Likes, Dislikes, I wish..

Errrrrrrrrrrrr...wrong (both of you)...metallic gray is where it is at!

 

Well.....my previous car was metallic gray and I will admit I thought it was OK at the time but I wanted something different when I bought the Clarity. My least favorite is silver. It looks like aluminum....."tin foil."

 

I was torn between the Crimson and the Moonlight Forest Green for awhile, but Honda made it easy for me by not having any Crimsons in stock at 7 local dealers.

 

I will admit the Crimson was very nice and it crossed my mind when it came time to buy. But I plan on keeping this car for many years and I just knew I would get tired of that color faster then white. That's happened to me before. Also - darker colors then to show dirt faster than white. One thing I hated about my previous metallic gray car.

 

After riding in and driving mine, my wife wants one too, but blue is only available in BEV model. What gives Honda? Our dealer (here in West Texas, so take with a spoonful of salt) says each line has a "hero color"

Fuel Cell Crimson Red
Battery Electric Blue
Plugin EV Metallic Gray

Makes no sense to me, but what do i know...

 

My problem with the white model is the interior - we're a messy bunch and beige was not an option (prior experience). You are absolutely right about one thing - here in "red blowing sand" country, the black and gray models look dirty as soon as you pull out of the garage...

 

I think he is right about the "hero color", but for the PHEV it is the Moonlight Forest Green. The Clarity PHEV is the only Honda in that color.

 

It looks like the FCV comes in "Bordeuax Red Metallic" which IMO looks very classy, esp. with the black roof. I'd like to see the "Platinum White Pearl" of the PHEV side by side to the "White Orchid Pearl" of the BEV and FCV to see what the actual difference is.

I personally like distinctive colors. European vehicles tend to have a wider color palette than those sold in the US, and I sometimes envy the color choices that they have.

 

Maybe that was just my faulty (biased) memory - but I think he was looking at the Environmental car page on the Honda site to see what colors each were promoted in. I have to agree, the Forest Green is only in the PHEV, but the Fuel Cell model is available in Crimson just like ours...oh well...modern steel metallic is still best...

 

You mean all black is the best.

 

They don't call Moonlight Forest Green the HERO color for nothin'…

 

OK, OK...

 

Ours is white (Touring). It was the only Clarity our dealer had in stock and we bought it, like some others here, with the view that the goobers in Washington would certainly kill the tax credit for 2018 (how it survived was nothing short of a miracle). Anyway, I thought I would prefer the black because it looks most like a regular car (by camouflaging the unusual features already in black) while the white accentuates the geekiness of car. After living with it, I really like it especially the tan interior. I think the unusual parts (air curtain vents, lower rear window) are cool because they are functional while most styling vents on ICE cars are meant to invoke high performance but are fake. The shape of the Clarity is all in functionally for aerodynamics and I really like that.

 

These are three of my biggest questions. I agree on the cellular - it has to be there. Being out of Bluetooth range, and under a covered parking structure with no access to the sky for satellite link, that can be the only answer for how I can turn on the Climate Remote from my office.

The gauges (I use that term loosely) are close to worthless, especially the HV range estimates. My last refill, on our long trip, was 3 gallons (well, 3.04) in 122 miles. However, the gauge showed I had 265 miles REMAINING on the 4 gallons in the tank - a tad off wouldn't you say?

I don't understand why it couldn't trickle charge to the full capacity, but at least 80% recharge while driving, but why in heavens name 57%. Looking strictly at my gauge on the 240v charger, that last 20% slowly charges at only a fraction of the initial amperage at the beginning.

 

It was actually good old lobbyist money. Among the car makers, only Musk (Tesla) was pushing for killing the credit, because he is almost at the production run limit. Everyone else (including Chevy, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, etc.) has invested gobs of money in EV technology and are far from their quotas - so to keep us buyers in the fold they need the tax break. Still, I was with you (as so many here) because sometimes even political economic incentives from lobbyists won't trump ideology (pun intended!)

 

Our choices were either white or silver in that we like lighter colored cars. We went with the silver only because we preferred the black interior. Actually, had they offered gray, we would have gone with that.

As to the continuation of the tax credits, it simply shows you that what you think are the 'goobers' in Washington, are actually smarter than you think. I always thought the chances that the credits would remain were far greater than some thought. But I have little doubt that I'm more conservative than some here.

 

I live in one of America's most conservative republican districts my friend (Texas Congressional Dist. 11), and we still think they are all goobers in Washington!