We’ve all seen it: a warning light within the gauge cluster that alerts the driver to the fact that the vehicle is running low on fuel. When seeing this light, you should probably get to a gas station as soon as possible, but exactly how many miles of range are left in the tank? Most vehicles don’t give much more than the “low fuel” indicator and a needle pointing toward “E,” but Ford takes this warning a step further to let drivers know just how many miles they can go before fuel runs dry. Let us explain what we mean.
Most Ford vehicles made over the past several years show a warning within the instrument panel as soon they detect that fuel levels have almost been depleted. That message alerts the driver to the low fuel status, while also showing exactly how many miles the vehicle can drive with the amount of fuel in the tank at that moment until it’s completely drained.
When driving the 2021 Ford Edge ST earlier this month, Ford Authority was impressed by the way the distance to empty indicator worked. Specifically, we appreciated the granularity and transparency of the Edge ST’s fuel range indicator, which showed exactly how many miles we had remaining in the tank, down to the last mile. All of this is made possible behind the scenes, as the vehicle’s on-board computers calculate the current fuel economy and apply that to the amount of remaining fuel to provide an estimate of how far the vehicle can travel before having no more fuel in the tank.
This is not the case for other vehicles, especially for FoMoCo rivals. For instance, Ford’s longtime cross-town rival, General Motors, provides too little information when it comes to low fuel levels. Specifically, GM vehicles illuminate the “Low Fuel” warning message along with the appropriate light on the gauge cluster when the vehicle has anywhere between 35 to 50 miles of driving range remaining. At some point (typically below the 30 miles mark), the vehicle simply begins to show “Low” instead of displaying the actual driving range.
Ford has implemented its distance to empty feature for a while, and it’s certainly interesting that rivals of The Blue Oval haven’t caught up and started doing something similar. What’s even more mind-boggling is that most modern vehicles are capable of estimating how many miles of driving range they have at any given point in time, so why not make that information available to the driver when the fuel is running low? Whatever the reason may be, this small but important feature gives us just one more reason to love The Blue Oval and its products.
If you don’t want to miss the latest of all things Ford, be sure and subscribe to Ford Authority for ongoing Ford news coverage.
Comments
Thanks for the info. I drive a 2019 Ford Edge ST and I didn’t realize that the fuel gauge is as accurate as it is.
Its not accurate. You can go well past zero. I do it all the time. I’ve even gone 40 miles before. I have two Fords and I can get between 30-40 every time past zero
I’ve gone well past zero miles left in our 17 Ford escape titanium. Dozens of times. I’ve often wondered just how far past 0 miles remaining I could go.
My 1984 Pontiac 6000STE was super accurate. It had bars instead of a needle and while driving with the family I wondered aloud what would happen when the last bar disappeared. Sure enough as that light went out the car shut off and I had to walk for gas (actually got a ride)
No so with my 2020 F150 with 36 gallon tank. Never took more than 33.5 gallon and it said I only had 8 miles left
That sounds about right, because of the shape and orientation of the tank you need a couple of gallons to prevent running out of fuel while going up, or down a hill. On the pickups the tanks are placed between the frame rail and driveshaft. That means it is long and thin and typically the pickup is near the middle. Plus it just plain lies, like most of what is displayed on the instrument cluster. With a scan tool on our old Escape hybrid you could pull up the displayed DTE and the actual DTE and the actual was typically 5 miles greater than displayed.
So we lug around 3 or 4 gallons we can never use? They could create a tank bottom to accommodate tilt and still have fuel pickup work.
My 2008 Mustang GT had this feature! Nice that 14 model years later people discovered it.
Then again it had a prop rod for the hood and a low tire alert that didn’t tell you which tire was low and what the exact pressures were in any of the 4 tires. My 2008 Cobalt LT had a pneumatic hood strut and a digital tire pressure read out for all four tires, and when one would lose air, it showed you which tire it was. Even my 2012 GT 500 didn’t have these features which was rather pathetic for a car that cost $60,000.
Yup..my 2008 Lincoln Navigator has this too…
I’m so confused, literally every automaker has this feature on their cars….for years now. VW GM Toyota Honda….I have no idea what this article is talking about.
Alot of the auto makers do have digital fuel gauges but the article is referencing that alot of them when they get low stop showing your mileage and just say low fuel warning on the screen. The Ford will show all the way to 0 (and I tested this on a buddy’s car before he crushed it it was damn accurate within 1 mile of hitting 0 the car died). The writer is saying that all car need to show all the way to 0 and have a Seperate light or warning for low fuel
While my 2020 Explorer ST seems to be very accurate on its calculated fuel economy for a tank of gas vs a manually calculated value upon fill up (within a tenth or two mpg) I can’t say the same thing about distance to empty. While I don’t like to run the tank too low, sometimes on a trip you have to run it low in order to find a gas station. Based on how much fuel you can add vs the supposed tank size, I would have to say there’s 2 to 3 gallons left in the tank should you try running it to ‘0 miles to empty’. Perhaps this is intentional to protect the fuel pump?
Yes and no. The fuel pumps on most cars/trucks are mounted from the top of the tank and hang down inside. The gauge reads how far until the fuel is no longer readable from the censor on the pump. Depending on how the tank for the car is shaped this could be 1/2 a gallon or 3 gallons it just depends on the vehicle.
My last 4 cars (Nissan, Chevy, Ford, Honda), dating back to 2005, have all had DTE. Is it really a novelty to have it next to the fuel gauge?
The onboard range calculations are stunningly accurate for interstate travel as well. Driving 200mi. will usually reflect roughly200mi. of range loss within a few miles, not the wider range of 150-250. This does include occasionally utilizing “passing speeds” between safer slow lane speeds. My 17′ MKZ does have a problem, though. I call it the car’s “comedy gas gauge”. Between 1/4 and 1/2, every start will see it gain or loose 50-75mi of range and up to an 1/8 on the gauge. I know, inclines, but it is very pronounced at a very specific fuel level.
Ford…or the writer…trying to reinvent the wheel. The next thing they will write about is that Ford will have, in their 2024 models, onboard HEAT!! No more freezing in the Winter going to work!
I would have thought all car manufacturer’s would have some similar type of fuel gauge system by now. I have an older 09 Taurus X that has this “miles to empty” feature and know that Ford offered it in some of its products, dating back to the 1970’s with certain Lincoln Continentals. Anyway, i have tested it on the Taurus X over the years as i have driven that car all over the country on long road trips where gas stations were few and far between. what i discovered is the system err’s on the side of not running out of gas. I have driven the car as far as 8 miles past when it says “zero miles” left. And even then it did not run out. but i would not buy a car just because of this feature. I like the car as i have not had to do a single repair to it in 13 years and because its exceptionally reliable. the miles to empty thing is handy, especially on road trips. but not such i’d buy the car just to get that feature
When it says 0 miles to empty there’s usually 1.5 to 3 gallons still in the tank depending on the vehicle and size of tank. Ford builds in a pretty big buffer and is very conservative with their reserve fuel. I can still drive 30 miles in my F-150 while it says 0 miles to empty.
Subaru has been doing this for years now…….
Use to be when a Ford was on empty it was dead on the side of the road. I never let mine get below a half unless I’m on a trip. Then I will go just a little farther because you never know where there will be another gas station.
My 2006 Lincoln Aviator had this feature.
I’ve always appreciated that with my 09 Focus. A month or so ago, I accidentally let it get down to 2 mi to empty. I was freaking out, but I made it to the gas station with 0 miles to go. I know there is a small reserve even when it says 0 miles to go.
you literally had nothing to talk about? all the car’s I’ve owned had DTE but in other models they stop displaying this when the low fuel light comes on to get your attention. And as others have said the fuel is cooling the pump so letting it run down isn’t a great idea.
here’s an idea — a story on Ford’s abysmal recall rates of late. that’s something very real and very much ongoing.
Not true. Both my 2014 Silverado and my wife’s 2020 Blazer have range calculations that count down to zero. I know this because I have used both.
Interesting, my 2014 Silverado never gets below 30 miles then just shows Low. On the other hand, my 2005 Sienna goes to 0 and has always been pretty accurate. Better than my 2003 Ford Expedition is.
But I agree with the point of many posts here. This is hardly a new feature, and not at all unique to Ford.
My 2022 has power windows. Ford is way ahead of everyone else.
My 2005 Acura TL has ‘miles to empty’. I’ve run it out of fuel testing the system with a 1 gal gas can in the trunk. When the system shows ZERO miles left, the car still has over 80 miles of range left at interstate speeds (70). . USELESS on my Acura.
BMW had done this for at least 18 years now…
I got a good laugh out of this article. I couldn’t stop reading it because of its absurdity.
Every manufacturer has this. And when DTE hits zero, there is still gas in the tank. And saying GM doesn’t have the feature, just switches to “low”, is just outright wrong.
It’s absolutely mind-boggling to see how many people read the article but didn’t read the article…
LMAO agree.
Ford has had this feature for the entire century so far. My 2000 Cougar was the first car I owned that did this.
Back in 2019, a $1.2 billion dollar Ford fuel economy class-action lawsuit was filed alleging that FoMoCo knowingly misrepresented fuel economy numbers for the Ford F-150 and Ford Ranger by 10-15 percent
I borrowed a mark vi when they were new that had a miles to empty count down that was exactly right. I was told Ford made it to still have a little reserve past that point due to most not believing it could be that accurate
My entry level 2016 elantra has this fixture. I think that is the basic fixture like auto transmission or power windows…. Nothing special
So they consider Ford’s ONLY competition to be certain GM models?
Both my Toyotas show estimated DTE just fine. (2012 Prius V and 2017 Rav4 Hybrid Limited)
I love this little feature too. I know when I get down to single digits, I’ll be putting a full 11+ gallons in my Focus’ tank. My wife’s Hyundai Accent illuminates the low fuel light with more than a gallon left and when it hits 30, it just displays — on the display. Very frustrating because it gets 30 mpg consistently so there’s more than a gallon left in the tank.
My Focus displays the low fuel light at 37 miles to empty which is about two gallons left since I only get 20 mpg.
20 MPG? You must be driving a Focus RS and hammering it! My Focus SE (5MT) gets about 26 around town, and 35-36 on the highway…
My 2013 Escape Titanium has that feature. My wife likes to push it, she’s so confident on the reading that she usually fills up when it’s less than 5 miles to empty. Never has she been stranded!
It’s not nearly all that accurate. I’ve had a 2014 Focus SE since new. When it was newer, it would run miles after indicating 0 miles to empty. But that changed as the car got older. Last summer, it ran out of gas when it said 18 miles to empty. Then a couple months ago, it ran out of gas while it said 38 miles remaining to empty. That left me stranded for over an hour, on a narrow shoulder of I-99, which has a 70 MPH speed limit. At night. Tractor trailers blowing by me at 80 MPH, 3 feet from my door. Not fun. Since then, I put gas in it before it even gets to ¼ tank.
I have a Buick encore. It tells me what milage I’m expected to get when my tank is low. And adjusts for speed and how I drive
We have a 2017 escape titanium, I’ve gone well past the 0 miles to empty on several occasions and have never even gotten it to sputter. I have been tempted to fill a 1 gal gas can and drive it till she shuts off just to see how far I can push it.
I have a 2021 Ranger, I’ve run it down to 0 multiple times. I’ve still not filled more than 17 gallons. So it’s off by at least a gallon or 26 miles.
None of my Fords had a low fuel light, but when the gauge reached E (i.e. the same as off) it was actually ¼ tank (~3-4 US gallons)
Wow what a life changing article. I had no idea DTE indicators existed! What’s next, some kind of system to show real time tire pressure? Maybe a camera and CRT display to show what’s behind my truck when backing up?
I would bring in to question the accuracy of this article. If you are the authority on Ford, You would know that this system is inaccurate. I own a 21 Ford Raptor with a 36 gallon tank. When it says I have 0 miles, I can only put in 32 gallons. I get 12 miles per gallon so that’s another 48 mi before I hit zero. If you’re going to write an article to provide information to people as the authority, you should at least give accurate information. Not fake news like this.
Just got 2020 Ford Fusion SEL and the article and great comments have illuminated for me several personal questions.
Thanks!!