I wish the Clarity was more Voltish

No need. I just think it has been well established the Clarity is not the Volt or a BEV. I didn’t mean to come off as a curmudgeon.

 

Correct. In fact the Honda approach is not only better for efficiency but I think lends itself to a smoother driving style. I like it.

 

Then how do I stop?

 

You don't. Instead, you follow Claude Lelouch's example in his amazing 1976 film, "Rendezvous," where he drives at high speeds through Paris for more than 8 minutes without ever stopping.

 

Interesting film. I lived in Paris from 1978-1981 and never saw the streets so void of vehicles. The car was making a lot of noise but not going very fast. It passed other cars slowly.

 

You coast to decelerate, until when you have to use regen or the brake, isn’t it clear?

 

Except that there is no coasting in the Clarity. You are always in lowest 1 chevron regen whenever your foot is off the go pedal. This is true even when the chevron is not showing. You can test this by clicking the paddle one time and watching it go from “no” chevron directly to 2 chevrons illuminated. Are we clear now?

 

The real question is whether the topic name is sufficiently descriptive, as this one is. That being the case, you don’t need to waste your time reading posts you don’t care about, or waste ours posting about your boredom.

 

Right on. No coasting is a key feature of driving a car with a battery to store the energy of stopping, whether it be a HV, PHEV, or an EV.

 

Ken,
I am sorry that my statement was problematic. My point is not whether the regen or brake is always on or off. My point is, regen has only about 93% conversion rate, adding extra regen to your car is not a wise choice. You should keep your car at a speed which is low and steady enough so when you want to slow down or stop your car, you can let it coast as much as you can and apply the brake in the end to force it to a full stop if necessary, and this is actually much more efficient than driving your car to a high speed which is not necessary then you actively apply extra regen hoping this could add more electric power to your car and this is the most efficient way. I hope we are on the same page now.

 

So true!! Tim66 I agree about wanting more EV info for the Clarity. My boss has the Volt and is the reason I started looking at PHEV. I love my Clarity and would buy it again, but his MYChevy app gives him so much more info then our stupid HondaLink app. The menus in his Volt break down gas miles versus electric miles and so much more. I also wish Honda would have an unlock feature on the app (I locked my keys in the car (idiot)) and had to wait 3.5 hours for roadside assistance. My boss the next day asked why I didn't unlock the car with my app and I said I can't. Frustrating, but still love my Clarity.

 

@JulianClarity, I misinterpreted what you were saying and I apologize that my last sentence was harsher than i intended. I’m an old dog and still getting used to texting without face to face contact. I think I put my thumbs in motion before my heart was in gear. I ask forgiveness.

I absolutely agree with you that since regen must obey the laws for thermodynamics, it can’t be 100% efficient. So heavy acceleration requiring heavy regen (and heaven forbid friction braking!) at the next stop is naturally not as efficient as easing up to the stop. However, logic tells us that any regen is better than no regen at all. It’s just that a light foot makes the overall energy budget even more efficient.
I was just pointing out that even when it feels like you’re coasting, you’re actually in the lowest state of regen.

Lunch and a solar charge is on me if you ever make to Lexington KY.

 

Hah, but in your case, a certain extra kinetic energy got converted to heat because of the rubbing among your gears and the rubbing between your tires and the road.

 

Ken,
You are too serious about your words, I didn’t feel anything uncomfortable reading your posts at all, you are always friendly. My theory is, to measure your driving efficiency, the best way is to measure your brakes, do you like this?

Thanks,
Julian

 

I am not a mechanic guy, I don’t know to much. I just spoke from my experience, according to my observation of the system, I can control the switch between ICE and the battery easily. I tell it by watching the gauge, green means regen or brake, blue means battery, no filling means ICE, white means ICE and battery if it has not been drained. I have never hit the white mark because I always drive gently. When you switch to HV mode from battery mode, it could take as long as a mile for the engine to kick in, so when I am in traffic on the highway, I watch the traffic info on my screen closely, and turn on hv just before it is clear.

 

The heat is wasted, Tim. I will not extend this topic further, because it really does not affect any of our trust in this car.