I am a recent Clarity owner who just moved overseas (military orders). I live on a military base and have access to 110V and 220V at my house. Unfortunately, the power here is 50Hz and not 60Hz. The Level 1 charger that came with my car says "Input: 120V 60Hz Output: 120V 60Hz" I realize that 60Hz input equals 60Hz output, so its safe to assume that 50Hz in will result in 50Hz out. The charging plug doesn't have a frequency converter built in, so if I put 50Hz in, I will get 50Hz out. My question is can the Clarity accept 50Hz to charge the battery? Has anyone else taken their Clarity somewhere where 50Hz is standard? I have a question out to Honda U.S. office, but who know how long it will take them to determine the answer. Jim
Most 'wall wart' ac to dc converters will specify they work from 50 to 60 Hz. Plus, there are parts of Japan where 50Hz is the standard, so I would be quite surprised if Honda said the Clarity's provided EVSE and onboard circuitry could not handle 50Hz.
Sorry I can't answer your question, but do you realize you may be the only Clarity on the roads wherever you are? (unless it's Japan of course)
I’m no EE, but the “brick” on the OEM Honda USA charger says 60 Hz. So using it on 50 Hz may or may not be feasible or advisable without further input from Honda. With out that information, it’s definitely use at your own risk and don’t expect the warranty to cover any use except what’s printed on the unit. You either need Honda to say it works with 50 Hz or buy one that does.
The level 1 plug that came with the car is for North America and the label stated the default power for NA. So other country would have different plug and the label would have different power input/output spec. The plug doesn't do any type of power conversion. It just feed whatever that comes in out to the J plug plus the 'ready' signal. Voltage and AC to DC conversion is done inside the car and I am pretty sure it can handle all the different power voltages and cycles at different country.
Well, I finally got a reply from Honda and they verified that 50hz is compatible with the Clarity. In the end, I bought a Juicebox Pro 40 which allows 50Hz or 60Hz and it charges perfectly. I also used the 110V charger that came with the car and it charged in about 12 hours (just a bit slower than when charging back in the states).
