HV vs HV Charge on road trip

C

CFMSN

New Member
Getting ready to go on a road trip. What are y our experiences using just HV or HV Charge. I know that in charge mode that I will get about 50mi on initial charge and then for each mile driven in charge mode I'll get about a mile EV. So on a tank of gas (7gal) at 40mpg, I should get about 600 miles unless the mpg drops off.

What I dont know is how HV mileage might work out. Any data?

Thanks.
 
With HV you'll get about 42-44 mpg. With a 7 gallon tank that give you a range of 300 hybrid miles or so. Add to that the initial 47 miles of EV, which was charged at home, and you get 347 miles of range. Using HV Charge will only tend to shorten the max range.
 
The Clarity engine is only 103 hp. It generates 60 hp of electricity and between 45 and 65 mph can directly couple to provide 31 hp more. When the battery is depleted, it still has enough charge to assist in acceleration and some hill climbing. However, driving up a major incline will completely exhaust the battery. That will result in a very sluggish vehicle. On long drives, I suggest maintaining 10 to 20 miles of EV range. This will prevent the car from becoming a 2 ton brick in the mountains.
 
CFMSN said:
Getting ready to go on a road trip. What are y our experiences using just HV or HV Charge. I know that in charge mode that I will get about 50mi on initial charge and then for each mile driven in charge mode I'll get about a mile EV. So on a tank of gas (7gal) at 40mpg, I should get about 600 miles unless the mpg drops off.

What I dont know is how HV mileage might work out. Any data?

Thanks.
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Trying to figure out your math here....

7 gallons at 40 mpg = 280 mile range, not 600!

Basically drive the car. Look for gas before you get to 250 miles on a tank or you’ll be stranded...be careful in rural areas with few gas stations. The small tank notably limits your range compare to other normal cars, which I found to be an occasional annoyance on the road.

And do NOT trust the range estimates in the dash. They will be exaggerated and could leave you in danger of running out of fuel and battery if you rely on the numbers. I came darn close in rural Nebraska once and rolled into gas station on fumes before I realized how inaccurate the numbers are. Also realize the mpg figure is exaggerated on the dash too. You’ll see if you manually track your fuel consumption.

I did a 4,200 mile road trip all across the country in my Clarity. 40 to 42 mpg is realistic long term average over the long haul, you’ll get more mpg if you drive below speed limits, and quite a bit less if you exceed speed limits and run 80 mph most of the way. The car was most economical by far in the mountains, the steeper the better because even though the engine screams uphill, the other 50% of the time the engine is simply shut off and giving you free charges in the downhills...I saw legit 55 to 60 mpg on some up and down mountain runs over a full tank of fuel. And I got as low as 28 mpg on a tank tearing acoss the Great Plains in flat ground at 80 to 85 mph into a strong headwind.

Obviously you’ll be in HV mode most of the time. HV charge mode works fine, but notably reduces mpg, so I saw no point in it.

I never once saw or felt a reduction in power driving up many miles long 12,000 ft mountain grades even with a depleted battery showing 2 bars, not charged for days and thousands of miles, and never activating HV Charge mode even once. I’m not sure why that loss of climbing power thing gets repeated here so frequently, unless there are that many defective Clarities running around. I certainly never experienced it and I fully pushed the limits of this car on that trip, not driving for fuel economy or battery preservation at all...

Do expect some engine revving on long high speed trips. Especially up hills and into headwinds at high interstate speeds. Normal, harmless, and expected.

Enjoy your trip, wherever it is!!
 
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craze1cars said:
I did a 4,200 mile road trip all across the country in my Clarity. 40 to 42 mpg is realistic long term average over the long haul, you’ll get more mpg if you drive below speed limits, and quite a bit less if you exceed speed limits and run 80 mph most of the way.
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I routinely get 48 on 600 mile trips in summer. Haven't tried over winter, so that might drag it down having to run the heat.
 
CFMSN:

" then for each mile driven in charge mode I'll get about a mile EV." - This statement is very wrong.

Driving in charge mode uses more gasoline than driving in any other mode. Some of the extra gasoline is converted to EV miles, but the conversion is inefficient.

My opinion on long-drive technique:
Do not let the EV range go to zero. Switch to HV mode before EV range runs out.
Driving in warm weather, it is often best to just go to HV mode, and let the car do the changes. In colder weather (below 34F, more important below 0F), it seems to help to get EV miles below half of full charge, before switching to HV mode.
 
I second ClarityBill - my opinion is stay away from the HV Charge mode as it is quite not-economic.

I would suggest leaving home on a full charge and switch to HV as soon as you get to 50mph or so and stay on it for the duration of your trip. Switch to EV if you hit traffic snags and see if any rest areas or restaurants on the way offer free charging, where you can juice up while having a meal or resting for the night.

Safe travels
 
ClarityBill said:
it seems to help to get EV miles below half of full charge, before switching to HV mode
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I did not find it necessary to run the SoC to half. On my 1500 trip from VT to KS and back at Christmas put it in HV at every start (when I remembered) charged at my cousin's once on each trip. Maintained the SoC above half for two days without charging.

It seems to have a harder time maintaining the charge when there are lots of hills and heating and headlights but no bees on the entire trip. About 42 mpg based on gas actually used not car gauges.
 
petteyg359 said:
I routinely get 48 on 600 mile trips in summer.
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Is that based on the dashboard? Or based on manual calculations of your own at the pump?

Beware there is a substantial exaggeration on the dash almost every time. 48 in Honda's fantasy calculator = approx. 42 mpg for real. As discussed on another thread here recently: The dashboard simply lies. My stated MPG was calculated manually. I also drive rather fast, and don't always drive for max economy.
 
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craze1cars said:
Is that based on the dashboard? Or based on manual calculations of your own at the pump?

Beware there is a substantial exaggeration on the dash almost every time. 48 in Honda's fantasy calculator = approx. 42 mpg for real. As discussed on another thread here recently: The dashboard simply lies. My stated MPG was calculated manually. I also drive rather fast, and don't always drive for max economy.
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Calculated on a spreadsheet. Not "hypermiling" either.
 
Hi guys,
I think the HV charge mode is there for a specific reason. The engine has a low horse power, if you go steep up hills with only the ICE you might find yourself in trouble. So, if your battery is depleted and you find a hill road coming in a few miles, what do you do? You switch to charge mode and get the battery charged, then switch back to HV mode when you are at the foot of the hill.
 
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