Is the Clarity ideal for 80 miles round trip commute?

Can you charge at work? If so, color me jealous.
Can you charge at home?
It looks like you could accomplish each leg of your trip fully electrically.

In my mind, eliminating an ICE cold start each day is the deciding factor.

 

If I had that commute without charging at work, I would get a Leaf or Niro EV that has adaptive cruise control. You never have to worry about changing oil again or going to gas stations. If you need to travel, take another car , rent a car or fly. Once you go all electric, you'll never go back.

 

If you cannot charge at work, you would be using no gas for the first 47 miles and then getting a nominal 42 mpg for 33 miles. You would be able to choose when to use gas vs battery power to maximize EV distance. You will learn skills to extend the EV stretch beyond 47 miles and you may be able to beat the 42 mpg number when the engine is running. If you're an involved driver, the Clarity would certainly be more fun than just chugging along in an Accord Hybrid that delivers up to 47 mpg on the highway.

 

Get the Plug-in. Worst case you do half the trip on batteries, half on gas. So, ~80mpg. Best case you charge at work and use no gas. Weekend errands, no gas.

$7500 Fed tax credit.
State and local incentives.
Dealer incentives on 2019 models?

Fully capable of longer trips, just like a regular hybrid.

If you utilize some or all of the EV range on your commute, the Plug-in will be far more fuel efficient (gasoline) than a Hybrid.

 

My clarity works great as a hybrid when the battery is low. Also I was very happy to receive $9,000 back due to buying an PHEV car

 

How much gas would you use in an e.g. 55 MPG Insight vs how much gas you need to cover non-EV miles in a 40 MPG Clarity? Also consider ride comfort. I've never been in an Insight, but the Clarity is way nicer than any Prius I've been in.

 

I'm going to echo this thought, simply as an alternative strategy. You can get 100mi EVs for relatively cheap now, especially those Leafs. It may actually be cheaper and more environmentally friendly to get a dedicated EV commute car and have a separate "road trip" vehicle (or as @Electra suggests, renting on the occasion).

The other alternative I can think of is the BMW i3 REx. Depending on which battery size version you buy, you could do your entire commute on EV and still have petrol range, albeit very short and inefficient (200 mile EV+HV combined range and HV is 39 MPG, by the EPA numbers). Here are the different options (BMW i3 is an EV, BMW i3 REx is an EREV):

The downsides of the i3, so I've heard, is the higher maintenance costs that BMW asks and the thin tires wearing out relatively quickly.

I am not making any statements of recommendation, rather just throwing out other options to provide you with a more well-rounded Insight. The Clarity would still be a great choice and would definitely be more efficient than say, a Prius Prime for your commute length.

 

This car gets a HOV sticker so you can use the carpool lane, that may be useful to you. A standard hybrid car doesn't.

 

I'm going with this recommendation. I greatly appreciate gas-free weekends for errands, on top of the comfort level for 80 miles per day.

 

You’ll still be gallons ahead with the PHEV. If your commute is in heavy stop and go traffic you could easily get 50-60 miles in EV mode. Also, no need to sweat whether or not you’ll make it back home.

 

Similar commute at 88 miles/day, no work charging. Use about 5-6 gallons/week + a full battery each day. We charge for free at night on our plan so combine that with low gas prices, our running costs are so low I no longer budget for it.

Also, Clarity unofficially works with OpenPilot; a boon to commuters, highway drivers, trips, etc.

 

Even the 60ah i3 can complete the commute if there's no adverse weather temps. Maintenance is free the first 3 years, and after that, it's still fairly minimal. Tires do wear quickly, but my clarity EV is wearing the tires at about the same rate as my i3. Very fun car to drive and great DD. small, easy to park, and CPO's are quite cheap. REX models have a 15yr/150k emissions warranty as well.

 

I have a ~75 mile commute in the NYC area. I typically get ~50 miles of electric range, unless it's very cold, so for me (with no charging at home, but charging at work), I only run the ICE in one direction. If the price of charging at home goes down (the garage only had a high per-charge or a fixed high monthly fee more appropriate for a full electric), I'll be all electric in my commute.

You might check with your workplace. While they might not have charging yet, it may be in the planning stages, and so you may be able to charge at both ends. For me (with no home charging, room for only one car, and summers where I'm not at work often), the Clarity is great.

 

What sort of company is allowed to operate in the Bay Area and not provide EV charging stations for their employees? It should be “free” as well. This can’t be true.

 

Not every1 works for tech/biotech......I'm in the bay area and at Stanford, and while Stanford has charging it is a bit of a hastle and not free

 

This is actually a very important piece of information for me. It helps narrow down my university options, so thank you.

 

Another idea for charging at work. My job in Massachusetts has two dedicated charging stations but there is a group of about 15 EVs now that use it. What I find very helpful is to plug into a dedicated 120v outlet and use my factory level 1 charger for the 8+ hours I am at work when I don't use the charging stations. Our garage 120V outlets are on 20amp breakers and I get between 3 to sometimes 4 miles of EV range an hour which gives me about 30 miles per day. May not be optimal but it beats a blank for me when I don't feel like interrupting my busy day to go back to the garage and move my car for the next car to plug in. If Stanford has a garage or outlets accessible to you, you may want to see if it is possible to use them. Just a suggestion if you get the Clarity.

 

Buy the Clarity. You will not be sorry. The Clarity qualifies for the $7,500 Federal tax credit. This means that it is not an expensive car; the final price is less than $30,000. It is a quiet and comfortable car. It is reliable. When the battery is depleted, after 45 to 50 miles, it is still a pretty efficient hybrid (42 mpg vs 47 mpg for the hybrid Accord). Unlike a pure plug-in EV, it can realistically be taken on a long road trip. For most everyday driving, it is an EV.