National Drive Electric Week

"Man, that car stole the show for looks! Made Teslas look like Old Russian Ladas."



For those who don't know. Funny.

Plan is to go to our local show. 12 to 4 pm Sunday September 9th. 2 Clarity's registered to go.

Vehicle Registered
Nissan Leaf (2011-2017) 12
Chevrolet Bolt 8
Tesla Model 3 8
Chevrolet Volt 6
Tesla Model X 3
BMW i3 2
BMW i3 REx 2
EV Conversion 2
Ford C-MAX Energi 2
Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid 2
Nissan Leaf (2018) 2
Tesla Model S 2
Fiat 500e 1
Kia Soul EV 1
MINI Countryman Plug-In 1
Other Plug-In Vehicle 1
Tesla Roadster 1
17 Models 56

 

Went to my local meet yesterday. Two revelations. First, no one there was aware that the Clarity PHEV even existed. One model 3 owner said his son was excited to tell his dad there's a Clarity. His dad told me he told his son "no way". They came to chat with me and thought the Clarity was just fuel cell and weren't aware there was a PHEV version. The folks at the meet are all EV/PHEV/hybrid owners! If they don't know about the Clarity, how would the general public? Second, a new Volt owner said he was completely unaware of the Clarity. Once I showed them (a couple) mine, they said they wish they had known because they would have bought a Clarity (although they were still very happy with their Volt). The hybrid owners looking to move to PHEV were blown away when I told them that after federal and state incentives plus the big dealer discount, a brand new Clarity would cost less than a lower end Prius (our local Toyota dealer does not discount Priuses).

Oh, one other revelation. When talking to Tesla owners, I kept saying "Boy, it must be fun to have a car that drives like a high performance sports car". The most common response was "Oh, I don't drive it that way. I just wanted an EV for the environment".

 

Thanks for the insight, Teamchang and KentuckyKen. I feel better about signing up, now.
Here's the list for Destin, but I don't see any PHEVs. I have contacted the event organizers and asked if they only accept all electric.

Vehicle Registered
Tesla Model S 7
Nissan Leaf (2011-2017) 3
Tesla Model 3 3
BMW i3 2
Fiat 500e 1
Ford C-MAX Energi 1
Mitsubishi i-MiEV 1
Smart fortwo electric drive 1
Tesla Model X 1
Tesla Roadster 1
Zero Motorcycle 1
11 Models 22

 

The Ford C-Max Energi is a PHEV.

 

Thanks. I didn't realize that.
The event organizer responded as well, so I will take my Clarity and see how people respond.

 

Registered for the Ann Arbor meet on Sunday, September 16th:

Chevrolet Volt 7
Tesla Model 3 6
Tesla Model S 6
Chevrolet Bolt 2
BMW i3 REx 1
Fiat 500e 1
Ford Fusion Energi 1
Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid 1
Nissan Leaf (2011-2017) 1
Tesla Model X 1

Will people I take for a ride feel slighted if I refuse to light-up the engine? Tough for them. I not ready to make take our Clarity to the gas station for the first time.

 

What do you do if someone asks to drive your car?

 

We went to the event near Buffalo, NY. It was the first time Buffalo held an event. It was small and I don't think there was anyone there who was "shopping". Only EV owners checking out each other's cars. Most owners said "sit inside if you want to check it out". A few offered to take people for a ride. I rode in a Tesla Model 3 and a Volt. My husband asked the owner of a Smartcar how it handled and the owner said take it for a ride so we did. His car was a mess and his shirt was on inside out so I think he was pretty laid back. We never asked to drive or ride in a car but many owners offered. Anyone who sat in my Clarity was amazed at how big it was. I took a Tesla owner for a ride and he thought the inside was very luxurious. One person asked my how I liked my Insight and had never heard of a Clarity.

 

I've started whittling a piece of wood to position under the accelerator. "No click for you!"

 

I went to the one in Folsom, CA. The local Honda dealer was there had a pure Electric Clarity and a PHEV to test drive. It was a light crowd and the Tesla was the big draw. The poor woman from Nissan must not have charged before she came because her battery died before the event was over.

 

I was at the one in Northampton MA with my Clarity. There were over 25 cars, plus a few from local dealers - Toyota, Chevy & Ford. Despite there being a Honda dealer right in town and a couple others within 20 miles, there was no Honda presence apart from me (perhaps this was just as well, considering the level of knowledge the dealers have about the Clarity). I talked to the Ford rep and he seemed almost embarrassed to be there with a Fusion Energi, among the Teslas and Volts and Bolts, though I was impressed they even had one to show.

Anyway, the Teslas got the bulk of the attention, as you would expect, but I got a fair bit of interest in the Clarity, from other attendees and from the general public. There was a Volt owner who was anxious to check it out as a possible next car. One guy assumed it was hydrogen fuel cell / electric hybrid, and wondered what kind of fool I was for having one here with no H2 network, until I set him straight. In general most folks didn't know much if anything about the Clarity, so it was satisfying to get to play educator for a day.

 

That's funny, someone flagged down my wife in a parking lot and said "Is that an Insight?". My wife hadn't heard of the Insight and didn't understand the question, and was thinking "an insight into what?"

 

Am at the Destin, FL show and it is blazing hot.
Have had a few genuinely interested lookers, but am getting upstaged by the Tesla X parked across from me. They have the gull wings up and it's white interior is quite impressive.
There are a lot of cars and people.

 

Just put a big sign that reads $25K BRAND NEW (or whatever you paid after tax credits) pointing to yours - you'll get lots of more of people interested.

 

Am really selling the price difference, when people stop.
Just had a Tesla owner asking about it for her Dad. She was impressed by the price.
I was told that mine is the only plug in here.

 

2 Claritys at the Lowell MA event today, the other being a dealer taking folks out on test drives. I had 2 people ask me where I get my hydrogen....

 

It should be impressive. After discounts and incentives, the Model X can cost 5 times the price of a Clarity.

 

I just got home from the Electric Drive Week event in Ann Arbor. Mostly Teslas, of course, there must have been 30 Model 3's, a dozen Model S's, and one Model X. The most exciting appearance was the just-released Jaguar i-Pace, which a Car & Driver employee brought to the event. Car & Driver is based in Ann Arbor and they are testing it to write a road-test article for the magazine. It was painted in a beautiful, not gaudy, shade of orange.

There were more electric Fiat 500 cars there (4) than I would have expected for a car that's sold only in California. The biggest surprise was the absence of any Prius Primes. The only Prius there was an older home-brew plug-in.

I brought the only Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, along with two informational presentations on poster board. The people wearing Tesla T-shirts appeared to look right through my poster boards--and even the Clarity itself--when they happened to glance my direction as they walked by. In contrast, many Volt owners were interested in the "Honda Volt" and wanted to compare the two plug-in cars.

I'd say about 30% of the people I spoke with had never heard of the Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. Another 60% knew it existed but had never seen one. One of those believed it was only available from a special order through a Honda dealer. Despite my enthusiasm for the Clarity and attendees' admiration for its interior and 50-mile range, I wasn't able to make a sale. One woman told me this would be the perfect car for her parents. I made her promise to have her parents go to their dealer for a test ride.

My favorite comment was one man who said, "You know the best feature of this car?"

I said, "No, what is the best feature of this car?"

He led me around to the side and pointed out the truncated arch of the rear wheel well! That made my day.

 

Our event was rather lightly attended. Mine was the only Clarity. Unfortunately I arrived at the end of the participant check-in time — the Tesla owners had the “front and center” viewing spots so my vantage point likely reduced the number of attendees who made it over to where i had parked. Nonetheless, several people stopped by to look at my Clarity and most were unfamiliar with its existence but were impressed with its look, inside and out. I answered lots of questions I gave a ride to a couple of people and engaged in a forum discussion hosted by the organizers. I probably sold two or three Claritys for Honda.

I also got a test ride in a Chevy Bolt. I liked some of its EV display features that Clarity lacks, such as how many kW have been used. I had mixed feelings about the Bolt’s regenerative braking, particularly the LOW setting, which slows the vehicle rather dramatically when the driver takes his foot off the accelerator. I’d like Honda to increase the ‘level 4’ paddle setting but not to the degree the Bolt takes it.

 

Rochester NY event was well attended I think. Hot and sunny day. 2 Clarity. Lots of a Teslas and Volts / Bolts. Only 1 Prius Prime! A few oddities like a Volt with trailer, a ‘64 Beetle home brew, a ‘99 Solectric (sp?), prototype Jag. EGolf, Mitsubishi SUV, etc etc. Most popular test drive was the Tesla X. I got an upfront spot so busy all day with questions. People very interested in the EV range. Lots of people unfamiliar with it. Several asked about my Insight. Many loved the color (moonlit forest green), no love for the wheel spats. Many current Honda conventional car owners who trust the brand and the service availability were very interested. Lots of debate about the regen functionality amongst the various EV owners. I like showing the car off so I’d do it again.