ICE fires up on Park from using the AC

Nope, A/C compressor is high voltage and runs off the HV battery system.

Next time try lowering the interior temp setting and see if the ICE stops running (after it completes the initial warmup cycle).

 

Mysteries abound when it comes to the Clarities.
If the ICE doesn’t need to run for the AC when driving in EV then what could be the reason?

Perhaps additional cooling connected to the engine such as a mechanical pump?

If it has something to do with charging the 12 volt battery wouldn’t the ICE start regardless if you’re moving or not? I am thinking something heat build up related but it is just a first guess.

 

The radiator cooling fan might be 12 volt but why would that make the engine turn on? Wouldn’t the 12 volt battery get charged from the high voltage battery?

 

I don't understand why your ICE would run under those conditions. Last summer when the outside temperature was 95 degrees, I sat in my car for about 45 minutes with the AC on just to measure how quickly the mileage would decrease, and the ICE never started. Under those conditions, sitting in the sun, I would lose about 1 mile every 20 minutes. Sitting in the car on a 20 degree day with the heater set at 70, I would lose about 1 mile every 5 minutes.

 

I am coming to the conclusion that either the car control system isn't ready for prime time or those of us who are trying to understand it simply do not have access to the data we need. Also, I'm amazed that different vehicles seem to operate in wildly different ways - in this thread we have one person reporting the ICE running with the AC on, and another person reporting no ICE operation in the same situation.

Today I took a highway trip that I often take. My SOP is to drive the two miles to the Interstate in EV, and once I'm established on the highway to shift to HV so that I have EV left for city driving later. I did that today, and noticed that the gear icon never came up. My gear icon has always been much rarer than I would predict, but today it simply was not engaging direct drive at all after several minutes of driving in HV. I switched out of HV to EV for a mile or so, hit the button to go back to HV, and the gear icon appeared in the pattern that I am used to. Go figure. Same road, same speed, same temperature . . . completely different behavior. I am sure that there is an explanation; there has to be because it's a deterministic computer. It just seems like they made the algorithm much more complicated than it needs to be.

 

Did you change the climate controls manually or leave it on auto? What temp is set?

 

Not trying to be a smart-a$$ here but are you sure you're hearing the ICE and not just the compressor fans running on high. Some folks think they are both one and the same.

 

Was the car fully on (just in PARK), or was it in accessory mode?


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Geor99 said

 

I'm still thinking/guessing it's temp related under this scenario; your HVAC setting was close enough to ambient (80f) that in order to regulate the interior temperature (the a/c can only add COLD air) the cars ECU decided to add engine heat to the coolant loop instead of using (or stopped using) the HV battery to heat the loop. I should have added this possible explanation in my original post.

So next time this occurs, drop the HVAC temp a few degrees and see if the ICE stops. Regardless, it may run a long time on the first start up to complete its warmup cycle for emissions purposes.

 

When I ran the AC for 45 minutes without the ICE starting, I had the temperature set at 69.

 

The familiar cry of the inquiring Clarity PHEV driver.

Years ago (36 years ago), Apple Computer (when Computer was still part of the company's name) had an "evangelist," Guy Kawasaki, who was the public face of Apple Computer's Macintosh developers. He was the one who could answer any question or at least get the answer if he didn't know it. He was a huge public-relations asset for Apple Computer. Wouldn't it be great if Honda had a Clarity Evangelist?