Hi guys, I am new to this forum. I wanted to share my recent road trip experience with everyone. I am fortunate to lease the 2017 Honda Clarity BEV with that amazing lease price and mileage allowed (60K in total). My goal was to use the heck out of the EV as a commuter in LA and to get as close as I could to that mileage allowance. How to rack up the miles? By going up and down CA of course! As I was planning back in 2017, Interstate 5 had zero fast chargers or Level 2 that prevented a trip like this from being possible. So, I initially plotted my trip on Highway 99 as they supported level 2 and some fast chargers. However, life prevented me from trying this trip out. I was finally able to try last month in July. By this time, Electrify America, and Charge Point fast chargers were installed and are spaced out for a short range EV to theoretically make it to SF. So I plotted my course. Everything started out well as I overcame the mountain pass heading out of LA. I even had regenerating energy on the decent. However, things fell apart as I approached the middle point of the trip. I was driving at 76MPH with the flow of traffic and started to see a discrepancy from the distance to the fast charger and the Guess o meter(range). I shut off the HVAC to conserve energy, then headlights as I was getting desperate for energy savings. My car died 1.6 miles from the Coalinga charger and had to call the flatbed of shame to reach the charger. (Thanks AAA!) From there, I adjusted my driving speed to 60MPH with intermittent HVAC switch (when it was getting too warm) to continue my trip. You would think that’s the end of the story… HOWEVER, When I reached the next fast charger at Gustine, the fast charger was down!!! I had 10 miles of range left due to the conservative consumption and the next fast charger was 26 miles away. Luckily there was a level 2 charger so charged just enough to reach that next fast charger. After that point, reaching SF was uneventful and total time from start to finish was 13 hours…. On the way back down, as I was wise to the charging systems, I detoured to ensure that I could fast charge and arrived back home around 9 hours. Long story short, in ideal situations, you can make it but it will take an additional 3 hours of charge time spaced out every hour and a half. Now would I do it again? Maybe.... I did get some useful data out of the whole experiment. From dead to full on a quick charge, I filled only 19.89 Kwh but similarly with a level 2 charger at home, I refilled 22.12 Kwh. Hope this was a good read. hoping to reach 50K before my lease return in Dec. As of today, my mileage is 43,229. My Car Stats are as follows: Original Claimed Range – 89 Miles Original Claimed Battery Capacity* - 25.5Kwh Starting Mileage for the Trip – 41,626 (I think I did a good job of racking up the miles at this point) Ending Mileage for the Trip – 42,428 Highest Recharge amount – 22.12Kwh Top Fast Charging Speed – 30Kwh
Thank you for sharing your Clarity BEV experience! You are indeed an adventuring type of person to attempt that journey in a low range BEV! I was trying to see your route on google maps, but don't see a Hwy 99 in CA. Did you mean Hwy 33? Was there enough charge left in the battery to get the vehicle from the flat bed hauler to the charger, or did you have to push it?
99 is East of I-5 and, more or less, runs parallel. 101 or PCH would be my preferred route if it was a planned 9-10 hour trip with multiple stops.
Thank you so much for sharing. I admire your courage. If it was me in your case I may have ended on an ER with a heart attack but most likely wouldn't have dared to such adventure. This is a textbook case of why cautious old-fashioned people like me still believe in the current relevance of PHEVs as a good compromise for long trips and freeway driving and are wary of going full electric (except maybe a Tesla). People should remember that for many decades after its invention in the 19th century big ocean-going steamships and even warships kept masts and sails as a backup in case they ran out of coal in the middle of the ocean and it was so until the efficiency of the engines and the availability of fuel made them unnecessary. Eventually it will be the same with PHEVs but we're not there yet. The range, and mostly the availability and speed of chargers isn't here yet for long trips. I hope they improve that soon. Maybe after the Cadillac Lyriq BEV (sounds like a psychiatric medication) comes up in 2022 I might look out for one when I decide to retire my Clarity PHEV...
Thanks! There was enough power to get it up the flatbed. I think this may be a feature for this car as I have lost power in my neighborhood before. (I live on a hill) and after turning on and off, it would get bits of energy to move a few feet each time.
