Will a Prius stop when it runs out of gas?

Driving home from the mall today I realized that I was really low on gas and the next gas station was still a couple miles down the road. So I got a bit nervous since I have run out of gas within sight of a filling station before.

If I owned a Prius and I ran down the tank would the car still run on the battery? I concede that it might not go very fast, but in those rare instances when I run out, would the battery provide me with enough to get to the filling station? How far would it theoretically take me?

Toyota says NO.

http://www.toyota.com/vehicles/2005/prius/faq.html

You might be able to get away if it is only 1/4 mile or so.

Brian

Well that’s pretty retarded. Are they saying that running out of gas kills the car?

Only if you’re careless enough to force it to go all electric once that state is reached.

Now are we talking damage to the battery by over-draining it?
Are we talking overheating the electric motor by demanding too much power for too long?

I’m not sure I know what that entails though. Sounds to me like you run out of gas, the light comes on and you simply keep driving a few more hundred feet to reach the gas station and you damage your car. :dubious: