I've experimented with 'just driving' my Clarity the past 3 weeks and I like it. I had been actively managing my battery, taking advantage of the ability to select my mode. I found myself carefully planning drives and constantly reverse engineering the car's engine control software. I love this car but the effort to optimize was beginning to bug me. So far just getting in and driving is a pleasure. The Clarity is a very decent hybrid and I've stopped trying to avoid hybrid mode and instead have adjusted to the point where I notice I'm in hybrid mode and carry on unperturbed. I should mention I'm a computer science professor and just loved exploring the inner workings of the power train but after a full year I've had enough of the challenge of mastering a control system which has ultimate authority to override my decisions. Anyone tried this and what are your impressions?
It's really great that Honda designed the car to work for people who want to just get in and drive. We nerds are very happy Honda provided ways for human input to make a difference even if the car has the final say. It makes driving exciting without having to exceed the speed limit.
I enjoy the challenge of trying to understand the internals of how the car works. My wife just wants to drive the car. We can both fully achieve our objectives with the Clarity. I've only had the car for a few months, so I don't know if I will get tired of interacting with it over time. I don't expect to, but if I do, the car won't care.
Different strokes for different folks. I prefer just driving. I love having geeky information available, but I just want to drive. I rarely change drive modes, use the paddles, etc. The only thing I will still do is put the car in HV mode on the highway if my trip is longer than my charge.
Amen. Just drive it. I've had mine since November and have about 3K miles on it. I've driven a series of Prii since 2002, and none of them remotely compares with the Clarity's driving experience. Initially, I played with the modes, experimented, and eventually got that out of my system. I charge it to full whenever I have access to a charger, and run it until the battery depletes and HV mode kicks in if I can't. It just works. Honda engineers designed it so it can operate that way reliably. I now spend most of my mental energy mastering the infotainment system. I don't hold out much hope. ;-)
I’ve had mine for 1 yr and ~8,000 miles. Almost all local in ECON “EV” and with nightly and a couple of mid-day charging I’ve never run it down to 0/2bars. The 4 out of town trips I’ve taken have been the only times I’ve manually selected modes. On these, I charge, “EV” to Interstate, hit HV (mine holds the SOC), and then back to “EV” at destination for local driving. I got 48 MPG on the HV highway part and no angry bees ever. I do use the paddles in lieu of the brake pedal just cause I’m lazy and it’s easier to move a finger than my leg. That strategy and Brake Hold are a lazy man’s best friend. The only other time I would consider it necessary to override the excellent algorithm would be if I were approaching a long steep mountain climb and had let the SOC get low. Then and only then, whould I use HV Charge to build up the SOC for the climb at the expense of reduced MPG. So for me, the Clarity can mostly just be driven like any other car. I have let it deplete to 0 EV/2 bars as a tear and on rolling hills at 55 MPH with no passengers or luggage, and no use of cabin heat or defrost, it did just fine with no angry bees and no loss of power. If it were heavily loaded or going up hills or using the cabin heat , then I would consider switching to HV before reaching 0 EV/ 2 bars. Thai car has been perfect for me and I’ll never go back to a gasmobile.
Wife "just drives" the car. I like to fiddle with settings on occasion, and use the decel paddles frequently in town. Ultimately, I can see no difference in overall efficiency between the two but it's nice to play with the gadgetry on longer drives.
I like to drive in sport because I don't have to depress the pedal as far down. I have occasional sciatica. The only problem is that sometimes the ICE will kick in. I also think it is a good idea to keep some charge in reserve when you need it. There have been a few occasions where I'm down to 2 bars (0 EV range) and I need power which was lacking. For this reason, I will run the car in HV mode to keep it above 2 bars unless I know I will be charging soon. It is not a good feeling when you step on the pedal and it doesn't go as fast you would like it.
I generally agree with just driving. I haven't done anything but commuting lately and the car is easy to drive all electric. With 32F temps where I live, the car is getting about 32 estimated EV range (my commuting daily averages about 20mi so I don't normally hit it). I haven't had occasion to test it lately, but historically my car is much less pleasant with 0 EV miles just due to high pitched RPM sound. It hasn't ever lost power in a noticeable way. I can easily avoid 0 EV these days by pressing HV early on when I have a trip that exceeds estimated EV range. So the one possible caveat for some of us is a preference to avoid 0 EV range. If your clarity sounds normal with 0 EV range (i.e. like HV mode), then I wouldn't even do that.
As an aside, I would love a setting where I could have the car automatically switch to HV at a specified EV miles remaining. As it is, for shorter trips that I know will exceed EV range, I do so manually at 10 miles remaining. Longer trips I like 20 miles in reserve.
As long as we are dreaming <grin> How about a setting to query the GPS, verify that we are headed towards "Home", and switch to HV to retain enough miles to get there, then switch back to EV when we reach that point? I'm not suggesting that the amount of computing power currently in the Clarity is capable of this, but given the logic required for autonomous vehicles, not really difficult.
