking. Since I know that I usually get about 45 mpg, I wasnt worried about it and continued on, thinking I could go 100 miles after the light came on. After arriving, I forgot to get gas on the way out of town, but as soon as I got on the highway, I remembered the flashing light, and made a mental note to stop at the next gas station 11 miles away (by now I had gone 80 miles after the light came on). Meanwhile, I had my wife use a calculator to figure out how many miles I could go on a tank (11.7 gal) at 43.7 mpg shown on my average mpg display. (Now I must qualify this story by saying that whan I fill my tank, I am never quite sure that it is full because it automatically shuts off far too soon because of a small fill tube, but I usually can coax another gallon in after it clicks off). Anyway, We calculated 511 miles and the gas station I needed to get to was about 507-508 based on the highway signs. I thought I would make it when I had only 2 miles to go. But shortly after that the gas engine shut down and I was on electric alone. I can't maintain highway speeds on electric, so I pulled onto the shoulder and tried to keep up the momentum but my speed gradually dropped to 25 mph. I could see the exit and startup up the ramp (uphill) when it stopped. I needed another 200 yds and I would have coasted into the gas station, but I didn't make it. The trip odometer said 508 miles (89 miles after the light came on), so the tank must have been pretty near full on my last fillup. At any rate, the average mpg reading appeared to be pretty accurate. I just need to make sure I fill the tank each time and reset that average and I can predict how many miles I have left (minus 5 just to be safe!).
SInce then I have had several tanks where I have gotten a range of 525+ miles. Amazing but not something I want to chance often.
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No, emissions sraadntds here in Europe are a lot lower than they are in the US, especially when it comes to soot from diesels. The Euro V sraadntds are due in late 2009 clean things up a bit (on new vehicles only) and the Euro VI sraadntds in 2014 are almost the same as the US.The problem with diesel is that the soot is very bad for human health. It is with good reason that it's banned in California. I would ban it here too, if I could.