A PHEV far superior to the Clarity is coming next summer

Lowell_Greenberg said:
Well- since we're all expressing personal opinions here, the idea of going to an SUV- even with AWD and more power and overall efficiency - yet with less EV range- makes me sick. I'm no fan of SUV's, and less range is very unappealing. Hopefully, a next car for me would be 100% electric, efficient and reliable.

All of this is yesterday's tech- understandable in 2017/2018 (Clarity), not in 2021. Interesting that Honda seems to be abandoning the PHEV and not embracing BEVs- while Toyota at least feels they can make a profitable, mainstream EV that comes close to the Clarity in range (but not efficiency).

And while in the US- this strategy may work- It will fall flat on its face
everywhere else- as the fantasy of low petrol prices dies and consumers reject dinosaur propulsion tech.

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chill damn
 
MrFixit said:
I know it is just a catchy title, but "Far Superior" ??? I don't think so...
Yes, it is an SUV / Crossover which maybe a majority would prefer. AWD and greater performance is a plus. Less range is not.

There has been no mention of pricing, and I would bet it will be substantially higher than the Clarity is (was).

I won't be trading in my Clarity anytime soon !
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I agree100 percent...My clarity has been amazing...i did some ride share for a few months and my range has now increased. The Clarity is more valuable now because no longer in production. To each his own...I am interested in the new honda Prologue ev coming next year if the world don't end first.
https://automobiles.honda.com/futur...ContactKey=E117041070&from=email#stayinformed
 

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Roen said:
Why are all the Honda's I'm interested in ones that Honda sells for a loss? First a G1 Insight, and now the Clarity.
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I was so happy Honda sold me my gen1 Insights at half the price they charged in many other countries. I got to drive a high-tech car built on the same line as the S2000 and NSX without spending the big bucks.

Ditto on the Clarity--and I paid MSRP for my Clarity, unlike many on this forum. Honda was unlucky they were trying to sell a car in this country that wants crossovers and pickups. Still can't understand why there's no CR-V PHEV. Doesn't Honda notice all the people clammoring for Toyota's RAV4 Prime PHEV?

I attempted a trifecta, but Honda ignored my letters and refused to bring the all-electric Honda e to the US. I'm happy with my electric MINI, but...
 
Reviving this ancient thread... I'm starting to look for a replacement for my Clarity once my extended warranty expires, but I definitely want another PHEV, and this was supposed to be the best of the crop. However, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE on the streets, anywhere, even though the last few months I have been carefully looking every time I see a RAV4, which are everywhere. Is the RAV4 Prime an specimen even rarer than the Clarity? And the beautiful new Prius Prime, I've seen it only once. I definitely want another PHEV, but not another Sasquatch or another Loch Ness Monster...
 
coutinpe said:
Is the RAV4 Prime an specimen even rarer than the Clarity?
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I found some numbers for 2022 and 2023 on this site:
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-rel...-reports-2023-us-sales-results-302025453.html

Here is a relevant table -
upload_2024-5-28_6-45-26.webp

Note that Rav4 Prime numbers (U.S.) were 26,073 in 2023.
The Clarity sold 20,174 in it's greatest year (2018), but only a grand total of about 38,000.

The regular RAV4 Hybrid numbers were MUCH higher than the Prime (161,125 in 2023).

So, is the RAV4 Prime a Sasquatch? Maybe not quite as much as the Clarity, but PHEV's just do not seem to be holding their own against their Hybrid counterparts... We still own and love the Clarity, but it always seemed like a stepping stone to a BEV (which we now also have). Of course the choice depends entirely on the specifics of your use case.
 
coutinpe said:
Reviving this ancient thread... I'm starting to look for a replacement for my Clarity once my extended warranty expires, but I definitely want another PHEV, and this was supposed to be the best of the crop. However, I HAVE NEVER SEEN ONE on the streets, anywhere, even though the last few months I have been carefully looking every time I see a RAV4, which are everywhere. Is the RAV4 Prime an specimen even rarer than the Clarity? And the beautiful new Prius Prime, I've seen it only once. I definitely want another PHEV, but not another Sasquatch or another Loch Ness Monster...
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I've seen a few in New York City, including one in the garage where I park. Nice car, but even less range doesn't appeal to me. Also you should look up cablegate; they routed one of the electrical cables under the car and didn't put a particularly waterproof boot around one of the connections and so there's rusty connectors which they are replacing under warranty, but I'm not clear they actually fixed problem so they may have the same fix-repeat cycle that we've had with the air conditioners in the Clarity
 
Last night, in the distance I thought I was seeing a rare Clarity in the opposite lane and I smiled. However, when those hockey-stick DRLs got close enough, I realized it wasn't a Clarity at all! My smile vanished when it turned into just a Kia EV9.

upload_2024-5-28_9-26-47.webp
 
JustAnotherPoorDriver said:
I've seen a few in New York City, including one in the garage where I park. Nice car, but even less range doesn't appeal to me. Also you should look up cablegate; they routed one of the electrical cables under the car and didn't put a particularly waterproof boot around one of the connections and so there's rusty connectors which they are replacing under warranty, but I'm not clear they actually fixed problem so they may have the same fix-repeat cycle that we've had with the air conditioners in the Clarity
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Good point to be aware of. What ever happened to the legendary Toyota quality (or Honda)?
What initially bothered me (without the stats I must rely only in what I see around) is that when the (ugly previous) Prius Prime came by I could see them everywhere, as opposed to the RAV4 Prime. The same goes to the Lexus (also one of my candidates), I have never seen any of them on the road, just a couple of the new Prius Prime on the highway, not in town. However, there seems to be available on dealers on my area (Phoenix), according to Cargurus (so no longer a 1-year waiting list), but they rank around than $55K (while it reports one on sale for $45K somewhere in Maryland), and the Lexus RXh+ is around $65K, in both cases around $10K above their gas or hybrid counterparts. So I guess that price is the defining variable on the apparent scarcity of these PHEVs on the roads. I reckon people with that kind of money to spend on a car would prefer to do it on a gas Lexus or Cadillac rather than a Toyota, or go full BEV, if it suits their needs. The other PHEV I have considered is the Alfa Romeo Tonale (in the mid $40K is more reasonable) but it is too short in range compared to the Clarity, like all other available PHEVs around. Hyundais and Kias don't appeal to me in spite of all the good reviews.
 
coutinpe said:
Good point to be aware of. What ever happened to the legendary Toyota quality (or Honda)?
What initially bothered me (without the stats I must rely only in what I see around) is that when the (ugly previous) Prius Prime came by I could see them everywhere, as opposed to the RAV4 Prime. The same goes to the Lexus (also one of my candidates), I have never seen any of them on the road, just a couple of the new Prius Prime on the highway, not in town. However, there seems to be available on dealers on my area (Phoenix), according to Cargurus (so no longer a 1-year waiting list), but they rank around than $55K (while it reports one on sale for $45K somewhere in Maryland), and the Lexus RXh+ is around $65K, in both cases around $10K above their gas or hybrid counterparts. So I guess that price is the defining variable on the apparent scarcity of these PHEVs on the roads. I reckon people with that kind of money to spend on a car would prefer to do it on a gas Lexus or Cadillac rather than a Toyota, or go full BEV, if it suits their needs. The other PHEV I have considered is the Alfa Romeo Tonale (in the mid $40K is more reasonable) but it is too short in range compared to the Clarity, like all other available PHEVs around. Hyundais and Kias don't appeal to me in spite of all the good reviews.
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Here's a good-looking Toyota PHEV that goes 56 miles on a charge, the Toyota Crown Sport. It even offers bidirectional charging! Unfortunately, Toyota's bringing fewer of them to the North America than even their rare RAV4 Prime. That is, Toyota's bringing none of them to North America.

upload_2024-5-30_18-24-28.webp

Discussion in Toyota's boardroom:
Board member 1, "Would anyone in NA pay $53K for one of these?"
Board member 2, "It's too much trouble to move the steering wheel to the other side. Fuhgeddaboudit."
 
In Feb, we were able to acquire one with the trim desired from a dealer in west Baltimore for MSRP with no wait list. I don't know if the situation has changed since then, but seems as though Toyota was sending 99% of them to states with emissions requirements. So while the entire southeast would get one per quarter, some northeast dealers had a dozen on their lots.

For all of us who complain about Hondalink, Toyota's Connected Services app is worse. Yeah, it may not error out if you try to do more than one command in a given session, but if you leave it resident in memory / give it background permissions, it will single handedly drain your phone battery 25% in a day and it's charge scheduling and battery charge info is subpar. Plus, it requires a paid subscription after the first year.

Range is currently better than our 6.5 yr old Clarity.
 
R4P (as compared to Clarity)

  1. Has no regen paddles. Paddles on steering wheel are traditional shifters. Brake press required to maximize regen.

  2. Seems to have less customization of vehicle settings (door locks, lights, etc)

  3. Has head unit profiles for some settings based on user (but as of now the profile is not automatically set based on key fob that enters driver door)

  4. Better seats (lumbar adj)

  5. Single color std for interior (black)

  6. Wireless AA/Carplay

  7. Menu layout of Head unit is worse (example, to adjust audio settings, necessary to dig into vehicle settings menu rather than an audio settings menu while on audio screen).

  8. Key fob 20% larger, yet these functions missing: Start charge, lower windows

  9. Comes with the identical 110V EVSE

  10. Has a spare

  11. Has more power in electric

  12. More traditional transmission (under duress, engine sound is at lower frequency vs Clarity CVT whine)

  13. Better windshield washer nozzles

  14. Better wipers (true automatic)

  15. Larger gas tank (I'm one of those ppl who can and does drive 5+ hrs without stopping)

  16. Interstate (75mph) efficiency: 33 mpg (based on 2 fillups during drive home from MD)

  17. Active cruise is more cautious (let's off slightly in curves)

  18. Lane keep is a sound (like a cricket) rather than a wheel shake

  19. Reads speed limit and other signs (I don't know if this feature is tied to safety subscription or not)

  20. Warns of slowing traffic ahead (this is likely subscription-based)

  21. Range comparison based remaining battery percentage for a 32 mile commute by each vehicle under similar conditions. I haven't diligently tried to determine range and it does not have the option to have a trip meter reset upon charging.

  22. IMO, it rides more harsh than the Clarity even with more tire sidewall. The XSE trim has 235/55R19; I would have preferred 18s for a softer ride.
 
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