Attached is an additional download from Honda Service Express website detailing the installation of an engine block heater. The installation is a lot less complicated than the instructions make it look. I installed one on my previous car, a Honda Civic Hybrid, and it was a breeze. I didn't really see much benefit on that car, but I am thinking it would make a difference on the Clarity. Since the Clarity has an "electric coolant heater" that shares coolant with the ICE, I would figure that using a block heater would lead to the car's electric coolant heater using less energy from the lithium battery to heat the interior once you start driving. That would be a good thing and it would seem that it would be a no brainer to install the block heater. But then I started thinking why should the car need a block heater at all: A1.) If I am in a place where I can plug up the block heater (home) then I can plug up the car itself. If I utilize the preconditioning option via the app or the key fob, then I get the same benefit of the block heater-I warm up the coolant which is going to help me warm up the interior of the car and the ICE (since they share the same coolant). Conclusion: Skip the physical block heater option and give a me a virtual block heater option that could be set and used automatically without having to back into it by going through the preconditioning process. A2.) If I am in a place where I can plug up the car, I may not have an option to plug up the block heater. If I am at a public charging station there will most likely not be a 120 volt wall plug anywhere around that I can plug up the block heater. Conclusion: Skip the physical block heater option and give a me a virtual block heater option that could be set and used automatically without having to back into it by going through the preconditioning process. A3.) Cost is not an factor. If I am going to install the block heater, I know it will cost me more in electricity. For folks who don't want to incur the extra cost there should be a setting to turn the "virtual block heater" on or off. For folks who don't care, we get the get the option off getting the benefits of a block heater without having 2 electrical cords connected to our car. On this point I am very fortunate and probably a little spoiled. I live in Kansas City and have the most charging stations of any city in the country (https://www.kcpl.com/involvement/environmental-focus/clean-charge-network). If I close my eyes and throw a rock, I will hit a charging station. If I open my eyes and aim my rock throw, I can hit a free charging station. If I ever had to pay at a public station it would be between $0.15 to $0.22 per kwh final price out the door. My electric rate at home (before the fixed charges and misc fees) is a max of $0.0689 from October to May and $0.1205 June through September. Conclusion: Skip the physical block heater option and give a me a virtual block heater option that could be set and used automatically without having to back into it by going through the preconditioning process. A4.) If the Clarity already has this virtual block heating option and I just don't know about it, why have an option for a physical block heater at all?!?! B1.) Why can't the US models have a battery warmer like our Canadian friends. B2.) Since we don't an option for a battery warmer, why can't we have the option to install a physical block heater to the battery's coolant line (since it is separate from the ICE coolant system) Answer: you wouldn't want a unregulated "dumb" block heater that is not being monitored by the car's computer fooling around with the temperature of your lithium battery. Conclusion: Give the US customer an option of the battery warmer. If I am off based or missing something don't hesitate to point it out
A1, A2, A3, amd B2: Impeccable logic sir, you and M.M. must have a common ancestor somewhere. A4: Guessing the engine block is common across other models so it already had the capability and Honda thought, hey, maybe we can sell some heaters. Or maybe just another hold over that no one at Honda even thought about? B1: Guessing weight? Canada gets battery warmer, we get powered seats. Maybe Honda corporate thinks US is more comfort oriented and Canada is more practical.
If I lived in Canada, or more specifically in the regions of Canada where it's common to see parking spaces with electric outlets available for block heaters to be plugged in, then I'd strongly consider getting a block heater. But if you live here in the USA... well, you've certainly made a well-argued case for that being a waste of time and money. However, never having installed a block heater in a car, I can't speak from personal experience to say if it would be useful or not. There have certainly been bitterly cold nights, here in the Great State of Kansas, when I found it difficult or occasionally impossible to start my car after it sitting outside for hours, but I can't think of a single time when it would have been possible to plug in a block heater without a great deal of hassle in finding an outlet where I could run a long extension cord where it could be run to the car, and permission to use it. Frankly, I had not thought of that. Yeah, you're right. A gasmobile's engine will be happy as a clam* to be maintained at, say, 150° F. But you really, really don't want your li-ion pack to be maintained at a temperature above 100° F for extended periods! I asked Mr. Google about <engine block heater thermostat control>, but he said those were regulated by air temperature, not the temperature of the engine block (or the battery pack in our case). So no help there! *Random thought: Are clams especially happy, and if so, why?
