History Main / BottomlessFuelTanks

* In the Literature/{{Discworld}}as re-envisaged by Creator/AAPessimal, the Ankh-Morporik city air Watch is well aware of the limitations of their broomsticks and of what has been called The Lancre Limitation (see Literature, below). It is known that a Witch gets very little warning of when she's flying on empty tanks: everything cuts out suddenly and abruptly. The Air Watch has thousands of hours of flying experience and each Witch has an intuitive awareness of how far she can push any issued broomstick until the magic needs to be replenished. In ''FanFic/ThePriceOfFlight'', Sergeant Hanna von Strafenburg has the experience to know when to end an aerobatic display and recall her pilots to base for a recharge. Captain Olga Romanoff has learnt the hard way that there can also be thaumic engineering failures in the airframes: she had a critical broomstick failure when flying over Lancre.

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* Thanks to the ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve manner in which Orks can warp physics in ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'', there have been incidents where Greenskins have hijacked ships and flown it for a considerable distance despite the ship in question being out of fuel simply because ''they'' thought there was promethium in the tank and never bothered to check the fuel gauge.

[[folder:Web Original]]
* In Website/SFDebris' [[http://sfdebris.com/videos/startrek/v803.php review]] of the ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekVoyagerS1E2Parallax Parallax]]", Chuck compares the episode's assertion that [[UnrealisticBlackHole you can escape a black hole's event horizon by making a crack in it]] to saying that you can make your car go further after running out of gas by cutting a hole in the distance you traveled.

* The rather obscure PC and UsefulNotes/GameBoy game ''Harley-Davidson: Race Across America'' utilised a fuel gauge. For the most part it works, but it was poorly weaved into the game, and you have to crawl a dozen or so miles to the nearest gas station especially on the Sportster, though unlimited fuel can be enabled through a cheat. Later Harley-licensed video games did away with this, fortunately.

* ''VideoGame/MafiaTheCityOfLostHeaven'' and ''VideoGame/MafiaII'' also used a fuel gauge for the sake of realism, though unlike ''Race Across America'' the games are far less punishing when it comes to fuel consumption, not counting the ''Gas Guzzling Trautenberg'' side quest in the first game.

** While vehicles in general have bottomless gas tanks, certain missions like "Dildo Dodo" in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' and "Supply Lines..." in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' have the player controlling aircraft with limited fuel supply. The original versions of ''GTA: San Andreas'' used the ''Road Fighter''-esque fuel mechanic, but later editions changed this by having the fuel deplete on being used rather than over time, allowing players to use fuel sparingly and glide whenever possible. The mobile and remastered Xbox 360 ports had the fuel tank's capacity increased to make that mission easier.

[[folder:Adventure Game]

[[folder:Adventure]]

* In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', this trope is inverted--unusual for a [[SlidingScale/MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness pretty soft sci-fi work]] like ''Franchise/StarWars''. During a SternChase in which the heroes must stay ahead of their enemies to remain outside effective weapons range, it's repeatedly noted that "fuel" is dwindling. This leads to not one, but ''two'' AbandonShip incidents when smaller vessels run out of fuel. Their crews are safely transferred to the flagship.

* In ''Film/TheLastJedi'', this trope is inverted--unusual for a [[MohsScaleOfScienceFictionHardness pretty soft sci-fi work]] like ''Franchise/StarWars''. During a SternChase in which the heroes must stay ahead of their enemies to remain outside effective weapons range, it's repeatedly noted that "fuel" is dwindling. This leads to not one, but ''two'' AbandonShip incidents when smaller vessels run out of fuel. Their crews are safely transferred to the flagship.

* ''VideoGame/ComandAndConquer:''

* Fuel is one of the important resources you have to manage in VideoGame/KantaiCollection so your ship girls can operate successfully.

* ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto''

* The ''VideoGame/FarmingSimulator'' series has had diesel for your tractors and other machines as an important resource. In vanilla, you can only refuel by driving to a given map's gas station which may not be possible in some of the more cumbersome vehicles, this issue can be resolved by using a [=ThunderCreek=] fuel trailer to transport diesel to your farm, especially useful if a machine has run dry in the middle of a field.

* ''VideoGame/EuroTruckSimulator'', its sequel, and the transatlantic ''VideoGame/AmericanTruckSimulator'' always features fuel consumption and the amount is normally dependent on both your load and engine activity, meaning the remaining distance may not always be accurate. There is an option to have fuel last exactly the distance that is displayed. As you level up, you can also invest in a fuel efficiency trait, cutting down the frequency and cost of having to stop for diesel.
* The ''VideoGame/FarmingSimulator'' series has had diesel for your tractors and other machines as an important resource. In vanilla, you can only refuel by driving to a given map's gas station which may not be possible in some of the more cumbersome vehicles, this issue can be resolved by using a [=ThunderCreek=] fuel trailer to transport diesel to your farm, especially if a machine has run dry in the middle of a field.

* Many racing simulation games such as ''VideoGame/GranTurismo'' and ''VideoGame/ForzaMotorsport'' have limited fuel capacity as well as tire wear, so the player must strategize when to drive through the pit stop.

* While vehicles in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'' in general, have bottomless gas tanks, certain missions like "Dildo Dodo" in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoViceCity'' and "Supply Lines..." in ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAutoSanAndreas'' have the player controlling aircraft with limited fuel supply. The original versions of ''GTA: San Andreas'' used the ''Road Fighter''-esque fuel mechanic, but later editions changed this by having the fuel deplete on being used rather than over time, allowing players to use fuel sparingly and glide whenever possible. The mobile and remastered Xbox 360 ports had the fuel tank's capacity increased to make that mission easier.

* Fuel is one of the important resources you have to manage in VideoGame/KantaiCollection so your ship girls can operate successfully.

* Played straight with tanks, airplanes and the more advanced ship types in ''[[VideoGame/VictoriaAnEmpireUnderTheSun Victoria 2]]'', that can all operate without the need of additional fuel after being constructed even though they realistically should require coal and/or oil, both of which do exist as goods in the game.

* ''VidoeGame/DaytonaUSA'' typically averts this, but ''Daytona USA 2'' has lap settings that enable, among other realistic elements, a finite amount of fuel. Going into the pit lane will refuel your car.