2018 Clarity owners, please update battery status
jdonalds
Well-Known Member
Here's my story. We bought our Touring Dec 5, 2017. We always and only charge it at home, mostly with power from the solar system. We use a 220V 40 amp JuiceBox set to 32a.
Somewhere around April of 2019 our EV range suddenly dropped from the 48 mile area down to 39 or so. I took it in to Honda but they said everything was normal. I tried a couple of times but Honda has been no help. Since then, hot or cold weather, we see little variation in our EV Range which runs between 36 and 42 miles. I must add that many people experience well into the high 50s and even over 60 miles for some. We've never had that pleasure with our best being closer to 52 before the drop happened.
It's now almost 18 months later and our EV Range has never corrected. 40 miles of range is fine for us to run 100% electric but wintertime range can occasionally not be enough and the engine might kick on for a short while.
Our drive/charge pattern is this. We drive our son to school in the morning, a 25 mile round trip. We charge while he's at school (we are both retired) and make the second 25 mile trip to pick him up. But that morning trip can easily turn into 30 or more miles if my wife goes to church, the gym, or shopping.
It pisses me off that we have this problem and it's within the parameters Honda set. I drive it all the time now wishing it would drop another 10 miles of EV Range so I could get Honda to deal with it. I know the chart is very busy but you can see the average since May 2019 is 40 miles of EV Range. The blue line is read off the Honda App showing EV Range. There are a few blips where the range seems to be extraordinarily good but those have to do with mountain trips where the second half of the trip is mostly downhill for about 40 miles. The next time the car tries to compute range it says, "Oh you got such good range yesterday we'll use that to compute today's trip too." The green line is the running average.
Those periods when the daytime temperatures are in the 60s to 80s the EV Range should be in the high 50s to mid 60s but it never happens.
We totally love the car. I've thought of selling it and buying another Clarity but I'd hate to pass this problem to someone else, and the cost of swapping cars isn't worth it.
Somewhere around April of 2019 our EV range suddenly dropped from the 48 mile area down to 39 or so. I took it in to Honda but they said everything was normal. I tried a couple of times but Honda has been no help. Since then, hot or cold weather, we see little variation in our EV Range which runs between 36 and 42 miles. I must add that many people experience well into the high 50s and even over 60 miles for some. We've never had that pleasure with our best being closer to 52 before the drop happened.
It's now almost 18 months later and our EV Range has never corrected. 40 miles of range is fine for us to run 100% electric but wintertime range can occasionally not be enough and the engine might kick on for a short while.
Our drive/charge pattern is this. We drive our son to school in the morning, a 25 mile round trip. We charge while he's at school (we are both retired) and make the second 25 mile trip to pick him up. But that morning trip can easily turn into 30 or more miles if my wife goes to church, the gym, or shopping.
It pisses me off that we have this problem and it's within the parameters Honda set. I drive it all the time now wishing it would drop another 10 miles of EV Range so I could get Honda to deal with it. I know the chart is very busy but you can see the average since May 2019 is 40 miles of EV Range. The blue line is read off the Honda App showing EV Range. There are a few blips where the range seems to be extraordinarily good but those have to do with mountain trips where the second half of the trip is mostly downhill for about 40 miles. The next time the car tries to compute range it says, "Oh you got such good range yesterday we'll use that to compute today's trip too." The green line is the running average.
Those periods when the daytime temperatures are in the 60s to 80s the EV Range should be in the high 50s to mid 60s but it never happens.
We totally love the car. I've thought of selling it and buying another Clarity but I'd hate to pass this problem to someone else, and the cost of swapping cars isn't worth it.
NorCalPete
Active Member
Our is a 2018, bought December 26 that year, and we only have 15,600 miles on it, 78% EV miles. (Not much driving since March.) Only charged at home (Chico, CA) using a JuiceBox 40. We're still getting high 40s to low 50s consistently on EV this summer, and expect less in winter. Still love the car, and have had no issues with it.
My 2018, purchase in March 2018. I mainly charge at home with a Clipper Creeks 240 charger but have also used a standard 120 line many times as well. My EV mileage over my 40,000+ miles of driving has not changed. If I am gentle on the car in the summer and don't drive the highway at 80+ miles per hour, i will see close to 60 miles of EV range if driven in the city. Its all a guess EV but its been consistent. If I do a lot of highway mileage during the summer, it will drop down to the 40s. Winter brings the mileage down to the 30s each year but even in winter, if i only use the heated seats and not so much the blower, my mileage will go up to high 30s and even touch 40. Again, its a EV guess the computer is performing. Bottom line, i don't believe I've lost much, if any EV range in my car since new. Best car I've own and will do a small write up on obtaining 40,000 miles at some point. Thanks
ClarityBill
Active Member
I have not noticed any battery degradation. I get high 40's in summer, and high 20's in winter. Much of my driving is highway at 78 mph.
I got my 2018 base model in 10/18. Odometer recently went over 80K. I drive 75% HV, 25% EV. I am currently doing my HV driving with 0.0 EV range (allowing automatic change to HV mode.) I have an OBDII recorder, and hit 0% SOC charge recently: 0.0 EV range is up to 11% SOC. I used to play with the buttons and tried to get 0 EV when I arrived at destination.
Most of my charging is with Chinese chargers at 240v, 16 amp - I have one at home, and one at work. My charging sessions normally start with 0 EV range and go to 100%. I generally charge once per day. I use public charging about once every two weeks, and this is a second charge for that day.
I got my 2018 base model in 10/18. Odometer recently went over 80K. I drive 75% HV, 25% EV. I am currently doing my HV driving with 0.0 EV range (allowing automatic change to HV mode.) I have an OBDII recorder, and hit 0% SOC charge recently: 0.0 EV range is up to 11% SOC. I used to play with the buttons and tried to get 0 EV when I arrived at destination.
Most of my charging is with Chinese chargers at 240v, 16 amp - I have one at home, and one at work. My charging sessions normally start with 0 EV range and go to 100%. I generally charge once per day. I use public charging about once every two weeks, and this is a second charge for that day.
Groves Cooke
Active Member
I bought my 2018 Clarity Touring in Sept 2018. The car had been sitting at the dealer for several months uncharged. It was delivered with no charge on the battery. I have over 30,000 mile on it presently. I still get high 40s and low 50s in the summer and mid 30s in cold weather. I charge the car at home on a Musstart 30 amp charger and at work on 120.
I picked up my 2018 Clarity Touring in June 2018. The car currently has 54000 km. I have not noticed any degradation in the battery. My ranges are typically 75-85 km in the summer, dropping down to 30-35 km in the dead of winter. I only charge at home with my EVDuty Level 2 charger.
SkyChief07
New Member
I've got a 2018 Clarity Base that I purchased used this June with 26,005 miles on it. I've put 3700 mi on it since then. After extensive highway driving, the lowest estimated range I saw was 47.1 after fully charging. After a really gentle in-town trip, the highest I saw was 66.3. With mixed driving, my estimated range is typically 51-55 when I unplug in the mornings. The car has been really impressive so far!
megreyhair
Active Member
I bought my in May 2018. 15k miles. I get about 50 in summer and high 30 or low 40 in winter in NY
2018 owners, thank you so much for the update. You guys are awesome, really help out clarity community. For my update after 2 months with 2020 Clarity, 3000 miles. I always get 61-67 miles (never goes below 60s) range with a full charge, and the "guestimate" is spot on most of the time. I drive a lot, do full charge every day with Level 2, drive around 50-60 miles/day with EV mode. My driving 50/50 highway/streets, 80% with AC on. I rarely use gas, HV mode. I live in Northern California, the weather might help. But it seems like my Clarity performs EV mode much better than 2018 Clarity
Last edited:
JustAnotherPoorDriver
Active Member
Last I checked I was still getting high 40s/low 50s. Charge at work with solar. The guess-o-meter is not very accurate.
Have you measured the amount of electricity you are putting into it? If that's been constant, I'd assume that the problem is extra consumption not loss of capacity (for example, dragging brakes, low tire pressure). If the amount you are putting into it is also dropping, it may be loss of battery capacity (which is somewhat expected, although degradation should slow)
Have you measured the amount of electricity you are putting into it? If that's been constant, I'd assume that the problem is extra consumption not loss of capacity (for example, dragging brakes, low tire pressure). If the amount you are putting into it is also dropping, it may be loss of battery capacity (which is somewhat expected, although degradation should slow)
The Gadgeteer
Active Member
2018 so far no difference in battery performance
Carro con enchufe
Active Member
I bought my 2018 base on 4/18.
Initially I was getting high 50s in summer going down to Mid to upper 30s in the dead of North Carolina moderate winter. I initially charged at home with 120 and at any free public charger I could find. Finally during the pandemic I spring for a home charger (Lectron 32amp) and now charge mostly at home.
I now have 32k miles and my summer mileage had dropped to 47-50. However 2 weeks ago I switched to Continental First Contact LS tires and lost some more EV miles - now I get 43-45.
I think a more accurate measure would be how many kWh you can put in the car from 0.0 EV. I used to be able to put in 13+ kWh but now I put in ~12.3. So the battery has degraded slightly. How many kWh are you all able to put in from empty?
Initially I was getting high 50s in summer going down to Mid to upper 30s in the dead of North Carolina moderate winter. I initially charged at home with 120 and at any free public charger I could find. Finally during the pandemic I spring for a home charger (Lectron 32amp) and now charge mostly at home.
I now have 32k miles and my summer mileage had dropped to 47-50. However 2 weeks ago I switched to Continental First Contact LS tires and lost some more EV miles - now I get 43-45.
I think a more accurate measure would be how many kWh you can put in the car from 0.0 EV. I used to be able to put in 13+ kWh but now I put in ~12.3. So the battery has degraded slightly. How many kWh are you all able to put in from empty?
Robert_Alabama
Well-Known Member
17,000 miles on my 2018, bought in July 2018. It gets mid 50s in the summer. Today was around 50. I never track the charging energy, but if it has dropped in range since I got it, it is no more than a few miles lower. Still does exactly what I bought it for. Could not be happier so far. Of the 17,000 miles, about 11,000 have been EV.
aapitten
Active Member
Got mine in Dec 2017. I have the 'dumb' Siemens charger that doesn't do anything except charge, but I haven't noticed any meaningful long-term reduction of range. Though I'm mentally bracing for the 20+ miles of range I am going to lose for the next 6 months now that winter is on the way....
Fast Eddie B
Well-Known Member
Our 2018 purchased in November 2018 has just over 40,000 miles.
I have no detailed records, but my impression is that last summer our predicted EV range hovered around 52 miles. This summer it seemed more like 50 miles on average.
May be illusory, but there did seem to be an ever-so-slight decrease, with no major changes in “mission profile”. One possible factor was the addition of an EcoHitch, which is not light at 35 lbs, and combined with the rolling hills of E TN may make a difference.
I have no detailed records, but my impression is that last summer our predicted EV range hovered around 52 miles. This summer it seemed more like 50 miles on average.
May be illusory, but there did seem to be an ever-so-slight decrease, with no major changes in “mission profile”. One possible factor was the addition of an EcoHitch, which is not light at 35 lbs, and combined with the rolling hills of E TN may make a difference.
Last edited:
coutinpe
Active Member
Sorry for jumping in late. Got my 2018 Touring in January 2019. It was delivered with a depleted battery and I had to drive 25 freeway miles back home with what I assumed was only the ICE with a dismal performance. After charging with the factory level 1 charger for the first time I got GOM-estimated 57 EV miles range. During the six following months before my retirement I commuted 40 miles back and forth, charging mostly at work with the same L1, the EV range increased slowly until reaching 60-62 EV miles and stayed there. After retirement with mostly intra-San Fernando Valley errands the range dropped a bit to 57-58 EV miles after 100% charge. I noticed no effect of how depleted the battery was before discharging. Also, I bought an El-cheapo Zencar 16A L2 charger shortly before retiring but I saw no effect on the EV range, and neither using a public (Volta) L2 charger. I also had some long trips in HV mode and that also seemed to increase the EV range a bit. But as I mentioned on a separate thread, after an HV trip to Palm Springs my EV range fell dramatically to 45 miles! I feared my battery was showing signs of degeneration but after that day the range slowly crawled back to the low 50's. Today my range was 59 EV miles. I'm driving to Vegas tomorrow, will see what happens afterwards. In any case, I thing the GOM EV estimate is not a reliable indicator of battery health whatsoever, too many extraneous variables to consider. As @CarroConEnchufe said, measuring the actual wattage taken by the battery, but my cheapo Zencar isn't up to the task.
stacey burke
Active Member
2018 purchased that year. Driven 22,300 miles and still get 65 EV when I check. I took took the EV off my display, to much distraction. I just use the gauge on the left like a gas gauge. I just checked on my App and it is 65 fully charged. Last time I put gas in it was Oct 5, 2019, I am going to have to run HV to get rid of my 1/2 tank of gas so I can get fresh gas for the winter.
November 2017 delivery; have consistently seen 47-50 miles in the Michigan summer on the guess-o-meter during our meager 11,676 miles driven.
Rclarity2018
New Member
I got my clarity in December of 2017. 59k miles now. I was getting 40 to 45 miles per charge until November of 2019 when it suddenly dropped to 35 to 40 miles per charge. Thought this was attributed to colder weather, but it never recovered. I finally took it to the dealer a few months ago. They said that the reported EV range on the dash doesn't really matter because it's an estimate based on driving patterns. I asked them to measure the battery capacity. I believe I read somewhere that the factory capacity should be 55 Ah. Mine measured about 45 Ah. The Honda dealer said they don't do anything about it unless a light comes on telling them that there's a battery issue. This was a while ago, but I believe after researching online or asking the dealership I came up with a number of 36 Ah when the light gets activated. Annoyed that in my case the battery seems to have degraded about 20 percent after 2 years.