First I have to say that I love this car. That being said, I wrote up some ideas about what I think is the good and bad of driving a partially electric car. Also I realize this may be an eclectic list of items which may not be generally held. i.e. I'm not trying to document every feature or concern, just the ones that come to my mind. Electic Car / PHEV- Clarity – Excellent Benefits (some/many apply to all PHEVs) Fuel economy: This car is easily 4 or more times less costly to operate from a fuel perspective than my last vehicle. I spend about $.80/ day commuting in this vehicle (about 20 miles). I can go two days on a single charge (about 40 miles of range), and that’s about 14.5 KWH at $.11 per KWH, or about $1.60 per full-charge. My gas car would cost me about 1 gallon of gas per-day for a normal commute (20 miles), so currently that’s $3.29 per day here in Oregon (or $6.60 for two days). Yep about 4 times more expensive commute daily. So the savings on fuel are very tangible, and quite awesome. The car also adapts to conditions and sometimes I’m able to get incredible fuel economy, for example with a lot of stop and go, it increases opportunity for regenerative breaking, and there are times when my economy is even better. I don't think I can over-state how cool this benefit is. Few gas station visits: I can “fill up the tank” every day at home in the garage and it just takes a moment to plugin. In the safety of my quiet garage. No need to wait in line at a gas station or deal with anything that comes with that. I especially appreciate this during the winter months around the holidays when it seems everyone needs gas at the same time, and you really end up waiting. In Oregon, we cannot pump our own gas by law, so even if a pump is free, one still must wait for an attendant. Also cost of electricity is reasonable here, and gas prices are easily more than $1 above the national average. For us, the savings are substantial. Quiet: I’ve always associated a quiet ride with luxury car. My car in electric mode is extremely quiet. It’s to the point that the hands-free cellular stuff works awesome, because there is very little background noise. If this car runs on a high quality paved road, it’s almost eerily quiet. I love going through a drive-through (fast food) and my car is totally silent at the window. I also love the built-in break-hold feature for drive-through or other stopped situations. Heating and Cooling without engine: If I’m waiting for my wife to shop or for some reason ‘stuck’ in the car on a cold or hot day, I can turn the car on and run the heating and cooling without the gas engine. It’s really nice on a hot summer day to use air conditioning while waiting in the car without turning on any motor. This feature on the Honda does want you to have a key-fob (as accessory mode doesn’t quite cut it for a long time doing this). But for the way my wife and I use the car (we both have a fob), it works perfectly. Power, especially up steep hills: Electric motors generate very high torque, and especially at low speeds. Going up my really steep hill daily basis is a breeze, and no need to slow down. My car literally handles going up our hill better than my V8 pickup which now feels loud and clunky compared to our electric car. Also, the Honda in sport mode has good acceleration for normal driving including ability to use passing lanes. It’s way more powerful than the Subaru Outback (4cyl) I had last and just no competition. At freeway speeds, I can still pass folks without issue. Convenience: My touring edition auto-adjusts the seats when my wife or I get in. All of the windows do ‘auto’ up and down. I can manually select re-circ or outside air. The foot plus vent option is my favorite. The car has an ‘auto’ environment setting to help you not have to manually select stuff when in a hurry. Adaptive cruise control with low-speed follow, lane-keep assist, backup camera, right-turn camera, radio that pulls in even weak stations, automatic warning of possible collision (or configurable going off-road). Walk-away auto-lock. Handle-touch unlock. Many possible adjustments (i.e. headlight auto-on sensitivity etc.) Good performance, easy to get the car up to 80 or more miles per hour. Comfortable freeway driving. Full-size car feel, instead of small economy. Generally: The Clarity is well thought out and works the way I would want my car to work. The safety features like a blinking “BRAKE” when getting too close to the next vehicle is much appreciated. There’s really too many features to list. The overall package feels very refined to me. Clarity, potential downsides: Road Debris: Probably my biggest concern when driving on the highway or major road is hitting road debris at high speed. Every so often someone loses a hard or metal object on the freeway that doesn’t get adequately cleaned up (i.e. after a crash or similar). Hitting a piece of metal that gets repeatedly crunched under my car is a real concern. The car uses a large lithium ion battery and while it’s protected, manufacturers don’t normally assume some steel object with puncture capability will come at you from under the car. Our honda is very low to the ground to conserve fuel, but this also means the car is more likely to trap debris if one drives over it. So, it’s a different kind of threat. I’d never consider the same concern on a normal gas mobile. Water: While you never want to land any car in a river, if one crashes their car maybe even down an embankment into a river, it would be concerning to have a 17.5KWH battery back in the water with potential damage. If one is in hurricane country, having any electric car sit in salt water (conductive) is a no-no. Low Volume Vehicle: The fact that these are low-volume cars can make parts harder to get and more expensive. Many new cars include a windshield camera for things like lane-keeping, but if one breaks a windshield, a new windshield on such a car is much more expensive because it requires re-mounting the camera and calibration. Charging and winter weather: Perhaps not a real concern- I tend to run to the garage and unplug my car from the 240v system in a storm with lightening. I have no data to back this up, just seems like a better call than leaving it plugged in during the storm. Complexity: I actually believe my ‘dual-fuel’ vehicle will have long life and relatively low maintenance cost (if no accidents). There is some risk in complex systems being more expensive or difficult to maintain as they age. The reliability is yet to be seen. Cup-Holders: The two in the front are good and have size adjustment, but I would of really preferred more than 2. It’s odd that my Totota Tundra Truck 2004 has at least six cup holders easy to reach from the driver’s seat (which is actually more than I want).
Good post but the road debris and water worries seem unfounded based on what I've read - with regard to debris, the battery seems no more susceptible than ICE components (and a catalytic converter) to debris - and there are specifically-designed safety features to deal with water. I don't worry much more about this car than other things during electrical storms. Anyone know for certain (have data)?
Can't call it data, but I have left the car plugged in during a thunder storm and nothing seems to have happened.
At my age I have had many cars. My first brand new car was a 1972 V8 AMC Gremlin! My 2nd was a yellow 1976 Honda Civic CVCC. The ones that I liked the best, I kept well past 100,000 miles. I've had my Clarity for 1.5 years now. The fit and finish are among the best of any car I have ever owned. The car is quiet and has a nice ride. The seats are very comfortable by Honda standards. The 50 mile or so electric range means that for most of the time, I have an electric car. The trunk will hold 3 golf bags. The car preforms wonderfully on the highway in HV mode. I got an actual 43 mpg, measured by actual fuel consumption, on a trip from Florida to Ohio and back. Coming down the mountain in Virginia on I-77, the car automatically maintained the cruise speed by regenerative braking. Regular cars over speed and require braking or a lower gear. I think reviewers overstate the Clarity oddities, while ignoring its charming features.
I agree with your comment about how driving your old car now feels clunky. After 10 months of driving mostly electric in my Clarity all ICE cars feel clunky and inefficient to me. I disagree about the radio, I find the FM band slightly worse than my old 2001 F150 that was my daily drive until I bought the Clarity. It has problems holding the two station's signals that I regularly listen to on my commute when I drive through some hilly areas at the fringes of suburban LA. And the AM (I listen to a couple of talk shows occasionally) is much worse. The sound is muted, I have to really pump up the volume when I change to AM, and the sound quality is muddy and indistinct, as if the treble is turned down as low as it can go. It's so bad that I've pretty much stopped listening to AM in this car.
Interesting - I find the radio system in the Clarity is a very good AM/FM/Satellite source across the bands. I just rented a Jeep Cherokee for the week while my BMW was in the body shop and found the Chrysler radio unit seriously lacking in all bands. But then once the BMW was picked up, the radio system far surpasses the Honda or Jeep. I get HD AM which I listen to news a lot and thumpier bass / low end on FM / Satellite...
From an engineering philosophy standpoint, a PHEV is basically nothing more than a HEV (aka Prius) with a plug and charger added. Thinking of it that way, the overall design concept has proven itself for decades over billions of miles in millions of hybrids around the world. The headline grabbing battery tray fires are mainly limited to Tesla Model S & X with the older, more explosive LiOn chemistry; hasn't happened with the new chemistry model 3 batts. Upcoming solid state tech will eliminate this issue.
And all for $23-26K after rebates depending on model- amazing this car did not fly out of the showrooms.
Thanks for summarizing your experience. I generally agree especially about Clarity being a complex and very low-volume car. I have a 3 year lease on my Clarity but would be concerned about costly repairs and parts availability if I decide to keep it long-term. When I got the car in 2018, I got the dealer to provide a quote for a replacement HV battery - it was over $12,000 CAD in 2018. Also, there a post that reviews the custom aluminium rear suspension. Parts if they are available in the future will be expensive. Overall, I'm pleasantly surprised with the car but the long-term concern is that Clarity was meant to be very low-volume test bed for Honda's PHEV/BEV/FCEV technologies in a one-off car with many costly custom components. I still think Honda looses money on each car even at full MSRP but justifies it for the live testing and real-world data collection. Btw, submerging the car does not appear to be of great concern for Honda although the part about " noises from the battery as the cells are discharged from shorting." sound disconcerting.
Instead of an after market snorkel kit like my son’s Jeep has, evidently all we Clarity owners need is a scuba diving mask and snorkel for ourselves. (With 33” tires and 6 “ of total lift, he’s gone up a creek with water over his lap and almost touching the dash! Oh, to be young and foolish again.) Anybody tried out the low rolling resistance OEM Michelin’s underwater yet? Considering how much my Clarity drips after being in the rain, I think being submerged even an inch would flood my garage after pulling in.
I, too, am amazed at the Clarity's water-carrying capacity. My shovels and other implements in the garage never rusted until the Insight was displaced by the Clarity in our 1-car garage.
I’ve got the same problem in my unheated attached garage. I’ve added a dehumidifier set at 50% RH and it seems to be stopping the rust but the Clarity makes me empty it often. That approach was cheaper than adding a mini splt.
Quiet. We went to Dream Racing Monday and I drove an Aston Martin DB11. Sneaky lead-in, huh? On the way our passengers kept commenting about how quiet the car is.
It was loud and oh so sweet. Next time it will be a Lamborghini or a Ferrari. Turn up the sound. Note: Right click the link and open in a new tab. If you watch the whole video you'll notice my lap times improved on all but nine. My BIG foot caught the brake pedal during the transition from "no gas no brake" to gas. Ten was slow because of exiting the track. https://www.facebook.com/video.php?v=2460811894202582
Watched every lap--looked like you had a blast! Now if only you could have done a lap while driving your Clarity for comparison.
I did. I loled at myself a couple of times. I could not decide if I needed my sunglasses - In Las Vegas. The windshield was so small and narrow top to bottom. Then I kept telling myself to keep my hands at three and nine. I think it was lap eight where I hit the brake accidentally and it really threw me off. Big feet are a curse at times. The car I passed was one of the drivers I went with. It all started because he wanted to do it - for his 81st birthday. He warned us he was not going to scream around the track and he was honest about it. Dude got out of the car and had the biggest grin I've ever seen. Driving the Clarity would be wild! I wonder.... I'm going to ask. I'm guessing my top speed might be a bit slower. My wife and another wife who's husband drove that day are talking about doing it. My wife drove Powder Puff many years ago. If they go I think I'll try a Lamborghini Aventador or the Mclaren. 10 laps again. Those laps went by way too fast. Looks like I'm going to spend all my Funny Money at the track. I recommend it to anyone who hasn't tried it. It was an amazing experience and I spent all the carbon credits for the life of the Clarity. https://www.dreamracing.com/drive-lamborghini-aventador-lp700-4-in-las-vegas/
