Clarity Issues

It would be worthwhile to do a battery scan on the affected cars. It could be a problem with a single bad cell. Boo -- what range did you normally get on a 100% charge?

 

How did you manage to get the car to only 1 bar? Did you take it in to the dealership?

 

I just started having issues with Sirius - seems to freeze/hang and stops playing. Best I can tell so far is that it seems to be related to times that I use the HondaLink app to start the climate system - either as at a scheduled time or manually. The fix I’ve been forced to do is reboot the system - holding down the multimedia power button (upper left corner) for 5 secs. until the Reboot message appears and tap OK. VERY VERY annoying and was just coming on the forum to see if others have reported this. Did not take long to find your message.


Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs

 

After getting into your Clarity when you were using climate-control preconditioning, wait for Honda's dashboard animation to complete before starting the car. Other posters have reported Sirius/XM will not have problems then.

 

Mine was delivered to me in that state by the dealer. I did not realize the advantage of keeping some charge in the battery until I started reading this forum. I just thought that the correct procedure was to drive on EV until the car switched on the ICE and then continue with nothing in the battery. I think that's probably the way that most folks would assume that the car was intended to be driven. That's why I'd like to see some information in the Owner's Manual on driving strategy.

 

Thank you Ken, So I brought the car to 3rd dealer with a list of 11 different issues. Yes 11, pretty crazy. The service guy could not believe that the other dealers (and Honda) treated me the way they did.
There are 3 new updates that are now turning into 4 RECALLS. Hoping it will fix most of the issues including the extreme revs and loss of speed but I think that I am dreaming. If at least the engine could stop turning on all the time when on EV I would be so happy! Anyways, call your dealer and get those 4 recalls done.

 

Can you point us to any documentation that we can use to "help" clueless dealers? If I walk in and say "there are four recalls" my dealer will just laugh at me.

 

I have owned a Clarity for over a month or so and have put on roughly 2500 miles. I actually work for a Honda dealer and understand this is still very new technology which will have "bugs" to work out. Here are a couple issues I have run into since I've owned it. I live in RI so the majority of the issues are cold weather related.

1. Preconditioning doesn't work when connected to the stock charger. I understand this not working if the battery is not charged enough but I don't understand why it wouldn't work if there is plenty of charge. I have set it to precondition using the Honda Link app and when I come out it says it is working but the car is still cold and frozen. I can hear a blower running but there is no heat and the rear defroster is not on. I bought a 220 charger but I haven't installed it yet. Hopefully once I have that installed this won't be a problem. Still I feel this feature should work whenever there is enough charge.

2. Sirius XM locks up when trying to use the preconditioning that doesn't work. I came across a few threads here explaining to not turn the car on when using the preconditioning until the animation completes. I will try that to see if it corrects the issue.

3. Battery range is about half when the temps are below 30 degrees. I was averaging close to 50 miles on EV mode when it was around 50 degrees. When it is below 30 degrees the range drops to around 25 miles. I was not expecting such a dramatic loss of range. A few customers have come in and complained about the same issue.

4. When in HV mode below 50 mph the motor will sometimes scream at full RPM even at part throttle and the car will barely accelerate. Again this is when it is cold out. Here is an example. While in HV mode I will cost down hill to a toll booth and drive through at about 40 mph. My foot is not on the gas while coasting through. After clearing the toll booth I will apply slight pressure to the gas pedal to accelerate and the ICE will scream to redline but the car will barely accelerate. This is with an almost full battery. I assume this is a software issue that can be corrected but it is really bad the way it is now. It is like the car is trying to accelerate using just the ICE even knowing there is plenty of charge. I understand when the battery is drained that the ICE will struggle because it needs to produce all the power to propel this heavy car. When there is plenty of charge the car shouldn't respond this way. I can easily duplicate this issue but as of now there are not updates available.

There are some other minor quirks. The defroster for the windshield is poorly designed since it doesn't cover the entire windshield. The upper corners take forever to defrost and your breath will easily fog up the corners. Also, the wiper fluid doesn't reach the upper part of the blades when at a stop or low speeds. Again, another poor design. I can live with those issues of course but I expect more from Honda.

When it is above 50 degrees I am overall very happy with the Clarity. In cold temperatures I am very disappointed in it. In fact if I would have known it performed this poorly in cold weather I would not have gotten it.

 

All of the issues you mention are covered in other posts here in this forum. I know that there's a lot here, but you need to invest some time to read what others have already shared.

I am also disappointed at the cold weather aspects of the car . . . the fact that preconditioning is useless unless you have a Level 2 charger, and the reduction in EV range that was much more significant than I expected. Not enough to sour me on the car, but I do wish I had been better warned.

 

1. Preconditioning on a Level 1 EVSE will only work when charging is finished or by turning off charging. The poor widdle 12 A EVSE isn’t strong enough to charge and precondition at the same time. And even then, it’s not as fast or as strong as a Level 2 preconditioning that is guaranteed to get your car toasty warm before you get in.

2. Sirius XM problem is a well know bug with no fix out yet. Best work around was mentioned above-the wait.
I suggest you make a ticket on Honda’s website. Enough of us did for the HV range bug and Honda listened and came out with a Service Bulletin and update fix.

3. Range reduction in cold weather is the dirty little secret of all EVs. A cold battery can’t hold as much charge and discharges slower until warmed up. Add the battery gulping cabin heater and defroster, and range takes an even bigger hit. Only way to mitigate is to keep and charge in a garage, precondition on wall power, and try to use seat heat instead. Reducing the temperature setting for cabin heat and bundling up like Chilly Willy (really showing my age with that reference), or not using it at all will make a noticeable improvement. Remember, it’s a PHEV not an EV; accept using the ICE more in winter.
4. Most, like me, have never had the high reving angry bees or loss of power, but several have reported this problem which is rather serious and a safety issue. Again, please take the time to make a ticket with Honda. Try getting all the updates, especially the one on the water valve and PCM. One post said that helped his.

Let us know what you do and how it works out.

 

Thanks for the response. I will read the entire thread.

I work for a Honda dealer and none of use knew it would perform this badly in the cold. This is our first winter season since we have had them. We are all learning as we go which is typical with new technologies. I expected less range and performance but not this much less. I can only imagine what will happen when it hits extremely low temperatures in January and February.

 

BTW, how do I "make a ticket" with Honda? I've worked for Honda for 24 years and I don't know how to do that.

 

I called it a “ticket” but it’s not exactly like you do with the NHTSA. With Honda it’s an email or phone call but you do get a case # assigned to it and Honda was responsive.
Here is the url I think I used:
https://crrs.secure.force.com/service/hondaownerw2c
If that’s not the right one, can someone on the forum provide it?
It’s encouraging that when enough of us did this about the HV range bug that Honda listened and came out with the Service Bulletin update to fix it. There is a long thread on that where I started a poll and in that case the squeaky wheel did get the grease.

 

"Engine revving and not maintaining speed"

I've been toying with the idea of getting a Clarity PHEV and of course reading all the forum stuff when I came across this.

I am a former BMWi3 REX owner, what you are experiencing with the engine revving its nuts off when the battery is depleted and speed is limited is not new to i3 REX owners.

For the i3 REX, the engine would kick on automatically when the battery reached 7%. Why 7%? Because on a long drag up hill on the freeway at 65 mph, BMW knew that the engine could not deliver enough electrons to keep the car running at 65 mph. However, if the drag up hill was long enough, the charge would drop to 1% and then your speed would be limited. For me when this happened, I could only do about 50 mph – and yes, scared the soft material out of me. I understood what was going on. Didn’t like it, but understood.

I live in Seattle surrounded by beautiful mountains. As an experiment, I decided to go over Steven’s Pass to Leavenworth. To get to the base of Steven’s Pass, I had to use most of my battery and so had about 20% charge when I started to climb. At the top of the pass my speed was limited to 35 mph and the battery charge at 1% with the engine running like crazy. It was a lease so if it destroyed itself, I was not worried

If only I had a mountain hold feature like the Volt or the HV feature in the Clarity so I had a buffer. It turns out the i3 REX had this feature on the European models but not the US models because they wanted owners in California to get the maximum rebate ☹ So a company online offered an owner installed patch for $200 that would enable the hold feature found in European i3s. Side note, it also allowed the playing of MP4 video files while moving – illegal of course. That fixed my issue. Knowing that I would about to hit the hills or a long drag on the freeway, I would press the HOLD option to maintain the charge level. Once over the hump the engine would keep going until my original state of charge was returned. As a prospective Clarity owner and more importantly, a former i3 REX owner, I would know not to let the battery get low enough if I was going to be in one of these situations.

Back to the Clarity. It seems the Clarity has the same issue of not being able to generate enough electrons on the highway to maintain the reserve battery and drive the electric motor. However, I was under the impression that the Clarity could directly (mechanically) connect to the drive in cases where this would occur?

 

Thanks for the link. I will do that when I have some free time.

 

Casey Martin

The links below go to threads which discuss engine coupling among other things which may be of interest to you.

There are other threads but these are the most recent.

https://insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/first-road-trip-and-a-bit-confused-with-hv.3800/

https://insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/any-difference-between-hv-and-hvcharge-modes-on-energy-screen.4038/

Hope this helps.

Good luck

 

The direct engine drive is for freeway cruising on mainly flat land. It is "6th" gear in a "6 gear" transmission, as you probably know most transmissions will downshift if any acceleration or uphill load is encountered, so it won't stay in engine drive mode. That doesn't really matter though, the ice is permanently connected to the EV generator motor, so it can always generate charge. The question is how much demand is the drive EV motor asking for. The issue is the designed weight savings caused the ICE to be small that it creates about 100 hp. As long as you don't need that much continuously then you can charge.

 

I like this. Considering how long mine (doesn't) stay engaged, it's more like the 6th gear in a 5-gear transmission.

 

Thanks, that was my laugh for the day!
Hang in there, @Sandroad juat had all the updates (except 18-097 charging issues) done and is going to report back after some driving to tell us if they changed his driving experience, especially with regards to HV parameters like reving and engine drive mode.
Can’t wait to hear from him. Mine runs so perfectly (no angry bees or loss of power ever), I’ve been holding off on the updates until I can be reasonably sure they won’t mess up anything.

 

Yes, I think this is a prudent plan. If it ain't broke . . .