Range and MPG info? (1 Viewer)

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Iowa City IA area
This is from a 2018, on my home screen it says that I'm averaging 15MPG but my range is only 260 miles. How does the computer calculate range? Shouldn't my range be much higher? These numbers are from when I fill up. Everything is stock on this vehicle. And I'm not complaining about my MPG. I have 3 land cruisers I know they get terrible fuel economy.
 
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How many gallons of gas are you putting in when you fill up? Miles traveled / gallons used = MPG

The gas tank holds ~25 gallons, the fuel light comes on when there is ~5 gallons left in the tank and the estimated range will be at 0., even though you have 5 gallons left.
 
This is from a 2018, on my home screen it says that I'm averaging 15MPG but my range is only 260 miles. How does the computer calculate range? Shouldn't my range be much higher? These numbers are from when I fill up. Everything is stock on this vehicle. And I'm not complaining about my MPG. I have 3 land cruisers I know they get terrible fuel economy.
Range doesn't match MPG. And it will drop much faster when you hit the last 1/4 tank to compensate. When I'm towing across the country and getting 7-8MPG tank after tank whenever I refill it always shows a minimum of 190 miles, even though I never get anywhere near 10 MPG and always have the gas light come in in the 140-150 mile range. I don't know the exact algorithm but the range is not a linear function based on current MPG, but some sort of sliding scale based on I think preset values and min/max range values.
 
How many gallons of gas are you putting in when you fill up? Miles traveled / gallons used = MPG

The gas tank holds ~25 gallons, the fuel light comes on when there is ~5 gallons left in the tank and the estimated range will be at 0., even though you have 5 gallons left.
I realize all of that but isn't the point of having that info on the screen so that I don't have to figure all that out?
 
I have a '20 and I am a very consistent driver and it took a while after I bought it but now I think it's very accurate. Took a bunch of tanks before it settled in. I think its more of a long term average. Mine is stuck on 16 and I usually get around 320 miles before the light comes on which is a 20 gallon fill up. Sometimes my mileage is higher and sometimes lower when I'm highway driving I think the difference is headwind. Only thing I can figure. My guage also seems to be very linear which I like. My 80 stays on full for a long time and when it gets past half falls like a stone.
 
My range and MPG estimated by the computer are VERY accurate and I measure by hand often. As @turbo8 notes, the range is estimated based on use of approximately 20 gallons (the tank has 24.5 gallons, or is it 25?).

On my 2013 the computer has a few measurements:
  1. instant MPG estimate bar, changes with throttle
  2. Range (of gas in tank based on 20 gallons with 4.5-5 in reserve)
  3. MPG from fillup
  4. MPG
For #4, you can press and hold the DISP button to reset it. The other three you cannot reset.

When doing a long roadtrip (like I just did last week to Utah), I'll reset the MPG to track it for the trip. By the end, it's usually within 1 mpg of real actual. (Note: I use 91 octane, have 285/70/17 BFG AT KO2)
 
Hm my average over is 13.5 liters per 100km (which is about 17.4mpg in burger units).
With a fuel tank capacity of 165 liters on paper, if I go about 50km well over the red line I get 145 liters in. (The only digital display in my 200 is for the climate and the time...).

That the maximum distance I have gotten so far from one fill was 1160km - 720 miles.

/edit
ps.: Diesel
 
I realize all of that but isn't the point of having that info on the screen so that I don't have to figure all that out?
Yes and no. Toyota is not going to give you a readout that has the low fuel light coming on when you are on fumes. They built a nice safety factor in that exists on every car that I have ever owned - to one degree or another. So you are going to have to do the basic math or fill up with the reserve still in the tank. As you develop a comfort level with how far you can go once the low fuel light goes on you'll do the math in your head without thinking about it.
 
My range and MPG estimated by the computer are VERY accurate and I measure by hand often. As @turbo8 notes, the range is estimated based on use of approximately 20 gallons (the tank has 24.5 gallons, or is it 25?).

On my 2013 the computer has a few measurements:
  1. instant MPG estimate bar, changes with throttle
  2. Range (of gas in tank based on 20 gallons with 4.5-5 in reserve)
  3. MPG from fillup
  4. MPG
For #4, you can press and hold the DISP button to reset it. The other three you cannot reset.

When doing a long roadtrip (like I just did last week to Utah), I'll reset the MPG to track it for the trip. By the end, it's usually within 1 mpg of real actual. (Note: I use 91 octane, have 285/70/17 BFG AT KO2)
Isn't if funny how the instant MPG scale goes from 0 to 60. 60. On what planet might our rigs get 60?
 
I cheer when the range displays >300 mi. and typically fill up with range <30 mi. Many times waiting until range displays 0 mi. Rarely put in >20 gal. to full.

I record each tank's data in a spreadsheet: gallons, miles, and cost. And reset trip odometer each fill up.
Overall averages
14.6 MPG calculated as total miles driven divided by total gallons used.
17,858 mi. per year.
269 mi. avg. per tank.
18.2 gal. avg. per fill up.
21.6 gal. max fill up.
95% use Shell gas. Started with 93, but switched to 87 octane long ago. $0.80/gal more for premium is not worth the 2 hp and 2 ft-lb.

Noteworthy tire info:
Switched from OEM 31" highway all-season tires (Michelin Latitude Tour HP) to 33" all-terrain tires (General Grabber ATX) in Nov 2021.
Run 32" winter tires (Bridgestone Blizzak DM-V2).

And here is the data charted.
Screen Shot 2022-03-09 at 9.07.52 PM.png
 
Yes and no. Toyota is not going to give you a readout that has the low fuel light coming on when you are on fumes. They built a nice safety factor in that exists on every car that I have ever owned - to one degree or another. So you are going to have to do the basic math or fill up with the reserve still in the tank. As you develop a comfort level with how far you can go once the low fuel light goes on you'll do the math in your head without thinking about it.

I agree with this, but we just picked up a '13 LX570 and when the needle is on E and range says 0, we only put 15ish gallons in. I may be wrong, but 10 gallons is a little too much of a fudge factor, even when you're only getting 15mpg. My wife is filling up 3 times a week. Know any tricks to fix this and have it show E at 5 gallons left instead of 10?
 
I agree with this, but we just picked up a '13 LX570 and when the needle is on E and range says 0, we only put 15ish gallons in. I may be wrong, but 10 gallons is a little too much of a fudge factor, even when you're only getting 15mpg. My wife is filling up 3 times a week. Know any tricks to fix this and have it show E at 5 gallons left instead of 10?
Is there a possibility of an early shut off by pump handle/sensor ? Can you add more by slowly actuating pump?
 
I believe there is a filter for the evap system there. If you over fill or fill to the top the filter gets wet and over time causes problems.
 
I believe there is a filter for the evap system there. If you over fill or fill to the top the filter gets wet and over time causes problems.
Still, they should be putting more than 15 gallons in from E to F.

@neckbone is your wife always using the exact same pump? Some people tend to have habits like that.. could also be that.

Plausible that it's the sender in the tank, but these aren't known for failing. Requires dropping the tank, technically. Grinchy did document opening the hole under the seat enough to remove the module but it required cutting the body of the vehicle to do so.
 
I believe there is a filter for the evap system there. If you over fill or fill to the top the filter gets wet and over time causes problems.
This is troubling news for me because on my last fill up the pump failed to turn off and fuel vomited everywhere. There was a massive puddle on the ground, it was only a second or 2 before I could manually disengage the pump but it seemed like a lot, overfill at bare minimum.
 
This is troubling news for me because on my last fill up the pump failed to turn off and fuel vomited everywhere. There was a massive puddle on the ground, it was only a second or 2 before I could manually disengage the pump but it seemed like a lot, overfill at bare minimum.
You’ll be fine. The system is designed to have fuel up to the filler neck to shut off the nozzle and protect itself while doing so. What seems to reliably foul the evap canister is having the tank too full then driving the vehicle on extreme angles like at Moab..
 
Still, they should be putting more than 15 gallons in from E to F.

@neckbone is your wife always using the exact same pump? Some people tend to have habits like that.. could also be that.

Plausible that it's the sender in the tank, but these aren't known for failing. Requires dropping the tank, technically. Grinchy did document opening the hole under the seat enough to remove the module but it required cutting the body of the vehicle to do so.
Nope, it's been doing it since we got it a little over a month ago. I'm the guy that always figures she's obviously doing something wrong (it's about 50/50, so there is some validity in my thoughts) but even I filled it once and it was at E and took a little over 15. I'm not sure how modern cars read the fuel level in a tank so it's confusing me.
 
I haven't had an opportunity to look in the fsm, but is there any recalibration that can be done? It isn't easy to get to the top of the tank where the electrical connectors to the pump and sender are, but it is just time consuming, not hard - for testing. As noted above, the factory procedure for replacing the pump/sender is to drop the tank (although people have gotten at it from the access port on the top, under the second row seats, with some creativity).
 
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Nope, it's been doing it since we got it a little over a month ago. I'm the guy that always figures she's obviously doing something wrong (it's about 50/50, so there is some validity in my thoughts) but even I filled it once and it was at E and took a little over 15. I'm not sure how modern cars read the fuel level in a tank so it's confusing me.
This isn’t my video but it shows a toyota fuel sending unit and how it operates



Another remote possibility is the pump/sender module isn’t sitting at the bottom of the tank.. when you look under there is the skid plate bent upward? Can you see the plastic tank material through the holes in the skid or is there a large gap?
 

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