Power System Error + Check Engine Light + Sudden Battery Charge Drop

Interesting experience. Sounds like Honda will be doing the right thing for you.
Just curious whether you had any hints of developing issues before yesterday?

 

Likely a bad cell. At least one other owner had the same issue. The fix as you now know, is to replace the entire battery.

 

Not a bad deal - get a near new car (if they don't drop in used pack) at that mileage

 

It’s always a challenge to know what Honda is up to. I have a hunch that they aren’t salvaging used batteries.

 

The Clarity BEVs are all being dismantled when turned back in, and each has 1.5 PHEV batteries.
Looking at the First Responders diagrams, it is likely that the BEV literally has one PHEV pack + one of a different design that adds the additional 50%
https://www.nfpa.org/Training-and-Events/By-topic/Alternative-Fuel-Vehicle-Safety-Training/Emergency-Response-Guides/Honda

 

AngryBees! <kidding>

I experienced similar behavior when the original battery in an older Prius died. Turtle mode=engine only

It's nearly a given that one (or two) modules failed while the remainder of the pack is still fine. After warranties begin ending fleet wide, finding places/dealers that will repair/replace the bad module(s) will become a thing. How difficult/labor intensive pack removal is will be an important factor too.

 

Going by current prices, how many owners would spend $7,000 to have 15 year old battery technology installed in a 10+ year old car?

 

This.

Can't answer the hypothetical but past experience has shown battery prices do drop (often a lot) over time.

Another thing to consider, a new pack means "like new" performance again in terms of acceleration, power, range, etc so its bang-4-buck is higher than other types of expensive repairs like electronics, a/c, transmissions, sunroof, etc. IOW, this type of repair makes more sense/cents for the owner. Folks that face a new ICE replacement fall into this category too. Lots of prius owners are facing that right now as that high miles gen 3 engines are showing a propensity of grenading due to a lack of maintenance of the emissions systems. Now an owner could buy a new engine for $12,000 or replace with a used one for $1,500. What do you think most do?

Personal example: 2006 prius battery failure 5 years ago. $4,000 quotes. Found 3rd party would do OEM for $2200 installed. Last year, sold vehicle for approx. $1500 more than others in similar condition to a savvy buyer the first day it was for sale. YMMV. Back to the present, OEM prices are now down to $1900 and $1650 for new aftermarket (chinese cells) while some dealers will still fish for $4,000 sales.

 

A “new” pack may mean that it simply surpasses minimum capacity standards. That’s anything over ~36Ah’s.

Right now, I’d speculate that the $7K dealer installed modules are new factory units with ~55Ah’s of capacity and the warranty will remain at 8-10 years from the original date of purchase. How much capacity will there be in a post warranty, 3rd party discount battery with a 90-day or 12-month warranty?

I know, it’s an unanswerable hypothetical.

When a post warranty battery failure occurs, each owner will need to make an individual decision on how to proceed. The “bang-4-buck” theory is only good until another failure occurs. That could be day 91 or day 366. Any out of pocket expense for a battery replacement is a gamble.

 

Like many here, I really like the Clarity so if I need a new battery pack under warranty at 70K miles that would be fine. Each person's situation and expectations are a bit different, but the calculation I did when I bought Clarity was to assume it would be my car for at least 10 years. Now if that ends up being 16 years like my last car, cool. But I'd be disappointed with anything less than 10. It's also part of why I bought the 8 year warranty (the longest duration I could). I realized it was a low-volume boutique car and didn't want any issues finding parts (or paying unreasonably high price for parts) during most of those years.

So yeah, the expectations will vary a lot, i.e. own vs. lease, plan to drive until wheels come off, vs. someone who buys a new car every 3 years etc.
If you know you want to drive Clarity as long as possible, getting a new battery pack without cost is a decent deal.

 

I’m in the same boat. A no cost replacement battery under warranty is a no-brainer. It’s the post-warranty replacement with an out of pocket expense that would demand careful consideration.

 

If you are very technically inclined (and interested), you may have fun gearing up to obtain the battery capacity yourself.

While you still have the 'bad' unit, you could query a lot of information. There are 168 individual cells in the HV battery. They are organized as two "Banks" of 84 cells in series (hence a nonimal voltage of 84 * 3.7 = 310V). The Battery Capacity is reported for each "Bank", so it may be that one of your banks would show good, and the other would show bad. It is possible to read out the voltage of every one of the 168 cells individually.

I know that it is a rare bird who has this level of technical interest, but if you are one of these birds, this thread will tell you how to do it !!
https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/budget-battery-capacity-readout.10531/

 

Did the service tech advise against fully charging the battery? If not, charge it up and measure your actual range.

Battery A and battery B can be measured separately and individual cells can be measured as well. I do not know if the vehicle is capable of isolating A or B while in operation.

 

All three versions are shown here. Just make sure the BLE4.0 is the one selected.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XGB4873/ref=twister_B08M5MCFK1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

 

That may have been me. I asked if they advised against fully charging the battery.

From your description, the car appears to be behaving as if it is operating with no battery, rather than half the battery, as the service tech stated. I was hesitant to jump on yet another service tech for making questionable statements about the operation of the car, but I now question that statement made by the tech.