How do you all think this car will perform when the battery eventually starts to lose performance? Will we be able to use the car in HV mode as normal with reduced EV only range? Will HV mpg suffer? Will the car be less powerful in general (especially during highway driving)? Wondering if you can drive this car for 15-20 years without ever replacing the battery... let me know your thoughts / experiences with other hybrid models!
A degraded battery should present no issues (other than reduced EV range). A failed HV battery will almost certainly require replacement for the car to function (like any hybrid - The Prius is a good example).
That is actually another advantage that a PHEV has over BEV. All batteries will degrade over time but that will be especially noticeable for a BEV as the actual range of the car will be affected, which for some people could be an issue if for example they are no longer able to make their entire commute during winter without charging. Whereas for a PHEV a degraded battery just means more time on gas in most cases. I get the feeling that most BEV's are leased (for sure all Clarity electrics are) and so in that sense it's less of an issue, but it also means that at the moment a BEV is not seen as a long term car by many people and they anticipate replacement after not too long of a period, either because of diminished range or improved efficiency and range with newer models. Whereas we have many Clarity owners saying that they plan to keep their car for many years. If someone really likes their Clarity and a shiny new PHEV comes out with 75 miles EV range but is otherwise less appealing in size or features then they are more likely to keep their Clarity.
Like others here, I'm hoping I will 'forever' retain enough EV battery to just do normal hybrid mode. i.e. If this car's diminished state is still about 40 miles per gallon, it's still a cost-effective commuter
As with all Honda hybrids, beginning with the 2000 Insight, the 12-volt battery is charged from the HV battery through a DC-to-DC converter. There is no alternator. I got a taste of range anxiety when my Insight's HV battery failed two months ago and two minutes after my instrument panel went blank, my 12-volt battery ran out of juice to operate the engine. My Insight stalled on the expressway exit ramp a mile from home. I had to pull the 12-volt battery, have my wife come get me and the battery, recharge the battery at home, return to the expressway ramp, reinstall the battery, then drive home.
Insightman, you raise an interesting point regarding the 12v battery. Would you recommend one replace it at year 4 wether it needs it or not. i.e. to avoid the problems associated. Or asked another way, would you be more pro-active to replace a hybrid 12v battery than for a gas car?
There have been a few forum members who had problems that were eventually traced to a weak 12-volt battery. However, I haven't been pro-active regarding the 12-volt batteries in the 3 Honda Insights I've owned. Four years is a good life for a 12-volt battery, but I'll probably try to get at least 5 in our gently-used Clarity PHEV. We've driven only 6,500 miles in 20 months. We'll put some miles on today, however, as we drive from Michigan to my wife's high-school reunion party in Ohio. It will be fun reacquainting myself with HV mode and pressing the button that opens the gas cap. There's not much going on in EV Mode all the time and I sometimes enjoy watching the computer making its mysterious decisions about when to run the ICE.
