A new kind of range anxiety

Viking79 said:
Tesla probably preheats the battery prior to leaving, I do not believe that the Clarity does. This might have an impact on that range number. As others say, climate usage will affect both, so the Tesla is still taking a hit in cold weather. Did you actually try driving the Tesla 220 miles, or was it just guessing the range and you are driving say 20 miles?

This weekend the high temp is 0 F with a low of -20 F. Burning a lot of gas. I notice the Clarity will stay in EV mode when I leave the house, but when I park and get back in it tends to go to hybrid mode. This is actually better, at 0F I found my Volt is horribly inefficient. My range in my Volt is as low as 15 in this weather with a rated 35. My Clarity is showing 24 miles range (better vs rated than the Volt).

For example, these Tesla drivers are losing up to half their range in similar weather to what I am seeing with my Clarity (so comparable).
https://forums.tesla.com/forum/forums/cold-weather-range-loss
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I’m not experiencing that kind of drop on the Tesla. For say a 30 mile drive in this kind of weather, I’ll lose about 35 miles of range. The longer you drive with the Tesla, the closer you get to matching the actual range.

So yes, cold temps definitely affect both cars, but I’m seeing a greater impact on the Clarity.

I’ve adjusted to it and we both still love the car. We’re having the electrician over on the 10th to do a NEMA 14-50 installation. That will speed up our charging time from our current NEMA 6-20 setup.
 
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Johngalt6146 said:
The dealer told me that he thinks mine is the first sale in SC. I think it will do well here, since I see a fair number of Teslas around.
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Congrats on your car, I’m sure you’ll love it. Between the sleek styling, great ride, library quiet interior and nice handling, what’s not to like?
 
Ken7 said:
I’m not experiencing that kind of drop on the Tesla. For say a 30 mile drive in this kind of weather, I’ll lose about 35 miles of range.
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It depends on a lot of factors. If you always leave it plugged in inside a garage, then the car will use the battery heater to keep the pack warm. (Or at least that's my understanding, despite a recent announcement from Tesla that they just recently upgraded the software to "pre-heat" the battery under certain circumstances. I think that just created confusion.) So that means it will lose far less range than if you leave it outside unplugged on a bitterly cold night. Also, if you minimize the use of the cabin heater -- some Tesla drivers say the heated seats and heated steering wheel are enough to keep them warm -- then that will also cut down on the hit to your range.

What I want to know is this: If you drive your Model S/X to work or to a friend's house on a bitterly cold day, staying for several hours so the car cools down and it's after dark when you return to the car, then what does the car display for range when you start it up again? Does the range drop drastically like leaving it out overnight when it's bitterly cold?
 
I do have my Tesla plugged in inside my garage as I do with our Clarity.

My Model S is only a few months old, so the scenario you mentioned hasn’t occurred. The cold snap here in NY is recent and we’ve been driving the Clarity in the snow. I’m admittedly overly protective of my S, and tend not to take it in lousy weather. ;)

However the comparisons I’ve made between the Clarity and Model S, of the impact of cold weather, have been made with both cars spending the night in my non-heated garage, currently reading 46F.
 
Johngalt6146 said:
Hi jonalds: Thanks partly to your posts I picked up a Crimson Clarity Touring today, just like yours.
I drove it about 40 miles from the dealer (on electric) and it is now snugly charging in my garage. I am impressed with the interior electronics thus far.
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Congrats! Feel free to start up a thread with pics and your impressions, if you like.
 
There's a new thread for longest Clarity BEV drive range record, and rather than hijack that thread, I decided to post my question here - whatever possessed Honda to make a BEV with LESS than double the EPA rating of our PHEV's?

I know, it is basically a compliance vehicle for only two states, but that is insane to offer a sub 100 mile range BEV, especially in traffic tangled Southern California.:confused::rolleyes:
 
dstrauss said:
whatever possessed Honda to make a BEV with LESS than double the EPA rating of our PHEV's?
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Keep in mind that Honda's #1 market for PEVs isn't the U.S. Maybe it's Japan and maybe it's China, but it's certainly not the USA! Maybe ~89 mile BEVs are more in demand in Japan?
 
They seem to be selling pretty well, looks like about 1500 in Dec with 2/3 PHEV and 1/3 BEV, that is more of the BEV model than I would have guessed.
 
Viking79 said:
They seem to be selling pretty well, looks like about 1500 in Dec with 2/3 PHEV and 1/3 BEV, that is more of the BEV model than I would have guessed.
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Well, considering most dealers only got ONE PHEV for December (some ZERO), that's pretty good that they moved 1000...
 
Viking79 said:
They seem to be selling pretty well, looks like about 1500 in Dec with 2/3 PHEV and 1/3 BEV, that is more of the BEV model than I would have guessed.
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They sold out the BEV v
dstrauss said:
There's a new thread for longest Clarity BEV drive range record, and rather than hijack that thread, I decided to post my question here - whatever possessed Honda to make a BEV with LESS than double the EPA rating of our PHEV's?

I know, it is basically a compliance vehicle for only two states, but that is insane to offer a sub 100 mile range BEV, especially in traffic tangled Southern California.:confused::rolleyes:
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We 80 miles plus commuters love those low range BEV and 20,000 miles lease allowance. It's basically the new fit EV with unlimited miles and insurance paid.
 
bfd said:
898 Clarity PHEVs sold in December…

https://www.greencarreports.com/new...in-dec-2017-to-new-record-bolt-ev-ends-strong
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I wonder how many Clarity PHEVs were available for sale in December? That 898 may be a very high percentage of what stock was out there. Looks like there only on the order of 1,000 out there now (it is still difficult to narrow the search between types (e.g. PHEV, BEV) at places like AutoTrader).

If this trend continues, Honda could (?) hit 2,000 plus sales per month very quickly. https://insideevs.com/monthly-plug-in-sales-scorecard/
 
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