I wouldn't shy away from level 2. From what I've experienced from owning EV's/PHEV's for almost a good part of a decade, that it doesn't degrade that much faster than if you were just doing level one. What's more harmful for these small batteries is charging to 100% and discharging to 0% constantly, which is very easy to do w/ such a small battery and range. Unfortunately, the Honda engineers didn't really do a great job in minimizing degradation and we are experiencing above 10% degradation within the first few years and under a relatively low mileage, I hope they do better on their next attempt. Another contributor to degradation is level 3 or DCFC, but that's not an issue for these cars as it doesn't have that capability. Yeah, unless you were having some major issues, steer away from any software upgrades.
Speaking of... is there anyway to get them to actually update?? I haven't gotten any updates and have asked my local dealer multiple times to do them when I bring it in.. and they... "forget" to do it when I come to pick it up.
I believe only the dealer can update the software. I would suggest calling an hour before you're supposed to pick your vehicle up to make sure they did the update. Also make sure you're taking it to a "Clarity" certified dealer. If they're not, they might not have the equipment or know how to do updates. I have a good relationship w/ my local Honda dealer and the service advisor walked me to the bay my car was in and showed me the computer where it said all software was up to date.
Don't hold your breath waiting for updates... There essentially aren't any. This was discussed extensively over here: https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/how-to-check-for-all-software-updates.9006/ All that is required for the few updates that do exist is the regular Honda iHDS diagnostic tool that all dealers have. As such, I don't think a Clarity certified dealer is important, but there really just aren't very many updates and the chances are that you already have them.
My Clarity pre-patches seemed to do good range, even with some wildly inaccurate HV range. Software patches applied and I live on a hill, but under best conditions my "high" ev range is about 40 miles. This year I bought some cross climate 2 tires which seem fine (good traction) but they did also hit range. At the moment a full-charge for me is 24 miles. And yep, I run the cabin heater every time I drive which accounts for the large range hit. Anyway, I do agree with the poster who believes a software update changed things. I'd say, yes they did. In terms of rationale, Honda has to replace the traction battery if it fails in 8-10 years. If the battery management system is tuned to give you less of the actual battery, they hedge their bet. Your overall range goes down, but the odds you'll hit the warranty replacement also goes down.
I have all the updates installed except 18-097 which addressed a problem of not fully charging at public charging stations. I only charge at home L2 and still get 47 or greater with the cold weather if I avoid using the heater and only use seat heat. When my wife rides with me and insists I run the heater, the next charge will mid to high 30s. I did not want update 18-097 installed because there were many complaints in this forum that it had a negative impact on ev range.
I had installed the Cross Climate plus on my Clarity, before the CC2 was available. I found they were far better than the OEM on every measure and there was no change on range. On snow, they were awesome, much better than my AWD vehicle on regular all season tires. I was so impressed that I bought the CC2 for my Outback (CC+ was no longer available). They are fine but I noticed a big drop in mileage (from 30 mpg on the highway to 27 mpg). Consumer Reports had recently reviewed the CC2 and scored it worse than the CC+. The big hit was rolling resistance, which went from "very good" on the CC+ to "fair" on the CC2. The CC2 did do better on hydroplaning and snow traction though, as good as dedicated snow tires. Thus, if you want a good all around tire that you don't need to swap out for snow, go with the CC2. If you don't encounter snow, I don't recommend it. There are better performing tires for dry and wet driving that will do better on range.
I went for a drive today on a full charge (2019 MY with 20,000kms). EV range on metre when full read 49kms (~30 miles). Outside temp was 2 degrees C (mid-upper 30's in US speak). We drove it on EV until the engine kicked in and managed 75kms on EV-only (47miles). Mostly highway driving at ~80-90kms/hr, flat terrain and without the heat turned on.
That all makes sense to me. My car has low EV range at the moment because I'm constantly running with heater turned on. Despite the estimate, if I turn off the heater, I get better range. I think the consensus is that estimate is based on the past several drives. Not sure exactly how many, but definitely more than one. Anyway, if you keep driving the heater off, likely see range improve. since you got actual of 75kms/47 miles, that's likely what a few drives will show estimated (with heater off). I see this sometimes as my EV range goes to zero but the gas engine doesn't kick on (at least for a few miles). Which I assume is this discrepancy (current drive, vs prior drives). Even though I realize what a huge range killer the heater is, I have no interest driving my car in the winter with the heat off. So I deal with the super-low range. My commute daily is only about 20miles, so I can still drive EV only much of the time.
A point I failed to mention... The indicated range started at 49kms today but it never dropped as much as the number of kms I was driving so when it finally hit zero, I had driven 75kms and the gas engine kicked almost immediately. So on this trip, I really didn't have a "range buffer" giving me a few more kms after hitting 0 although I have noticed this on other occasions the odd time. The range gauge (the one on the let with the bars which is similar to the fuel tank on the right) seems to keep about 3 bars when the range hits 0 kms. They don't seem to sync up very well. Today I did this without the benefit of a heater just because I wanted an idea of max range in cold weather. I did a similar trip earlier in the week but I used the heater and range dropped to 68kms. It wasn't the same route but it gave me an idea how much the range drops if you use the heater even if sparingly. For me, the heater (both HVAC and seat heaters used together) drops range by at least 10%.
