Given urban Clarity PHEV owners may conceivably go months between gas fill-ups, might there be a benefit to adding a fuel stabilizer at the pump? For reference, the following article suggest gasoline can start to deteriorate after only 30 days in a car's fuel tank, http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/car-technology/a14457491/winter-storage-tips-stabil-and-other-fuel-stabilizer-additives/ One of this forum's contributors mentioned not having used any gas since purchasing their Clarity. I think I've used the ICE twice in my initial 500 miles.
Our boat has a 50 gallon tank which I fill at the end of boating season. I may or may not remember to add stabilizer each year. We've had the boat for 8 years and I've never noticed a difference in boat performance at the beginning of the new season. Our weather is such that we don't do any kind of winterizing for the winter period, other than some years adding a stabilizer if I remember to do so. The car has the advantage of motion to keep the fuel mixed whereas the boat just sits. I would think adding a stabilizer would be beneficial under certain circumstances. If you truly know you won't be using the ICE for a couple of months then yes. In our case I can think of a number of out-of-town trips that would bring the ICE on line in less than two months between trips so I don't think I'll bother.
The Clarity uses a pressurized fuel tank to preserve fuel freshness like the Volt, and I assume will run fuel maintenance if given long enough. I would not put in fuel stabilizers.
On my grandpa's farm, they kept gasoline in an elevated tank, and used that to fill up the few pieces of farm equipment which ran on gasoline, such as the small Ford tractor. I'm sure that the average age of the fuel was more than one month old most of the time, because that tank got filled quite rarely. So far as I know, that was never a problem. As I understand it, the Volt is engineered to keep track of the age of the fuel, and to burn it off as necessary to keep the average age less than one year. I can't speak with authority on this subject, but it seems to me that suggesting the fuel may go bad after just one month seems like someone wants to sell us some unnecessary fuel additive.
I have not been to the gas station yet and I’m just rolled 2600 miles. I will be using stabil 360 which is gears toward marine applications. It creates a vapor which helps prevents corrosion. While not an issue for a plastic tank there are some small metal pieces. I do use it in my classics Cara with metal tanks so I also have it on-hand.
Also if you can use ethanol free gasoline. It will store longer and not absorb moisture as readily. Also try to keep the tank full will help keep the fuel from oxidizing.
Considering you would only use 3 oz from a small $8 bottle of Stabil and be good for 2 years it might be worth it. The price per oz of the bigger bottles is much better if you have other equipment to protect.
I live in Florida and stocked up with regular 10% ethanol gasoline in gas cans for hurricane Matthew. The gasoline that I did not use for my generator, I have been burning in my Honda lawnmower. I stabilized the fuel with Stabil. I filled my gas cans up again for hurricane Irma and got to run my generator for just 3 hours before power was restored. Needless to say, I had a lot of gasoline left over. I have finally used all the "Matthew" gasoline and am now using the 1.5 year old "Irma" gasoline. My mower is running fine. My gas cans are sealed and stored at a fairly stable temperature. The Clarity fuel system is sealed even better. The owner's manual does not contain any recommendation to use fuel additives. I'm not going to second guess Honda engineering.
For me this is all somewhat academic since I will regularly exceed the electric range plus the economic advantage is barely there in NJ with expensive electric and cheap gas.
It costs less than $20 to let the engine run and burn the fuel in the tank. And at today’s gas prices many of you will save $20, or more, in electricity to do so... The Clarity fuel system is sealed tight like Fort Knox...you won’t find a better place to keep it fresh for a maximum amount of time, it’s fully isolated from the atmosphere. Stabilizer is completely unnecessary. Just don’t plug in, burn some fuel, and fill up the tank once or twice a year. Treat yourself to a road trip maybe, it does a mind good. It also will prolong the life of engine oil seals to run the engine periodically.
Can we use the Clarity tank to store gas for other purposes? Modern cars have anti siphoning devices so probably not easy to bypass. Too bad. I have a small portable generator (Yamaha EF2000is) I use from time to rare time that I would love not to have to store gas for it. Maybe someone has some neat ideas on how to leverage the amazingly sealed nature of the Clarity gas tank.
No, you didn't!! lol It would be hard to get it out - probably impossible... (think of sucking on the hose days...) I run my small geny empty and store it until I need another use, when it gets a small Coke bottle of fresh gas.
