OK, well that would make me want to get rid of the car too, that's dangerous. Sounds like you have a lemon. Good luck in getting a resolution.
Clarity Issues
- Thread starter jdonalds
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When I did the last 4 updates/recall as they called it the car was like a new one for 5 miles. I stopped, right after that it all came back. Honda tech said last week when we tested mine and another one that “the car learns your driving habits which it why it did this”. There is no way that the car learned my driving habits on 5 miles of freeway in HV charge mode because the dealer of course delivered the car with a dead battery (called twice to make sure they would charge it)!
Anyways, one more time Honda finds excuses, the car I test drove was night and day different than mine: no loss of power, angry bees going up yes but way less noisy and lots of power.
To answer the other post, been to 3 dealers, 5 different repair attempts. They all say they cannot duplicate so they cannot fix.
Now Honda is supposedly watch all videos and analysing.
Any bets that they will come back with more excuses?
MPower
Well-Known Member
@Yanick
Today I tried to see what would happen when I accelerated uphill. The temperature was 31F. I started from what was essentially a standing start since I had to turn right from a red light onto the highway. I had approximately 75% SoC which had an estimate of 22 miles on EV. The ECON mode was on and all the heating etc was off. I did accelerate to the click point because my legs are not long enough, but the dial went to about the top of the curve. I went up to 60 mph but that was the max because the road has a 50 mph limit and I have gotten a ticket there in the past.
The upshot is that the car zipped right up the hill which is just under 2 miles long. The ICE did not come on and the car did not lose speed or falter in any way. I felt that if I had wanted to go faster I could have without a problem.
Tomorrow I may try again with the same elevation, but a different a steeper road. It is a road that always left my 2012 Prius Plugin struggling. If I get a chance, I will report back.
Today I tried to see what would happen when I accelerated uphill. The temperature was 31F. I started from what was essentially a standing start since I had to turn right from a red light onto the highway. I had approximately 75% SoC which had an estimate of 22 miles on EV. The ECON mode was on and all the heating etc was off. I did accelerate to the click point because my legs are not long enough, but the dial went to about the top of the curve. I went up to 60 mph but that was the max because the road has a 50 mph limit and I have gotten a ticket there in the past.
The upshot is that the car zipped right up the hill which is just under 2 miles long. The ICE did not come on and the car did not lose speed or falter in any way. I felt that if I had wanted to go faster I could have without a problem.
Tomorrow I may try again with the same elevation, but a different a steeper road. It is a road that always left my 2012 Prius Plugin struggling. If I get a chance, I will report back.
My POS would have screemed like first gear wide open and as soon as I would let off the gas a little I would go into limp mode 40mph pushing on the pedal (not passed the click) but no power!
Keep us posted and thank you for the feedback!!
Wait - why did you say "not passed the click"?
Correct, I tried that for fun once and the engine stayed on as it usury does.
If I gas it a little (maybe half way) on EV the engine turns on.
If I use HV charge it sounds like you are wide open
Going up long hills (not like going up to a ski resort, I couldn’t) half way in he gas, it starts screaming. If I let off the gas a little and then try to re accelerate I get no power (limp mode) and it is like first gear wide open.
Testedanither Clarity same hill, I was going up 60 mph easy, engine was revving but nothing like mine.
And still Honda maintains that nothing is wrong with my car.
Maybe the next step is to go after them for false advertising. They advertise the car pure electric fir up to 47 miles. If a dealership was saying: and btw your engine will turn on while in EV and going up hills it will sound like it’s in first gear and no power, people would never purchase the vehicle.
4sallypat
Active Member
Lemon the car and move on.
No false advertising from my end - the car has exceeded EV range by 20% daily.
I for one, am very happy with the Clarity and living in the flat area of So Cal, never had a single issue.
99.9% EV miles - occasionally the engine turns on for a system check. But that's normal.....
No false advertising from my end - the car has exceeded EV range by 20% daily.
I for one, am very happy with the Clarity and living in the flat area of So Cal, never had a single issue.
99.9% EV miles - occasionally the engine turns on for a system check. But that's normal.....
You said previously that the Clarity went "from 70 mph to 36 mph on freeway in matter of seconds" . That's what you need to show them. That is a safety issue. There is no justification for any car to do that. If the car can't maintain speed when you press down on the accelerator, whether driving level or up any hill, they would have to admit that your car is not functioning properly, and more critically, is a safety hazard.
Is it just me or does this sound like a dead battery scenario? I understand that Yannick sees the battery charge, but ICE always on, and screaming on uphills and when need for more juice situations, sounds like what the car/ICE do when the battery is depleted.
Can it possibly be a scenario where the battery shows charge but it doesn't take/hold any? Just wondering what would happen if they replaced the battery in your car.
You can’t lemon the car, they have to repair it several times. Honda says they cannot duplicate so you cannot go against them with lemon law. Lemon law lawyers won’t taje the case, it is not that easy.
If you are close to Los Angeles I would love to test drive your car to prove the difference to Honda
I work in Malibu please email me
[email protected]
Thanks
They say that I have most likely taken my foot off the pedal
Honda is deny deny deny, been fighting they for 8 months
I don’t think that it is a dead battery issue, it is a major electronic issue but unless they can duplicate they won’t do anything.
We test drove my car with the tech guy and he didn’t even plug his computer to the car, that tells you how much they are trying.
I also asked him what is the difference on the display that has the cross design above the battery bereeen the dit in the middle and no dot. He did not know. How is that fir a tech guy?
I am disgusted by Honda
All I am asking for is for my car to work or be fixed and instead it’s excuses excuses excuses.
Very disappointing
4sallypat
Active Member
Instead of complaining and not getting anywhere, you need to take the initiative:
1. Get a dash cam so the the instrument cluster along with the road is being recorded.
2. Get an OBD reader / storage of data to record engine RPM, velocity, battery levels, etc - to prove it's not a human issue.
3. Complete a fault data analysis and present a summary of events to Honda.
1. Get a dash cam so the the instrument cluster along with the road is being recorded.
2. Get an OBD reader / storage of data to record engine RPM, velocity, battery levels, etc - to prove it's not a human issue.
3. Complete a fault data analysis and present a summary of events to Honda.
Obd on the way.
Dash can is good idea thanks
Would love to test your car to prove them wrong.
MPower
Well-Known Member
Did not have a chance to take the steeper hill today, but took the same hill again under similar condidtions, but it was colder and I had the heat on. Still no problems. I used more battery than yesterday because of the heater.
Dan Albrich
Well-Known Member
For Yannick of course:
I'll throw something out here without data. (Also a promise to get some data moving forward).
When I bought my Clarity my dealer was beyond useless. The car had sat on lot for months without charge. When I drove it home it was loud as crap. The EV range was zero. My first trip after charging on 110v was to crater lake (I live in Oregon). Crater lake is basically a giant 12,000ft mountain that blew its head off (and even the crater is 8000ft). The car took the trip hard, then I got the system power issue (didn't have 18-079 patch) all the way home- more than 200 miles. No EV recharge at all, all gas engine. Very scary trip home. Car had very little power, made terrible noises all the way home.
So 4 months passed with lots of "angry bee" events. Car lost EV range consistently, even when HV mode selected. Just had to fight hard to keep EV range from zero- even around town. So KentuckyKen suggested I reboot my car. In my case I believe it made a huge difference, that and I've learned a lot about how the car works along the way. No magic bullet, but mainly car doesn't tend to lose nearly as much EV range in HV mode now. I also now routinely see the gear icon on highway trips (never did, not even once prior to reboot).
I've intentionally driven the car at 0 EV now, post reboot. The RPM got higher but no 'angry bees' -- much softer sound. I suspect my car is now literally doing much more sane RPM when EV is zero. Sorry, not data to back that up, but the reboot has been very good in my case. I would not reboot a Clarity at all unless it had bad behavior first, but doing my reboot seems to have had a positive effect.
Also and this is weird. First 4 months I drove this thing so carefully you would not believe it. Slow steady starts and stops, always in ECON mode, heater off as much as I could stand it, etc etc. I now find driving the car in SPORT mode with 4 chevron regen is my favorite. I cannot explain it but it has definitely helped (no you didn't read that wrong) helped my EV recharge. Makes no sense to me how SPORT mode could be better on economy but that's the way it feels. I still very carefully and deliberately engage the 'gas' peddle. I never hit it hard enough to start gas engine around town, but I now routinely get better regen in stop and go traffic. Like some others have said, I find one-peddle driving regen to be near nirvana driving-- in fact if I could have six chevron regen that fully and consistently stopped the vehicle I would.
So who knows. I do think I've learned a bunch about how this car likes to be driven, but my supposition is that my car was in a really really bad state before reboot. It simply sucked rocks, lots of the time, which I chose to ignore because I like the car so much otherwise. Mainly living with extreme highRPM sounds much of the time which really hasn't occurred since reboot. I even drove my 2 mile "block" (I live in the country), repeatedly as 0 EV last weekend trying to generate the angry bees sound and no gotty. So don't know what all I'm doing right, but the car has been going great (as I knock on wood).
So if you have repeated and terrible angry bees, you might try the reboot to see if it helps (and maybe not otherwise).
-Dan
PS: if you do need reboot, what I literally mean is removal of negative terminal on 12v battery. Wait a bit, then restore. note that lots of scary warnings appear. Ignore. Drive the car 10 miles and they all clear.
Also - These cars do have software patches. I got 18-097 last. My meaning is that if the dealer hasn't patched at all, do that too.
I'll throw something out here without data. (Also a promise to get some data moving forward).
When I bought my Clarity my dealer was beyond useless. The car had sat on lot for months without charge. When I drove it home it was loud as crap. The EV range was zero. My first trip after charging on 110v was to crater lake (I live in Oregon). Crater lake is basically a giant 12,000ft mountain that blew its head off (and even the crater is 8000ft). The car took the trip hard, then I got the system power issue (didn't have 18-079 patch) all the way home- more than 200 miles. No EV recharge at all, all gas engine. Very scary trip home. Car had very little power, made terrible noises all the way home.
So 4 months passed with lots of "angry bee" events. Car lost EV range consistently, even when HV mode selected. Just had to fight hard to keep EV range from zero- even around town. So KentuckyKen suggested I reboot my car. In my case I believe it made a huge difference, that and I've learned a lot about how the car works along the way. No magic bullet, but mainly car doesn't tend to lose nearly as much EV range in HV mode now. I also now routinely see the gear icon on highway trips (never did, not even once prior to reboot).
I've intentionally driven the car at 0 EV now, post reboot. The RPM got higher but no 'angry bees' -- much softer sound. I suspect my car is now literally doing much more sane RPM when EV is zero. Sorry, not data to back that up, but the reboot has been very good in my case. I would not reboot a Clarity at all unless it had bad behavior first, but doing my reboot seems to have had a positive effect.
Also and this is weird. First 4 months I drove this thing so carefully you would not believe it. Slow steady starts and stops, always in ECON mode, heater off as much as I could stand it, etc etc. I now find driving the car in SPORT mode with 4 chevron regen is my favorite. I cannot explain it but it has definitely helped (no you didn't read that wrong) helped my EV recharge. Makes no sense to me how SPORT mode could be better on economy but that's the way it feels. I still very carefully and deliberately engage the 'gas' peddle. I never hit it hard enough to start gas engine around town, but I now routinely get better regen in stop and go traffic. Like some others have said, I find one-peddle driving regen to be near nirvana driving-- in fact if I could have six chevron regen that fully and consistently stopped the vehicle I would.
So who knows. I do think I've learned a bunch about how this car likes to be driven, but my supposition is that my car was in a really really bad state before reboot. It simply sucked rocks, lots of the time, which I chose to ignore because I like the car so much otherwise. Mainly living with extreme highRPM sounds much of the time which really hasn't occurred since reboot. I even drove my 2 mile "block" (I live in the country), repeatedly as 0 EV last weekend trying to generate the angry bees sound and no gotty. So don't know what all I'm doing right, but the car has been going great (as I knock on wood).
So if you have repeated and terrible angry bees, you might try the reboot to see if it helps (and maybe not otherwise).
-Dan
PS: if you do need reboot, what I literally mean is removal of negative terminal on 12v battery. Wait a bit, then restore. note that lots of scary warnings appear. Ignore. Drive the car 10 miles and they all clear.
Also - These cars do have software patches. I got 18-097 last. My meaning is that if the dealer hasn't patched at all, do that too.
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I don't know about other states, but in California once a sale is completed on a new car, that car cannot be ever sold again as a new car. If the dealer takes it back he can only sell it as a used car—even if it never leaves the lot.