Sure, but that’s an estimate. And estimates like that are progressively less reliable the closer you get to the point where certainty really starts to matter. Also, those estimates are generated by one of the onboard computers, using code humans wrote. Which is all fine and good until code gets into the wild that has a huge bug where ~60 = ~0. Subaru ran into this in 2018 ( Subaru Legacy and Outback Recalled for Incorrect Fuel Range - Consumer Reports) and damn near got me stranded on the interstate a few months before they admitted to it being an issue.
My Mazda had a gas tank recall. I was supposed to bring it in close to empty I think I was around 20-30 km left as the estimated distance. I picked it up and whatever amount they put back in registered as 10km or so. I thought that was a bit cheap of them but I can make it to the gas station.
Turns out it was not calibrated that well after the changes and as it got itself in order the estimated ranged dropped twice as fast as the distance remaining. I pulled into the gas station with an estimated range of zero.
So yes, alway remember it is an estimate.
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I kind of wish that gas gauges actually put the gallons/kilos you have left in the tank rather than random ticks or estimated mileage.
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I drove a early 90s Chrysler that had a digital dash similar to the one below. It was easy to read and “reliable” as any of the other technology in the car.
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I Thought this was about the speedometer - I got a new Hyundai with the same weird thing where the makings under 40 are different than over 40.
When I was a kid, my parent’s VW didn’t even HAVE a gas gauge. Now get off my lawn!
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I drove an Atlas for a week last year. I didn’t even know the car existed before then and it was the only one available on the rental lot. Easily the worst car I’ve ever driven and I traded it for another rental as soon as I could. I honestly can’t think of anything that wasn’t terrible about it.
I am amazed that these digital displays haven’t been banned yet, to be honest. From a UI perspective, dedicated buttons and displays save lives.
This is on brand for most German makes. Of all the German cars I’ve owned, just know if you went 400 miles in the first half of the tank (according to the gauge), you’ll only go about 150 miles in the second half.
This is why the VW has the last quarter of the gauge markings take up only about 10% of the real estate used…
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This image reminded me of my 1980s Mitsubishi Magna. I think they were pretty successful in terms of information display. The aesthetics are a matter of taste.
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How did that work? Did you always just go to the gas station as the first stop?
When you ran out of gas, there was a switch on the floor to switch to the “reserve” and then you had some more gas to get you to the next station.
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Very common on motorcycles to this day.
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Holy Crap! I didn’t even see those white dashes until you pointed them out.
Of course. And so is the fuel gauge, especially one digitally marked in bars.
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If it’s an old car, I’d skip replacing it. Use Google Maps for speed (with the bonus of showing the speed limit on that road) and just remember when you last refueled (like in my old VW Beetle, which had no fuel gauge, just a lever to switch to a “reserve”). Use a GPS app for the odometer.
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Every Volkswagen I have owned has chronologically gotten worse for user interface and repairability. If I was offered the choice, I would take an 83 Vanagon over any 2000’s model.
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I had a VW Golf as a loaner from my dealership while my car was in for some service and I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how to open the damn hatch. The button on the remote didn’t seem to do anything other than unlock the hatch, and there was nothing visible on the back to grab onto or press. Ok, maybe there’s some kind of release on the interior? I looked around for a button on the dash or some kind of handle to pull, and nothing. Maybe there’s a button in the glove box like some cars had in the late 90s? Nope.
After like 10 minutes of dicking around with it, I gave up went to the service counter and asked my advisor to please tell me how in the hell to open the damn hatch. He several couple minutes looking at it and couldn’t figure it out either. He found a VW service advisor who was all like, "oh yeah the VW emblem on the back is a handle and demonstrated how to press it so it would pop open. Here’s an example:
I was so livid at this this point that I had wasted some 15 minutes because some design engineer decided that this was a good idea.
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That’s really ingenious. They trained a whole cohort of VW owners to flip up the rear emblem, then did a design change in the latest models to replace the release handle with a flip-out rearview camera that will no doubt break if you yank on it. Replacement cameras are hundreds of dollars plus labor, so they’re going to make a lot of money off of accidental breakage from people who are used to opening their trunks that way.
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Oh yeah this one did double duty as flip-out camera and flip-out handle.
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