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Re:Watt time is left by korethr on Friday December 16, 2016 @12:58PM (#13195242)
My 2003 VW Golf has a gas gauge that shows percentages - the individual markings represent 12.5%, not individual remaining gallons (it's a 14.5 gallon tank, not an 8 gallon one) My mother's 2009 Jetta has similar. Whether or not the instrument cluster implements a multi-function display that shows instant/average MPG or miles to empty, every car I have ever driven, from the 80s clunkers of my youth to brand shiny new rentals has had such a fuel gauge.

Such a style is cheaper to implement. Resistive float sensor in the tank, run a wire to a mini 90 degree needle gauge in the instrument cluster, done. Instant/Average MPG and miles to empty are additional fanciness that up until recently, came standard only on higher-end cars, or was part of an optional package that may or may not be avail on lower end brands/models.

Re:Watt time is left by copperx on Friday December 16, 2016 @04:38PM (#13197102)
I thought that the gallons calculation used the same cheap mechanism, just adding a trivial percentage left * capacity calculation.