San Diego to Las Vegas road trip- sustained high RPM/angry bees

I have to ask because my head is starting to spin (information overload) and I cannot for the life of me remember the answer.

Are EV and Sport the same mode, or does Sport change the mode in some way other than gas pedal travel?

 

Were you using the heater?

 

Absolutely yes.

 

No. Probably AC since it was a warm day.

 

You cannot select EV Drive mode--that's one of the 3 modes that the Clarity's computers select to implement all the other modes. The other 2 drive modes are Hybrid Drive mode and Engine Drive mode. If you're in ECON Mode, you can get the Clarity to stay in EV Drive mode by not pressing the accelerator beyond the click point. If you're in NORMAL Mode (which is being not in ECON or SPORT Mode), the accelerator mapping is a little quicker and the click point is meaningless because the ICE will start up before you press as far as the click point. If you're in SPORT Mode, the accelerator mapping is even quicker, so you press the accelerator less to get more acceleration. Interestingly, when you floor the accelerator in any of those 3 modes, you get the same acceleration. It's only the mapping of the pedal that changes. Also, in SPORT Mode, your selection of regen aggressiveness stays selected rather than going away in a few seconds as happens in ECON and NORMAL Modes.

EV Drive mode can drive the traction motor at up to 121 hp, Hybrid Drive mode can push that to 181 hp, but Honda doesn't say what the horsepower rating for Engine Drive mode is. I doubt it's the 212 hp Honda mysteriously claims the Clarity can produce, because when you floor the accelerator in Engine Drive mode, the car drops back to Hybrid Drive mode to accomplish the desired acceleration.

HV (Honda doesn't call it a "mode") fully activates the Clarity's programming so it can select among EV Drive mode (battery only), Hybrid Drive mode (battery + ICE-driven generator), and Engine Drive mode (when the clutch connects the engine to the single-speed transmission, but the battery can both contribute and get recharged in this mode). HV attempts to maintain the battery state of charge (SOC) at the level when you pressed the HV button. HV CHARGE is much simpler, it just runs the ICE all the time while it both propels the car and charges the battery (but only up to about 60% or 12 segments on the battery charge gauge).