http://www.thedrive.com/tech/19748/the-honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrids-technology-is-in-need-of-a-little-clarity-itself I hope I was not too snarky, but I would expect someone who writes about cars and feels like he is an early adopter to be less dense. He admits to not understanding what a PHEV is and it clear he does not. Here was my response in the comment section of the review: "I say this as an early adopter who grooves on tech like this and tends to “get it” immediately." I believe that statement is less true than you think. Though I do agree that you are confused about the term "Plug-in Hybrid." We have explained this term to friends who are curious about the car, they seem to have no trouble with it. I think most owners keep the battery charged and drive the car as an EV. On long trips they hit the HV button and drive it as an HV. HV is not a trick on Honda's part. When this button is pressed it acts basically the same as the Accord hybrid did. It is not a standard ICE vehicle and there is a little to learn, but it is not very hard.
Well I am not sure if this person should be a 'tech writer'. I hope s/he is not using a smart phone or s/he will be so confused by all the technical term like touch screen, icon, usb, charge your phone...
What a useless article. The author should be embarrassed. I do think Honda could do a much better job of documenting "how" you use this car. The manuals simply document "what" each button does. After driving the car for a few months and discussing some of the subtleties in this forum, we all know how we use it - pretty much the way that Timothy described above. I would add that the only time you really need to use the regen paddles is in mountain driving, similar to how you downshift an ICE car to use engine braking. I expect that most of us will seldom use normal, sport, and HV Charge modes, but most drivers never use sport/comfort/manual shift modes on their ICE vehicles either. One change I would recommend to Honda is to make "normal" mode act like current econ mode. You shouldn't engage ICE unless you deliberately push past the detent. "Econ" could then toggle HVAC to a lower energy consumption mode for dry and moderate climates (and not change drive train). But who knows, the design may have been a marketing decision based on research that most target buyers would prefer driving in a mode labelled "econ" instead of "normal".
Perhaps the confusion is that PHEVs come in a variety of flavors. The vast majority of them have a short range (8 - 25 miles at optimal conditions) and correspondingly weak electric motors (e.g., BMW and Mercedes) that make it difficult to stay in EV mode unless you're willing drive like a great grandmother. The only others of Clarity's class are the Pacifica (33 mile EV range) and the Volt (53 mile EV range). Although the three fill completely different niches, the public should be able to understand the beauty of PHEVs by focusing on these three. If you look at the others, you'd be scratching your head what the point is.
His confusion stems from his ignorance. He'll learn. Plus, he's getting schooled in the comments - maybe schooled is too kind of a term. LOFL
