Likes, Dislikes, I wish..

I agree with jdonalds' likes. I also especially like the slow and stop features of the assisted cruise and that the lane keep assist works so much better than the Avalon. The Clarity will make a curve and keep the car centered without going all the way to the edge. The Avalon would go to the very edge and then over correct and go back and over the center lane. I like that the car is fun to drive and seems more responsive so that I don't really want to use the driver assist features as much.
I miss the auto dimming headlights and rain sensing wipers and really miss the rear cross traffic alert.
And I also think that this is best car I've ever owned. I've had 2 Priuses and 2 Avalon hybrids and none felt as tight and solid as this one.
I wish there was a place for a phone that was visible and accessible. But, I like that I can get calls, texts and emails as well as play music and books via bluetooth, so I probably don't need to have direct access to the phone.

 

Things I wish the Clarity had:

- lights on the dash to show it is charging
- heated steering wheel
- charging port in the front

All three of these are on the Leaf and are useful/more convenient to me.

 

Dislike:
Lack of Volume knob.
Drive mode setting return to factory when turned off.
Regen mod returns to the lightest setting unless you use sport mode.
HV charge is limited to 57%.
Suede interior, will it hold up?
Back up cam is lower quality than my VW Golf and i3.

Like:
Very Acura or Lexus quality interior.
Smooth and quite drive experience.

I would pay for:
A true hatchback design.
Heads up display.
A modest all wheel drive system. Something to provide a slight gain in traction. As small as 5hp electric motor for each rear wheel.

 

Yes, the absence of the rear cross traffic alert is, IMO, the biggest single omission in the car. I think it's an important enough safety feature that it should be federally mandated.

We've just had 16" of snow here on L.I., and in our condo they've cleared our driveways, but in the process created mountains of snow adjacent to each driveway. Backing out from our garage becomes a challenge due to the mountains of snow and lack of visibility of the road as you back out. If we had the rear cross traffic alert, by the time our tail was clear of the snow mounds, we'd be alerted to a car's presence.

Otherwise we love the car. BTW, as a result of the snow, yesterday I was coming out of a shopping area where there is an extremely narrow entry to a main road as the result of permanent pylons. Because of the poor snow removal in that area, I hit the snow & curb on the right rear, creating some nice curb rash on that wheel. I should have realized when I saw the car in front of me do exactly the same thing. Oh well, now in search of wheel repair shops.

 

It's interesting, my wife was commenting yesterday how one of the center vents directs air to the right side of the steering wheel, making it almost feel like a heated steering wheel. It really does! The heating effect is limited to the right side of the wheel, but the warmest location is exactly where I place my hands.

 

Did anyone else get the Honda/JD Power Clarity Survey yet? They cover every aspect of the car, and my replies were nearly an exact combination of @jdonalds and @Ken7 above. This is the best car, out of the box (so to speak) that I have ever owned, but for 2020 (don't expect any major changes for 2019) they must:

• Add cross traffic and side approach radar (like the 2018 Odyssey)
• Drop the flying bridge and adopt the 2018 Odyssey shifter/dash layout
• Use the 2018 Accord radio!
• Offer a hatchback option

I think jdonalds is on to another good idea - just merge the Accord and Clarity PHEV lines into a series of Accords from ICE to Hybrid to PHEV. Leave the rest of the Clarity line for pure "no tailpipe" travel - PURE EV and FCEV only.

 

One thing I really like is the electric heater. Its been fairly cold here in Salt Lake City but the electric heater is blowing hot air about 1/2 block from my house. The only real issue with the heater is the fan starts blowing at a fairly high speed immediately after hitting the start button. I wish it would wait until the heater has warmed up a little.

I also miss the cross traffic alert like I had on my 2014 Camry Hybrid.

 

I wish there was an instant graphic display of how much energy was being used. The Tesla has this, and it's a nice feature which doesn't really seem all that high tech. The Clarity has other graphic modes, just not an instant graph - unless I missed it.

 

The driver's curved bar meter shows real-time instantaneous power (KW power, not KWh energy used). Not sure why they don't give us the instantaneous power number too, e.g. 32 KW, or -12 KW for regen. Also, it seems to be non-linear, with regen below zero "charge" a compressed scale compared to power used, the much longer curve from zero to the right around the partial circle.

 

Has anyone tried to use the windshield wiper fluid? I have tried a few times to get salt and grime off my windshield and every time it has worked terribly. It makes me wonder if something is being blocked. I get a bit of fluid but it seems to stay towards the bottom ens of the wiper blades so the missde of the windshield just gets the grime smeared around. Someone tell me theirs works fine so I know there is something wrong.

 

I am getting water from the full length if the blade, but it's not a large amount. Since it's coming from the blade, doesn't seem to soak the windshield very well. Is wiped off too quickly to soften any real grunge.

 

I noticed the same thing... the spray pattern is awful, leaving most of the windshield dry. I like the idea, but not the execution.


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs

 

@jdonalds and everyone participating in this discussion:

Thanks very much for the "info dump"!

Looks like Honda has a solid hit on its hands, or at least it will if it produces the car in large numbers. It's great to see a PHEV that actually challenges the Volt for range, and does it in a car with a more spacious interior! The EV revolution needs more choices for car buyers, and this is a large step in the right direction.

Go Honda!

 

This is more what I was thinking about…

 

I want an average miles per kwh display, personally. I think most if not all pure electric vehicles have this, including the Clarity EV. My average in my Leaf is never great compared to some drivers (I think it hovers around 3.3-3.6, where some get it up to 4.3-4.5), but I would still like to see what it is when driving pure ev mode in my Clarity phev.

 

Mine is working okay. Just pulling momentarily (like spritzing in a conventional system) does not work (not nearly enough fluid). I find if I pull and hold it until the motion starts (seems like a long time), then it works fine. It is definitely a different and odd system.

 

Oh, I see. That's an interesting display, nice! I think I agree with others, that I'd prefer mi/Wh, however I've never had one. Seems like it should be easy enough for Honda to add a page like that.

Not the same, (not even close) but I did notice this evening that if you reset trip A, the Trip computer page (trip A tab on the top) resets too. So, we can look at small segments, even a mile or two, but it reads in mpg, so that would take a conversion to get battery usage.

The only other thing is that funky Garmin eco graph which is probably not useful, but there might be something there indirectly?

 

If only I could input the kWh rate for my utility and current gasoline prices, I'd have an instantaneous MPG equivalent in real dollar cost.