The fuel gauge is about as basic as your speedometer and your volume button. I can't imagine that people don't "notice" their low fuel. I would bet that people just think they can drive a little further. They say to themselves that they have driven around before when it was that low, so they will be okay for a little bit longer...

Though most automobilists don't overlook the "low on gas" light, I know what you mean: On the side of usability, the "low gas" light is either too unobtruisive or it often catches your attention in situations where the attention would be better spent with different things.

How about a "low on gas" light that is connected to a GPS navigation system and which only lights when a fuel station is nearby?

Additionally, it could calculate how many more chances you have to refill your car before it runs out of gas for your position and could start bickering you later (not already 100 km before you run out, but only 30 km before). This would mean that over the years, you would spend less time at gas stations, time that you could use for something better.

Of course, these calculations have to encompass opening hours of those gas stations.

And the calculations could also learn your preferences (like for a certain brand, or to minimize your costs).

The list goes on, the possibilities are endless :-)

eisenberg, why even bother with such a complicated system? We must all remember KISS, keep it simple stupid. When you have something complicated like your system, it just adds another thing to distract the driver, and another thing to go wrong.

I think the simplest solution here, is instead of a simple gauge that only gives you the approximate percentage left in the tank, have a gauge that tells you exactly how much fuel you have left out of the tanks full capacity. So let's say you have a 4 Litre tank; it'll tell you how much you currently have out of 4 Litres.

I don't see anything more complex than an idiot light and a gauge becomming mainstream in anything but luxury vehicles. Well, maybe except for an audible alarm that won't shut off until the driver acknowledges it.

As an example of what I'd like to see: An estimation of how many miles you have to go before you run out, based on fuel efficiency calculations from the odometer and gas usage (via the computer controlling the fuel injectors).

eisenberg has some neat thoughts, but I think it could be simplified. Keep the GPS unit, and track where the car is throughout the average week, along with fuel normally used to get from each place to where you normally go from that place. If the computer thinks you don't have enough fuel to reach your destination, it should sound an audible alarm.

A proof-of-concept could probably be built using a small Linux machine attached to a GPS unit, the fuel gauge, and the odometer. You'll need to write the software that will determine what the driver's waypoints normally are.

I don't think user interaction is necessary, except possibly to acknowledge the low-gas klaxon.

The display is not the issue here. The big picture is to not run out of gas, ever, if you happen to forget to look at (or hear) the low on gas display.

You can solve this immediately by buying an approved gas container, I have a 2.5 gallon one in the trunk at all times. You are not only saving yourself a long walk, maybe at night and in the rain, but you will eventually be a hero to some poor slob, maybe even your boss or your future wife!

Think a gas container is dangerous? No, only the 'vapor' is explosive, so keep it topped off and buy the saftey kind of container. A more complicated and costly solution would be to add a secondary gas tank that can be switched on when tank one goes dry. My dad's 24 foot refrigerated Tropicana delivery truck has this handy feature as do most high tech racing cars that need to balance their weight.

If car manufacturers start to install a secondary gas tank in passenger cars, we could also get them to put in a second battery for emergencies and jumpstarts too.

But if you add a second gas tank, you'd have to put an alarm/warning system on that, too. If you have a spare tank in the back, that's even easier to forget to fill up after using it once, because it has no system at all.

This is just one of those things you have to buckle-down and check, or just listen for the noise/chime a car often makes when fuel is running low.

Why not just always fill up with gas when you're 1/2 way through? With that plan you'll rarely ever meet with fuel-shortage difficulty.

Well I know this is an old topic, but Chrysler already somewhat has it: Usually when the low fuel light comes on, there's a brief chirp, and a light that resembles a fuel pump comes on; this was in my dad's PT Cruiser... Compared to a yellow dot next to the E mark and no sound for my car... But then again it's been years since we saw that kind of thing since we always refuel around 1/4 tank.

Besides if nothing else, the fuel gauge is already large enough and essentially in a good point of view: Right next to the speedometer and not prohibitively small to the point where you'd have to wander out of normal line of sight to see a needle pointed at "E", versus the oil pressure gauge being mounted low in the console on some sports cars (for instance).

I recently rented a rather large diesel truck to go across the country. The fuel gauge had the customary red line if at a 1/4 tank. Also, when it reached that line, a red light came on, as a reminder.

When the fuel was down to "75 miles of diesel", a loud buzzer started, and stayed on until the truck was refueled. Definitely an attention getter when driving through the night!