I purchased a new car and when fully charged, it shows only a 44 miles ev range. The battery should be 47 miles ev range. Should I reach out to Honda for the dragradation in battery from a new car or is this normal?
EV range estimates will shift from perhaps as low as under 30 to as much as 60 or more. The range friends on your own driving habits, exterior temperature, and terrain. A lot of people would be happy to have 44 miles during the winter. Consider yourself blessed.
The range estimate is just that: an estimate. It can vary greatly based on the weather (how much energy is needed for heating/cooling the cabin) and driving conditions (speed, highway vs. overland, elevation changes, etc.). The car will update its estimate based on your recent driving history. I personally have seen range estimates anywhere from the low 30s on a full charge to the mid 60s!
It's also worth noting that temperature (especially heating/cooling the cabin) has a MUCH bigger impact on mileage for EVs than for gas cars. In an ICE, most of the energy in the gasoline is wasted as heat, so it's easy to capture that heat to warm the car. In an EV, because it's so much more efficient, the car needs to use the battery power to run an electric heater, which consumes a lot of electricity. Add to that the fact that batteries don't work as well in the cold, and the result is a significant range hit. On the upside, you'll most likely see ranges above the EPA rating when the weather is nice
so if I truly wanted to know the health of my battery, the EV range estimator is not a good indicator since that fluctuates. From a consumer perspective, I can't tell the health of my battery unless I bring it into the dealership and have them perform an analysis? thanks for the clarification by the way, I really thought my car came with degraded batteries since it was sitting in the car dealership lot for a long time and I don't think they charged it, because it had only 2 bars on it when I purchased it.
Unfortunately, yes. Unless someone has figured out how to get that information via the OBDII port. (I think some folks are working on that, but I don't know that they have been successful yet.) Sitting on the lot with only 2 bars is probably not great for the battery, but it does seem to be fairly typical. Dealers have NOT been good about keeping Clarities charged. It's really a shame; their test drives would go a lot better without the engine flailing around trying to recharge the batteries!
Don't panic. The estimated ev miles will be different every time you charge it. It's an estimate based on your last trip. If you actually get 44 miles , you'll be lucky.
You are lucky your car came with a charge at the time of delivery. Your dealer obviously has a better infrastructure than most others. Most people don't get the luxury of a charge before delivery. Most everyone gets a full tank of fuel and no EV charge (2 bars) when they pick up their car which tells you how poorly the dealer are equipped to installing chargers on site. I had to physically drive my car from the new car lot to the service dept in order to use their L2 charger while I waited in F&I. Even that, I was met with a service tech who wanted to know why I was charging a new car...
I have another vehicle, not a clarity, but will chime in here. My EV range is always 2 miles below stated range. At night when I charge it, in a carport,(basically outdoor like) it has always been below 20F and often quite colder. One time at 0 or so I think I got 3 below stated range. I see it as completely a function of what temp the battery is charging at. Lower temps and batteries are more reluctant to accept charges. Functionally the battery recharges depending on application with regeneration, and with the increased temps in the day I expect it really has not much of a real difference in how far I go on EV mode when in town. My first ride to town is basically downhill, and I use zero miles. My return trip back home is uphill, and while it is a seven mile trip uphill, it uses more like nine or so Ev miles. More energy is expended going uphill. So there is variance, these are only approximations. How I use the car seems to directly affect how much EV miles I use. So I want to extend range I simply drive a bit more conservative. I think that is way more influencing the thing than the loss of 2 miles or so due to temps. I guess they derive the numbers from flat level ground at normal temps. If as some state here with the clarity it is averaged in use application..my driving in town in flat level at normal temps but within ten or so miles to home it is significantly uphill(or downhill) and much colder. So any approximation with such deviation in terrain and temp would be prone to inaccuracy. In the clarity or my vehicle.
Totally agree with all the above comments on temperature affecting range and that it’s an estimate based on past history. I will add that as a new car it has no history to go on, so don’t panic until you’ve driven it for a few cycles. Then post and tell us the temperature, speeds driven and the EV range estimate along with actual miles driven on one full charge. The only accurate way to access the battery health is for your dealer to measure the Battery Capacity Signal which is nominally 55 Ahr when new. Dealers are not required to do this but mine ran it for me. The battery is warranted stay above 36.6 Ahr for 8yr/100,000m, (10/150,000in Cali).
As said above, nothing to worry about at this point. When I picked up my Clarity PHEV last February it showed 33 miles or range after the 1st full charge. A week later it was 54 miles. I believe the car was at the dealer sitting still with the heat running (maybe in the service dept. and going on a few short drives(had 22 miles in the odometer). It was looking at the kw's used verses the miles traveled and arrive at an estimate of 33. Once getting some actual 'real-use' miles on it the range adjusted accordingly.
