Consumer Reports has just released a short review of the Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. Writing up a post about the review fell to me at the InsideEVs website. I thought they really failed to mention a number of the car's positive points. I'm not sure some of their criticisms were entirely valid either. There will probably be a number of comments, and possibly questions, about the Clarity beneath the post, so if you are inclined, please check them out and maybe lend an ear. Of course, I also took the opportunity to let readers know about this awesome community and their questions can find answers here.
Domenick, there are many posts already on the CR review. All except one of us have found it to be sorely lacking and highly inaccurate with respect to its horrible reliability rating for the Clarity. The main faults mentioned on the forum were the small sample size of a low selling model and the fact that CR lumped all problems major and minor together. So as one poster said, a simple software update to correct HV Range estimate which has no drive ability issue is given the same weighting and status as a transmission exploding. It’s a shame, CR used to be much better at their reviews and reliability ratings. I stopped subscribing and paying attention a while back.
I see now that the video was originally published on the 13th. It was just assigned to a writer (me) today, so I thought it was a little fresher. In any case, I mostly wanted the community here to know that it was posted so they could voice their concerns and possibly respond to commenters on the news site if they wished. Thanks for the heads up, Ken.
One of the big criticisms is the push button controls. This is just a question of habit since they all work. I remember when I got my first Prius in 2006, every time I got to the turn at the bottom of my street, my foot would reach for the clutch and my hand would reach for the stick. When i got my Prius Plugin in 2012, I would constantly reach for the gear on the dashboard where it no longer was. (Now it's back on the dash in the Prius Prime.) With my Clarity, I still have to remind myself not to reach for the parking brake with my foot, but in the fullness of time all this stuff will become second nature. The problem with reviewers is that they do not have the time to relearn and so it all feels strange and irritating.
I took the opportunity to vent where you posted the video on the main InsideEVs page. Venting made me feel good.
