Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid now sold in California only?

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For non supported states, I really think it's a dealer "revolt" against the Clarity.

I know that since the 2020 model year has been indicated for Canada, it's not a model that's going away soon.

Maybe it is cheaper to drive an ICE than a PHEV in states that have low gas prices ?
Here in So Cal, our prices for fuel is $4.00 / gallon.
Makes sense for me to drive on EV.
 
2002 said:
Your manufacture date is 12/18 correct? (located on door jamb)

Also can you double check if the last six digits are actually 000132.

I bought mine in Quebec in july. Vin number:
JHMZC5F13KC800805

Just a guess but maybe the ones sold in Canada with the battery heater all have the last 6 VIN numbers that begins with an 8?
8xxxxx

So there are approximatly 800 Clarity sold across Canada? Does it make sense?

Not sure it works that way, my impression is the manufacturers allocate a certain number of cars for shipment to particular regions, and a dealer can "claim" one of them once the VIN numbers are available. But yes I'm sure some dealers would not order one unless a customer has placed a deposit, but I am not hearing of very many people in U.S. or Canada being able to obtain cars even through ordering. A few get lucky but you also hear of people either being told by dealers that it is not available for order, or they place an order with the dealer but it never comes in and they give up, meaning the dealer didn't actually have a VIN they just took the customer's money hoping that something will become available.


No way to know without VIN numbers. Unsold cars sometimes are traded to another dealer so it will appear as a new listing.
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Olive said:
I bought mine in Quebec in july. Vin number:
JHMZC5F13KC800805

Just a guess but maybe the ones sold in Canada with the battery heater all have the last 6 VIN numbers that begins with an 8?
8xxxxx

So there are approximately 800 Clarity sold across Canada? Does it make sense?
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I think you are probably right the 8 probably indicates Canada. Helps also confirm what I suspected that U.S. VIN numbers probably do not include cars sold in Japan, and now we know not Canada either. U.S. and Canada cars are made in the same plant in Japan though, that's represented by the letter C just before the 8. The K right before that indicates 2019 (2018 was J)

Yes I would say most likely you have the 805th 2019 produced for Canada. What is the manufacturer date shown on your driver side door jamb?

Was 2018 ever sold in Canada?
 
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2002 said:
I think you are probably right the 8 probably indicates Canada. Helps also confirm what I suspected that U.S. VIN numbers probably do not include cars sold in Japan, and now we know not Canada either. U.S. and Canada cars are made in the same plant in Japan though, that's represented by the letter C just before the 8. The K right before that indicates 2019 (2018 was J)

Yes I would say most likely you have the 805th 2019 produced for Canada. What is the manufacturer date shown on your driver side door jamb?

Manufactured 05/'19. May 2019

Was 2018 ever sold in Canada?
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Yep but they were all sold when the 13 000$ government incentive began may first 2019.
 
coutinpe said:
The hybrids? Maybe cheaper to drive indeed on cheap oil country but how in heaven can those be more "fuel efficient" than the Clarity PHEV? You can spend weeks or even months without visiting the pump with the latter if you don't make a long trip. Looks like a bunch of BS being pulled up to justify the discontinuation of the car like GM did with the Volt or Ford with the C-Max. Now I'm indeed suspecting there is a concerted effort to do away with the PHEVs for whatever the reason.
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I think the dealer (located in Illinois if I'm not mistaken) was simply stating that with Clarity out of the market the Insight and Accord hybrids were now the most fuel efficient Hondas available in that region. I suppose they could have said "Keep waiting the Clarity may become available again at some point" but that's not what they are there to do they want you to purchase a car that is available now.
 
When I leased my Niro PHEV three months ago, there were plenty of Clarity PHEVs here in Washington state. I just checked Cars.com and the nearest ones now available are central CA. Kinda makes me glad I went with the Niro instead.
 
Talking with an upstate, NY dealer while in for service this afternoon, he said it's mostly CRVs and Pilots selling now, with civics not far behind, and fewer accords. He said he sold a few Clarity's, but there is little interest here.

I remember when GM said they were giving up on a wide adoption model and were going to treat Volt as a niche car, very much like the Corvette. I think for now, Honda has probably taken a similar view of Clarity. I don't think the total sales numbers are much cause for concern for happy owners.
 
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atc98092 said:
When I leased my Niro PHEV three months ago, there were plenty of Clarity PHEVs here in Washington state. I just checked Cars.com and the nearest ones now available are central CA. Kinda makes me glad I went with the Niro instead.
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There were some really amazing deals on Clarity back then, that's about when I bought mine in Georgia. I'm glad that I did now that I realize that opportunity didn't last very long. I'm hoping they start selling them again in my area but at least I got mine and I have really been enjoying it, quite an amazing car for the price. I have been getting nearly 60 miles EV range although I'm sure that will drop during winter, based on average temperatures where I live I'm guessing to about 40-45 miles. Super quiet ride even when the engine is running. Can't carry what a Niro can but I have another car for that. Haven't seen a Niro PHEV here yet but hope to spot one.
 
Are they sitting on dealer lots? If there is no sell through that would explain why there are no new VIN numbers. I've been a Volt owner since 2016 and like all Volt owners I was unhappy that GM killed it but maybe they were right, the era of the PHEV may be over. I just bought a Model 3 AWD last week, I'm keeping the Volt for shopping, because it already has dings, and as a backup in case anything goes wrong with my Model 3 but even though I love the car I wouldn't buy it over the Model 3 even though the M3 is more expensive. Back in 2016 the only affordable and practical EV was the Volt, Tesla's cost > $100K, and Leafs had no range. There also wasn't much of a Supercharger network so even a Tesla was problematic for road trips in most of the country. The Volt had enough range that it could do almost all of it's local driving on electric, and it had a good engine that made it possible to take it anywhere so the lack of charging infrastructure wasn't a problem. That's changed now, the M3 has sufficient range for road trips, the Supercharger network blankets the US and is filling out in Canada, and it's priced competitively with it's direct ICE competitors, i.e. $50K for a long range AWD which makes it as cheap or cheaper than the Audi A4, the Mercedes C class and the BMW 3 series, combine that with the fact that it's actually a much better car than those cars and it's an easy decision for anyone who want's an EV. For people looking for a cheaper alternative there are several good choices for pure EVs, the Bolt, the Kia, the new Leaf, which all have ranges in the low to mid 200s which is a comfortable range for a car that will mostly be used for local driving. PHEVs just might not fit in right now, combine that with the fact that the Clarity isn't a true EV like the Volt was, by that I mean that it needs to use it's engine for some things even if it has charge in it's battery, the Volt only needed to turn on it's engine as a range extender. The universe of people who are looking for an EV just might not be interested in a car like a Clarity and for people who are just looking for a high MPG car a regular hybrid might fit the bill better.
 
Wow. Bad news as far as orphaning goes. I was hopeful that these cars would take off across the country. If they're only going to be available in a few areas, it's going to make parts and repairs - as well as insurance - cost even more. :(
 
4sallypat said:
For non supported states, I really think it's a dealer "revolt" against the Clarity.

I know that since the 2020 model year has been indicated for Canada, it's not a model that's going away soon.

Maybe it is cheaper to drive an ICE than a PHEV in states that have low gas prices ?
Here in So Cal, our prices for fuel is $4.00 / gallon.
Makes sense for me to drive on EV.
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Same here. But it's nice to have the HV option for long haul.
 
bjrosen said:
Are they sitting on dealer lots? If there is no sell through that would explain why there are no new VIN numbers. I've been a Volt owner since 2016 and like all Volt owners I was unhappy that GM killed it but maybe they were right, the era of the PHEV may be over. I just bought a Model 3 AWD last week, I'm keeping the Volt for shopping, because it already has dings, and as a backup in case anything goes wrong with my Model 3 but even though I love the car I wouldn't buy it over the Model 3 even though the M3 is more expensive. Back in 2016 the only affordable and practical EV was the Volt, Tesla's cost > $100K, and Leafs had no range. There also wasn't much of a Supercharger network so even a Tesla was problematic for road trips in most of the country. The Volt had enough range that it could do almost all of it's local driving on electric, and it had a good engine that made it possible to take it anywhere so the lack of charging infrastructure wasn't a problem. That's changed now, the M3 has sufficient range for road trips, the Supercharger network blankets the US and is filling out in Canada, and it's priced competitively with it's direct ICE competitors, i.e. $50K for a long range AWD which makes it as cheap or cheaper than the Audi A4, the Mercedes C class and the BMW 3 series, combine that with the fact that it's actually a much better car than those cars and it's an easy decision for anyone who want's an EV. For people looking for a cheaper alternative there are several good choices for pure EVs, the Bolt, the Kia, the new Leaf, which all have ranges in the low to mid 200s which is a comfortable range for a car that will mostly be used for local driving. PHEVs just might not fit in right now, combine that with the fact that the Clarity isn't a true EV like the Volt was, by that I mean that it needs to use it's engine for some things even if it has charge in it's battery, the Volt only needed to turn on it's engine as a range extender. The universe of people who are looking for an EV just might not be interested in a car like a Clarity and for people who are just looking for a high MPG car a regular hybrid might fit the bill better.
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Lots of good points, I will say that here in Georgia I now see tons of Teslas. Model S was somewhat common already, not so many X, but now there are Model 3's everywhere.

We discuss the pro and con of BEV vs PHEV here quite a lot you should find some of the threads on that topic. For most here PHEV works out very well especially getting such a relatively large and comfortable car as the Clarity at a reasonable price and most of us getting EV range nearly approaching the Volt although of course not quite, but the fact that it is in the same ballpark is quite amazing. ICE use in EV mode is really overblown though, with a little experience it becomes quite rare and the Clarity engine is normally pretty quite anyway when it does run. We realize this is not a PHEVx like Volt essentially was, my hat is always off to the Volt a true pioneer setting the bar.

It's great that the BEV choices continue to grow but I personally think PHEV is here for quite a while. EV enthusiasts already enjoy a much easier EV world than existed just a few years ago, and it will continue to get better, but owning a BEV is still quite a ways from being at the comfort and convenience level that most consumers require, and there is no way to simply will people into thinking differently. It will continue to be a transition for many years to come in my opinion.
 
bfd said:
Wow. Bad news as far as orphaning goes. I was hopeful that these cars would take off across the country. If they're only going to be available in a few areas, it's going to make parts and repairs - as well as insurance - cost even more. :(
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Not sure it quite qualifies as an orphan with total U.S. sales at about 30,000 I think. And if it continues in California and Canada in 2020 then the numbers will continue to slightly increase. Yes parts and service will never be at Accord or Civic level especially for those living outside of California, that is part of the price of admission with owning something unique.
 
bjrosen said:
... i.e. $50K for a long range AWD which makes it as cheap or cheaper than the Audi A4, the Mercedes C class and the BMW 3 series, combine that with the fact that it's actually a much better car than those cars and it's an easy decision for anyone who want's an EV. ...
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There are a great many EV enthusiast households who can just afford a Clarity or Volt, but for whom a $50k+ Tesla is not even close to reality. (Also, the more affordable Bolt (a great car) is still a terrible one car solution for anyone making trips for work of hundreds of miles, compared to simply filling a tank).

Salaries and cost of living still vary a lot across the country. I think a $50k+ car might seem a lot more affordable to a west coast person and persons from affluent parts of the northeast, compared too many families in more rural or even many U.S. suburban areas.

Also, many folks simply have more disposable income, God bless, just be aware that for a vast number of folks, a Tesla is still way too expensive.
 
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bjrosen said:
the fact that the Clarity isn't a true EV like the Volt was, by that I mean that it needs to use it's engine for some things even if it has charge in it's battery, the Volt only needed to turn on it's engine as a range extender.
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Hey, hey! You're on a Clarity forum here. The Clarity is "more flexible" with it's engine than the Volt--it can pitch in to provide greater acceleration or greater range as needed, but many here have gone a string of months without sucking a drop gas out of their Clarity's 7-gallon tank. I had a sign at last year's Drive Electric Week event explaining how I'd been driving our Clarity PHEV 8 months and had visited a gas station as frequently as the all the Teslas parked in a row next to me combined.
 
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May our soon to be orphaned cars appreciate as briskly as other Honda orphans like the S2000 and the original Insight, haha.

I think the experiment is over. I. Any imagine there will be a 2020. Even if there is, it won’t have a stitch of difference from the 18 or 19.

I’m not mad. Lots of similar Honda small-batch motors on the road with avid fans. As long as people keep getting rear ended, we will have a parts supply. It will be fine.
 
2002 said:
I have no source for this other than my own tracking of Clarity VIN numbers which I have been tracking online for quite a while now...
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One of my local dealers (SE Michigan) has a Clarity PHEV Base listed on their website but when I called they said it was still in transit. If that's true, that suggests that maybe they're still shipping some our way.
 
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