Honda Clarity, the Volt Challenger

I'm planning on keeping just a couple gallons in the tank for the rare times when the ICE comes on during my daily/weekly driving, and only fill up when we're going on an extended trip. This way it won't be as long of an interval between when I add some fresh gas in the tank. Only thing is, who knows how long it's going to take before I actually need to go to the gas station for the first time, what with the way my daily drive can be managed all EV!

 

Hmmm. Doesn't seem to work for me. I have the latest version of the app.

I'll keep trying. Thanks for this update.

-RV

 

Once charging is finished even if still plugged in you can remotely condition- then charging starts to keep it full.

 

Question for fellow Clarity owners - I am getting a constant wind noise coming from the area of the drivers side
mirror at speeds above 40mph. Nothing from the passenger side though. Is anyone else having this issue?

 

Had a conversation with my oldest (now disinherited) about my grandpa mobile. I told it's kind of like the fascination with the Mustang that went through a crisis in the 70's when you went to Ford to look at Mustangs and the salesman whispered "You really don't want to be seen driving a FOUR CYLINDER Mustang, do you?"

That 1974 Mustang II abomination four cylinder produced 88 horsepower and 116 lb-ft torque; my 2018 Honda Clarity PHEV pushes 181 horses and 221 lb-ft torque from its electric engine alone... 0 to 60 mph at 15.1 seconds compared to 7.6 seconds on the Clarity - my how times have changed - everyone says I'm the one driving a grandpa car...

 

No wind noise here, from anywhere on the car, up to 80 mph (we West Texans enjoy some interesting speed limits in these wide open spaces)...

 

No wind noise here either at any speed I've traveled...up to 75mph thus far.

 

I've noticed it, but is not more than the wind noise of previous cars.

 

This isn't so much about the Clarity as it is about all plug in cars, but if they really want people to buy these cars then every one should come with a 240 volt charger and maybe an incentive towards getting it installed at their house. The closest I have seen of this is the charging cable included in new Leaf has a 240 volt plug adapter. That is probably enough, really. For some people 110 volt charging is sufficient for the phev cars on the market but the battery size of the Clarity is really pushing the limits of charge time/usability. Charge time is the main bottleneck for potential buyers of these cars and I would think anything the automakers could do to improve that for customers would be helpful to them. I'm sure the price could be

I also recognize there are people like me that already have a 240 volt charger, but we are in the minority.

 

Tesla comes with a variety of 240v adapters. You are right about the importance of incentives. If my memory's correct, when the Prius PHEV first landed, there were some financial incentives available to install residential 240v as well as discounts for wall units. But I don't think either of those came from the manufacturer. Utilities stand to make extra profits since a customer's gasoline $$$ will now more likely be spent on electricity, but I have not seen any incentives from our local power overlords for several years.

The initial boost that many of the tax incentives and other infrastructure incentives gave the EV/PHEV may not prove to be sufficient to keep the circle turning, and if that happens… I realize that it's here to stay, but the cost to consumers could be enormous.

I keep hearing about 'the infrastructure', but aside from Tesla's Supercharger network and other randomly placed Level 2 chargers (some of which are already inoperable), it makes me wonder whether any kind of tip point was ever achieved with respect to an EV/PHEV infrastructure. It's essential to EV owners who want to leave the confines of their home range.

 

Back in 1998 before we finished the basement in our new house, I ran a 240 volt # 4 wire into my garage. # 4 wire will carry current up to about 75 amps. My thought was that eventually electric cars might happen. All I had to do to get a 240 volt plug next to my car in the garage was put in a 50 amp dual 240 volt breaker and the correct plug in my garage. Now that everything in my house is finished, running that wire would be impossible.

 

I have no use for it. We drive no more than 40 miles a day so rarely run out. If if I did it would be close to the end of the day so why would I want to wait an 1hr or 2 to recharge especially because its a hybrid and one can always use a little gas. I saved $100s on installation and $100s on charger.

 

But if it came with the car, even if the price of it was buried in the price of the car (which it would, let's be honest), would you use it? I know you can get along without it, but the public perception is what I am talking about. This would clear one hurdle that may keep people from seriously considering one. I already had a charger before I bought the Clarity but I would understand the appeal of adding one for a new buyer.

 

Ideally, yes, every home (and every space in an apartment parking lot) should come with an L2 charger installed. Unfortunately many homes don't have the electrical wiring to handle that level of charging safely. Some homes would need to have a separate circuit run into the garage (or wherever the charger is to be installed), and some homes would need to have the main breaker panel upgraded.

I'm sure we'll see this become standard in the future, as the EV revolution progresses. But backward compatibility with older homes and apartment buildings is going to be an issue; sometimes an expensive one. Still, the change will be rather small compared to the changeover from gas lighting to electric lighting, so I'm surprised at the amount of hand-wringing I see about that on EV forums. Of course, some of that is coming from EV-hating FUDsters... not pointing any fingers in this case.
-

 

The first year we had the Tesla, we 110'd it. With the mileage we put on it, we managed - but it was charging all night long. And throw in an extra "ride" for one of the kids to work, or some other trip, and that would affect things for a few days. With Superchargers for longer trips, it worked. After we upgraded the panel and put in the 240 outlet, however, things were much different. A normal daily commute takes only a an hour or two to recharge. It makes a big difference.

We don't have the Clarity charging daily, but being able to get it 'turned around' and refresh the charge in less than 2.5 hours is really nice. The time-of-use rates in the winter are not nearly as bad as they will be in the summer, so the car can essentially be recharged at any time with only a 1 or 2¢/kWh difference. Once the summer hits, we'll have to exclude the 4PM-9PM window. Then, the difference will be 27¢/kWh!

There are a few free level 2 chargers within a mile, but as can be imagined they're not always available. So the question of whether or not one needs a 240v outlet is going to be determined by an owner's need as well as their means. As mentioned, if nothing but an EVSE needs to be installed, that's still $300-$500. But if one must install a new circuit and pull wire, it'll double the price. Add in the possibility of needing a new panel, and you're beginning to talk some real money.

But as mentioned on another thread, some of this work may be eligible for a tax credit. ( http://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/2017-tax-credit-for-charging-equipment.657/ )

 

Back to the original subject of this thread "...the Volt challenger," I see on the "sales scorecard" from this site that while nearly tied in sales with the Volt in January, the Clarity far outpaced the Volt in February [then I saw that the Clarity totals included the BEV, but I'm guessing the lion's share of that is the PHEV]. The sales turn around (assuming those numbers are not mostly BEVs) didn't surprise me. We found the Clarity while looking at Volts. Eventually the decision seemed easy. The Volt had a little more range and we preferred the hatchback but in every other way we preferred the Clarity. This question is mostly for recent Volt buyers who knew about the Clarity (but of course everyone can (and likely will) give their two sense). What features of the Volt made you go in that direction?

 

It does seem Clarity is taking sales from Volt, but so is the Bolt. There were rumors that Chevy would be cancelling the Volt in a couple of years.

 

I’ve been charging my new Clarity next to a city owned Volt at their free public charger. Comparing them side by side ours has a huge interior, larger trunk, actually usable rear seats (and for 3 not 1) and our interior is much nicer.
Also I noticed our A pillars are narrower which gives us better sight lines.
So in a side by side comparison, the Clarity wins hands down!

 

I was also parked next to a Volt by chance, and was surprised at how much larger the Clarity is. Certainly erased any doubt about my choice.

 

The Clarity is cheaper, too. At least the Touring is cheaper than a fully loaded Volt.