# automobile fuel gauges

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-fuel-gauges/101695>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 4, 2002, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-fuel-gauges/101695 "2002-04-04T01:54:25Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Sam\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Sam\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_Stone)\
**Post date:** [April 6, 2002, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-fuel-gauges/101695/21 "2002-04-06T02:05:37Z")

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By the way, if you want a REALLY accurate fuel gauge, get a ‘fuel totalizer’ installed. A totalizer consists of a sensor which goes right in the fuel line, and measures the flow of liquid with a little turbine. The output is converted to a digital pulse, and used to iincrement a little counter mounted in the vehicle.

Such a system can show you total fuel burned, instantaneous fuel consumption, average consumption, etc. And it’s accurate to maybe a tenth of a gallon per tank.

The big problem is that it can’t measure fuel loss in other ways (evaporation, siphoning, etc). And you need to make sure to reset it when your gas tank is full, and you have to fill your tank right to the top every time.

That’s mainly why these aren’t used in cars (well, that and the cost). But they are used in aircraft all the time.

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**Author:** ![ElwoodCuse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/edb3f5/32.png) [@ElwoodCuse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElwoodCuse)\
**Post date:** [April 7, 2002, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/automobile-fuel-gauges/101695/22 "2002-04-07T03:39:53Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by LilShieste \*  
> \*\*I have ridden with my friend a couple of times, and he owns a Ford Expedition. (These things have just about anything you could think of for a vehicle).
> 
> Anyway, his fuel guage was an LED… I’m not too sure about how accurate it was or anything, but I know it told him what his miles per gallon was, and also told him how much farther he could drive before having to fill up again. So… you could probably look further into this… you might find your “dream car” afterall. : ) \*\*

Why would they bother to put this feature in the vehicle? If you drive an Expedition, you don’t give a _damn_ what your MPG is or you wouldn’t drive it in the first place.

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