Clarity Purchase/Accord Hybrid Touring/RAV 4 Prime/Model Y?

You, in a way, did when you asked "What’s with all the references to millions?" in response OP's post. He was not incorect in his use of the the capital "M". The capital "M" stands for 1000 using roman numerals. So "$16.5M" means $16,500 it does not mean $16,500,000 (that would be $16.5MM). Using the lower case "k" is also acceptable (upper case could be confused for degrees Kelvin) so $16.5k and $16.5M both mean the same thing except one is based in Greek culture and one is based in Roman culture.

 

Listen, I wrote it, not you. Please don’t tell me what I meant. Trust me, I didn’t mention Roman anything. In any way.

 

In French, too, Mille=1,000, million=1,000,000, and milliard=1,000,000,000.

 

Mon Dieu!

Et aussi, la tarte est délicieuse !

 

Keep the clarity, it's a great car and the least expensive option you list.

Five years from now you'll look back and be happy you didn't spend the extra $$$.

 

I would give the benefit of the doubt and assume that our lovely OP is French-Canadian. Of course, they say they are from New Jersey, but it is still possible.
My, look at that, we are far off-topic now.

Cheers

 

After driving EV I bet you will be disappointed with the Honda Hybrid.

 

I say life is short, get something new and exciting, either RAV4 or Model Y. If you don't want to spend that much get an iD4.

 

The minimal changes have all been negative IMO. I could live with a louder pedestrian warning sound that plays when stopped and continues to a higher speed, but I like how my 2018 Clarity's cruise control slows the car with regen braking to maintain the set speed when going downhill and wouldn't want to lose that feature. Also, Honda's lost the formula to the Moonlit Forest Pearl paint, which I still really like.

 

How significant of a factor is the Dollar?

Your current car would be the lowest cost option. It has already suffered its most significant amount of depreciation. Buying a new car will start that whole process all over again. There’s more to the formula than just the $6800 buy in.

A new Clarity at $26K, net, will depreciate by a larger dollar amount over the next 3 years than your 3 year old car. A new $40-50K vehicle may depreciate by $15-20K over a 3 year period. It’s a double whammy of a larger monthly payment and greater depreciation.

Since the Clarity is on your short list, and you don’t seem 100% certain on any of the other options, it may be worth considering a buy out of your car off lease. Drive it for a year or two at a relatively low cost and maybe something will come on the market that you can’t live without.

 

I own Clarity and Model Y so I can give you my perspective.
First, Model Y is more expensive, so it's not a fair comparison.
I can give you my perspective PHEV vs BEV. It all depends on your charging network. In California, virtually supercharging everywhere, it does not make sense to get PHEV. I charge Model Y over 200 miles that take about 30mins. Not to mention charging from home. So the charging is a NO issue at all.
As for my case, again, my case only, if I could go back, I would not buy PHEV, I would buy BEV since I rarely use ICE on my Clairity since I got it. But I keep the Clarity since it's a great car
As for driving comfort, yes Model Y is very stiff. I came from big SUV Infiniti QX60, QX60 is much a smoother ride. But just like in life, nothing is perfect, I still love Model Y over QX60 since its raw power. I can have a lot of fun with MY
Model Y EPA is 320 miles per charge, I tested it out, driving in CA with little heat on, it gave me around 300 miles with fully charge at 70mph. If you go over 90mph, you would lose around 30miles
Again, to me, PHEV vs BEV is all about network charging. If you never have to worry about charging, then never get PHEV, imo.

 

I got a PHEV, and I never have to worry about charging. Ever.

 

Well, ICE people say the same thing about charging with PHEV and BEV. Since you don't like charging, you might want to go back in time to get an ICE car then. Then you truly "ever" have to worry about charging. For some reason, I get the feeling, you might buy the Clarity for the sake of tax credit, but never charge and never use the battery. Not a bad strategy either , just saying

 

How does it benefit the conversation to categorize people and divide them into groups? Why the comment on going back in time? At the present time ICE dominates car sales. Take a look at the numbers. BIG, BIG numbers.

I charge every day that I use the car. I typically drive 40-50 miles a day, almost always, completely in EV. I milk every electron out of the battery. I don’t care about charging to 100% and then completely discharging the battery every day. I never “worry” about charging the battery, doesn’t mean I never charge the battery.

Recently, I worked at a location that provided charging at no cost. I asked a coworker who drives a Model 3 and utilizes this benefit to the greatest extent possible, if he arrived at work with a nearly empty battery. He said he had charged at home to approximately 100 miles of range, so that he knew the car could make the round trip back home, if, for some reason, he could not charge at work. Space not available, power outage, etc. His round trip commute is about 30 miles. So he charged to 100 to prepare for a 30 mile trip. Why? Because he worries about charging.

I bought the car, in part, for the $7500 federal credit, and the $5000 dealer incentive, and the $2500 state rebate. It is also, currently, less expensive to operate the car on electricity than gas where I primarily operate the car.

By your standards, I should have bought a BEV. For the price, there isn’t a BEV or a PHEV that compares. And, I don’t live by your standards, feelings or opinions. You’ve completely misjudged how I operate the car. Why would I take your advice on which car to buy?