Hello everyone,
No one has said anything about USEABLE fuel. If the tank capacity is 19 gallons, and the yellow light comes on after 15 gallons of use, you do NOT have 4 gallons in useable reserve. I believe there are 1 - 2 gallons of unusable fuel below the pick-up tube to allow for dirt, water and pump cooling in the bottom of the tank. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. I've gone 30 miles with the yellow light on in my Highlander. Wouldn't chance it with the RX. As was said previously, "wife would kill me".
Ray A.

 

Just to add another data point I drove around the past few days with a gallon gas can in case I totally ran out.

The low fuel indication came on at about the 1/10th mark on the gauge (2010 450h) and the "range remaining" number went to 0 just as the analog needle centered on the E mark. Upon refueling I found there was a bit over 2 gallons left in the tank, or roughly another 50 miles of travel. Good to know just in case.

 

I'd like to reiterate the usable fuel comment. I ran out of gas twice on my RX300 - don't ask me why..... It has a 19.8 gallon capacity tank. Yet, on both times when I ran out of fuel, it only took in about 19.1 gallons. I've heard some strange explanations that there is water vapor down there and other weird mumbling but I felt a bit short changed on that and never really found a real reason why I couldn't use up every single drop of gas. (both times, I was less than 2 miles away from a gas station. Thus, I was actually correct in my calculation of the theoretical range)

On the other hand, my current 450H has the warning light coming on too soon. Even where there is 0 mile range showing up on the instrument panel, I can only fill up 14.4 gallons which is like 3 gallons short of the whole capacity.

 

On a hybrid vehicle Toyota does not want you to ever run out of gas, because I recall reading that if it happens, you have to then be towed to a dealer to restart the car. There is some safety interlock to protect the hybrid drive does not let it run without gas. Thus empty with no miles in reserve actually means you have a few gallons left. I have noticed this on my HS250h and know to not panic when it happens.

 

I've ran out of gas in Prius once. It is a soft-empty compared to actually not having gas. Prius had decided when to call it quits to prevent power-train damage. EV was still functional until the battery ran out. No need for towing, just refill at least 2.5 Gal of gas.

 

So......... how many gallons do you think was in the tank when you hit "soft empty?"

 

I believe it had 2 gallons left in it. Boy, was I not happy to figure that out after we had to push the Prius uphill into the gas station.

 

Does anyone know how much gas is left when the low fuel light comes on on 2013 RX350?

 

Doing the math from my owner's manual (2013 RX 350), I estimate that I always have at least two gallons left when the computer tells me I have none (0 miles) left. Frankly, I'd prefer
a more accurate gauge like I had in my Volvo XC70...

p.s. it's pretty easy to do the math...just wait for the computer to tell you you have 20 miles left, then fill the tank and see how many gallons it took. In theory, it should be
the capacity of the tank (19 gallons?) minus one gallon for the 20 miles left, = 18 gallons....but in fact it doesn't even take 16 gallons, so I've concluded I have at least two spare gallons to work with in an extreme pinch, i.e. brain cramp.

 

In my 2015 RX 350, forgot to fill up and noticed my tank was on empty with only 1 mile cruising range...no warning light or anything appeared. How do I get this to warn me?