While shoveling the driveway I started the Clarity (20118 Touring) but left it plugged in. I turned the heater (85 degrees) and the defrosters on and placed the air in recalculation. After about 20 minutes I went to move the car and the air blowing out of the defroster and the vents was ice cold. It was about 15 degrees F out. The car started right up but because it was still plugged in the steering wheel icon came on. Any idea why the car did not heat up? I'm taking it in for a new water valve next week but I thought the valve was for the ICE. Tim
I've experienced a similarly odd behavior before, where if I plug the car in while it's on, the car will switch to accessory mode, and only run the radio/lights, but no cabin heat. I was able to get the heat to work after screwing with the vehicle's accessory state after some time(dont remember what I did), but simply powering the car on through the on/off button is not always enough to run the cabin heat. Best to use remote climate feature if you arent going to be inside the car and want to defrost the windows while plugged in
It’s because it was plugged in. There’s something in the programming of the car that will not allow it to start up in “ready to drive “ mode while the charging cable is plugged in. That’s why you didn’t get any heat. As mentioned above, use the remote or app to pre-heat the vehicle. I personally think Honda should have done this differently. What if you’re charging up the car and want to listen to the radio while staying at a comfortable temperature? -Skip Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Skip and AlAl, thanks. I thought it might be related to the defective water valve. This is another difference between my previous Volt and the Clarity. Seems the Volt had less features but was much easier and more logical in it's operation (e.g. always on RB, full EV mode no matter what the throttle position, etc.). As long as the Volt was plugged in you could do everything but drive away. Tim
If you are charging the car and sitting inside, you can precondition the car and use accessory mode to listen to the radio. It is easiest to use the remote since you have to manually turn it off and unlock the doors before exiting, otherwise the car alarm will go off when you open the door.
