Possible to determine miles on EV vs miles on Gas?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by Marc, May 6, 2019.

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  1. Marc

    Marc New Member

    Hey Gang,

    I just got my first oil change at about 7200 miles. I got a service required code A01 notice on the dash, so brought it.

    I wonder if there's a way I can tell how many of our 7200 miles were run off the battery. My guess is that we've run way more than half the miles on battery, and perhaps has high as 3/4. Given this, I probably didn't need to bring in the car for oil change, but what's done is done.

    Anyway - is this info available anywhere?

    Thanks,
    Marc
     
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  3. Robert_Alabama

    Robert_Alabama Well-Known Member

    I keep Range A set to manual reset only and Range B to reset every charge. This allows Range B to serve two functions (let me watch how many miles I actually get on Battery and to also measure each trip distance - assuming I don't stop to charge along the way). I don't reset Range A so that it keeps total miles and agrees with odometer. Then under "info" you can select "current trip" and then Range A tab. If it shows 199 mpg, then you know you are running about 80% EV or better if ICE mpg is 40 mpg (40*5=200). If it is less than 199 mpg, then you can estimate with a little more accuracy. I also just keep up with all gasoline receipts and write down on a piece of paper in the glovebox all the gallons of gasoline purchased and the miles on the car at the time of purchase. So far I have purchased 35 gallons of gas and have about 1/2 tank of gasoline now. I bought the car with a full tank of gas, so I have burned about 38 gallons so far. I have 6800 miles on the car so that is about 179 mpg (range A shows 177 mpg). I've averaged at least 45 mpg on gas so that is 1710 miles on gas and 5090 miles on battery (approximately). Hope that helps....
     
  4. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    Unfortunately no. Honda keeps it simple and gives us almost none of the information or choices that other EVs do. I put an inductive pickup hour meter on the engine and can track hours run but not miles. It’s easy peasy and costs less than $6.

    Here’s the thread with instructions on how I did it. All props to @Rob_v1 who first posted that it was possible.

    https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/how-to-install-an-hour-meter-for-ice-for-5-88.855/

    FWIW, Honda specifies a 1 year max between oil changes if not prompted by the MM. So to avoid any problems with potential future warranty claims, I changed mine at 1 year even though my engine had run only ~650 miles plus a few short System Checks. After 15 months and 10,000 miles, I’ve only got 17 hours on the engine. It’s not a totally bad thing to replace the oil every year even with low miles since it gets rid of moisture and renews all the additives in the oil.
     
  5. Marc

    Marc New Member

    Thanks folks. I've done similar calculations, but wondered whether I was just doing it the hard way.

    Thanks too for the quick replies.

    Enjoy the day,
    Marc
     
  6. MrFixit

    MrFixit Well-Known Member

    Although not precise, it is easy to get a very good approximation. Just keep track of all the gas that you put into your car. Multiply the number of gas gallons by 45 and that is a pretty good estimate of your ICE miles. Subtract this from the odometer reading and voila... you will have the EV miles.

    I keep meticulous track of both gas and also electric power inputs, and the simple assumptions of 45 MPG, and 31 kWh per hundred miles seem to track quite well with the vehicle odometer.
     
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  8. Marc

    Marc New Member

    Thanks - I was actually hoping to determine my mpg, as well as the actual number of miles. It's definitely in the 40s.
     
  9. David in TN

    David in TN Well-Known Member

    One thing to bear in mind - what is reported on the reading in the car is rather optimistic, depending on the moment, it is optimistic from about 8%-12%.

    For example, if it is showing that you are getting 110mpg, it really is about 100mpg.

    I track gas put in the car. So far, in ~5,500 miles, I've put just over 41 gallons in it. My actual, so far, is about 120mpg.

    According to my rough calculations, I've run about 1,650 miles on gas, and 3,850 miles on EV.
     
  10. Robert_Alabama

    Robert_Alabama Well-Known Member

    Everyone is saying that the mpg is off (optimistic), but I am finding that the one recorded on the current trip - Range A for me is pretty close (again recorded over the life of the car since I don't reset Range A). I haven't run the calculations with actual gas purchases lately, but I'll check to re-verify accuracy.
     
  11. Robert_Alabama

    Robert_Alabama Well-Known Member

    Too late for me to edit earlier post... Actual calculation of mpg is 170 (just miles driven by gasoline burned). The computer shows 182.5 mpg. So mine is also optimistic by a little over 7%. I really thought it was closer than that.
     
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  13. MrFixit

    MrFixit Well-Known Member

    I don't see any value in these 'mpg' numbers. This kind of calculation (total miles driven divided by gas) really has nothing to do with the performance of the vehicle, but rather, it is more an indication of how the vehicle is used (ie: the more your driving is dominated by EV, the more ridiculously inflated this number becomes).

    What is meaningful is the mpg while you are running on gas (HV), and the miles per kWh while you are running on EV. The weird over-inflated miles driven divided by gas is somehow assuming that gas is the only input to the vehicle when this is far from the truth. Many (most) of us use little gas, and therefore electricity is the dominant input.

    Trying to relate this to a gasoline-only performance measure (fundamentally assuming that electricity is free) doesn't make any sense to me.

    Am I missing something?
     
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  14. Robert_Alabama

    Robert_Alabama Well-Known Member

    @MrFixit, I tend to agree with you, but I pay for very little electricity to charge my car (am lucky enough to get free charging at work with a short commute, so I rarely plug it in at home), so this number means a little to me. It also can give me the relative miles on gasoline vs electricity, since the true gasoline mpg for my car is closer to 45 mph. It would be really nice if the car would store and supply more information, but Honda elected to make us struggle for data...
     
  15. Hi.Ho.Silver

    Hi.Ho.Silver Active Member

    I have had an engine hour meter on my Clarity since I got it. The car is exactly three years old with 23,996 total miles and 119.8 engine hours. The expected life of the meter is about three years (non-replaceable battery) and I will need to change it soon. Has anyone found a display of engine hours in a hidden service menu? I gotta believe that this information exists somewhere.
     
  16. Robert_Alabama

    Robert_Alabama Well-Known Member

    Nothing that I know of. I do it much less accurately. I have 19,300 miles on the car. I keep up with gasoline purchases and have burned 172 gallons of gasoline. I generally only burn gasoline on highway trips, so average about 45 miles per gallon, thus (45*172) or 7740 miles on the engine. I expect my average speed is around 50 mph on gasoline (there are some 2 lane trips and I do burn a little fuel occasionally due to a hard acceleration or over-regen when the battery is full), so about 150 hours on the engine. Yes, this isn't nearly as precise, but all I have to do is keep up with gasoline purchases, and I think it is pretty close.
     
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