5 year reflection and assessment of Clarity

I have a father-in-law that used to make fun of EVs. To my surprise he bought an EV6 but got hit with the 12v battery problem some of those users have. It's been in the dealer so much for repair it may qualify for some lemon law. Anyway, after owning a problematic EV6 for a year, he mentioned to me the other day that maybe he bought an EV too soon, and should of considered a PHEV. I was a bit speechless (as that has been my opinion all along), and I never tell anyone I told you so (and especially not family). But yeah, PHEVs to me really are a perfect blend given limited availability of EV chargers, range, etc. Plus the fact that for many of us, even with a "small" PHEV battery, our commute is 100% electric.

 

Sharp eyes! With only 48 leased in Southern California, it might be easy for most of us to have blinked and missed the signage.
Terry

 

Yes, I do use non-ethanol gas but I also put the car in EV mode and burn out the gas when it is about 1 year old.

 

It's good you get rid of your old gas, but you use HV for that, right? Or do you use HV+ to use up your gas as quickly as possible?

 

I just use HV to burn up the old gas. HV+ runs the engine at a higher rpm and now I've been electric for over 6 years I hate engine noise.

 

Had my 2018 Clarity for five years. Will reach 100k miles in couple of months. Like my Clarity. Currently get 33 EV miles at 55F and 47 EV miles at 95F. Similar dilemma. Don't want to spend too much on 100k maintenance or replace battery if there is problem down the road. Honda dealer offer 12K for my Clarity. Based on latest rule, used Clarity qualifies $7500 tax credit. Which means someone could get 5 years old Clarity for less than 5k If I sell my Clarity at that price. That seems a great deal. On the other hand, lack of PHEV/EV choices at current market, I may have to keep my Clarity longer. I don't understand why so many PHEV/EV are pricer than Tesla model y/3 after tax credit.

 

A used vehicle tax credit is $4k, but if you are willing to sell that car for $12k someone is going to be a happy camper at $8k net. Personally I wouldn’t sell my 2018 for $12k.

 

Dealer pays $12K then lists car for $16K or higher, knowing they can dangle a $4K credit in front of the next buyer.

Now, if dealer A is paying $12K and dealer B is selling the same or similar car for $12K, then sell to A and buy from B and pocket $4K, less taxes, title and registration.

 

I haven’t been paying all that much attention to pricing, but I did see a non-touring 2018 with 60k miles being offered by a dealership at $19k and change. I doubt that an offer at $12k is going to sit for long anywhere.

 

Can you sell for yourself/family member, pocket the credit, repeat next year?

 

The two biggest cash cows for a new car dealership are USED cars and the service department. Landshark's post (#28) is exactly how that would go down.

 

No.

 

After 5-years of operation: I noticed the Clarity engine management system keeps the gas-engine load close to 72% when it is running. This is probably the most efficient range for engine operation.

I had been told the Clarity / hybrid system would maintain RPM for peak efficiency, but it seemed like RPM jump more than my experience with other cars. When I transferred my OBDII to my old Sable, I noticed RPM on the Sable was a narrow range, but engine load went from 15-100%

My Clarity is a little over 230K miles, but it is currently parked in the garage. It will not pass the New York State inspection. I am planning to complete the accident repairs to get it back in operation, someday?

 

There's no environmental quality check where I live (smaller population city). By "not pass the New York State inspection" do you mean your Clarity is polluting the air when it burns gasoline more than a "normal" car? Or do you mean yours got in a wreck and is deemed unsafe to drive? If its the former, when the Clarity is running the gas engine do you see black/smoky exhaust or similar? Just curious.

 

NY has a Safety inspection in addition to an Emissions inspection.

The subject vehicle has massacred several deer and is currently Macgyvered together with duct tape and baling wire.

 

You're right, the first, in which the GM assured us WE the people didn't want PHEVs was from 2019, the second one with the prophecies of a future GM miracle from January 30, 2024. I checked the Hornet and didn't impress me too much, but now here in LV there is a lot of TV advertising of (its cousin?/brother?) the Alfa Romeo Tonale. It looks good (on pictures), and it seems to be many readily available, but still 30 mile EV range leaves me wanting after being used to the 55-60 of my Clarity. Now there is an incoming Mazda CX-70 PHEV, but with no specs revealed. Around 15 years ago I had a CX-7 , and I was pretty happy with it. Maybe the CX-70 hits the spot. Unless Toyota makes the RAV-4 Prime available in a way one can make a test drive before deciding. My back doesn't allow me to buy a car before sitting on it, driving it and being 100% sure I can get in and out of it easily and without getting a back spasm.
I agree with you 100% on the politician agenda part. The can get really creative... Not so sure about the profit part, I would need to know more about how PHEVs are not profitable, but I bet it's not because of lack of demand. Back in 2019 (right when GM president said there was no demand for PHEVs) in SoCal when I went to my closest Honda dealer looking for the unadvertised Clarity I saw and fell in love at the LA autoshow, all were sold out, the next one didn't have Tourings available, and I had to go to another dealer 25 miles away to get one...

 

Have owned a 2018 Clarity since 2021 (bought it used, 19k miles, and now have 53k miles). Our experience with it has been overwhelmingly positive- we love it!

We run it almost entirely as an EV. Probably buy 50 gallons of gas a year. So we really like the emissions reduction aspect of Clarity ownership. Have not made the effort to assess battery capacity, even though I am curious.

We have had no real issues with it. Have had to replace brakes. And have had our share of flat tires (nails in the tires or other hitting other debris). Both of these issues could be related to the car being so heavy, and that we are doing so much local driving (encountering potholes, local construction sites). But other than that - have benefited from quality Honda engineering and manufacturing.

Our son has a 2023 Honda Accord hybrid (they don't make a plug-in version). It gets 45-47mpg in most conditions. In driving it, it behaves a good deal like the Clarity. I expect there is a fair degree of part commonality between the Clarity and the Accord hybrid (at least, thinking this way makes me sleep better as my Clarity ages). So if my Clarity goes kaput, and there is no comparable PHEV on the market to buy, I would probably go with the Accord hybrid, and regress a bit on my journey towards lowering emissions.

And here is a discussion point to put to the forum:
There is another 2018 Clarity on our street - with low mileage. Owner died (murdered) 2 1/2 years ago. Victim's family still so shaken (and reside out of state) that they cannot bring themselves to go through the victim's possessions and sell things off. Clarity has sat there in the driveway for 2 1/2 years. I had expressed interest in the car, and also offered to help the family market it, but no response. What do the forum experts have to say about the risks of leaving the car idle like this for 2 1/2 years? In NewEngland? How compromised might the traction battery be?

 

Started my EV journey with a 2014 Nissan Leaf bought in 2017. It was a third car in the family, so the short range wasn't an issue. Bought the Clarity in 2018 because of the great lease deals, and have loved it ever since. It has over 90,000 miles now. Have had various other lower priced EVs in the meantime, but the Clarity remains our road trip car as I don't want to deal with charging on road trips. Shopping for a used Volkswagen ID.4 right now to replace our Hyundai Ioniq Electric. My wife doesn't care about the ID.4 because she's so happy with her Clarity!

 

Mine got in a wreck, and is deemed unsafe to drive... I will probably fix it again, but too many projects in front of it.

 

The traction battery may not have been significantly compromised. Lithium batteries do not self-discharge as rapidly as wet cell batteries. It is entirely possible that the battery has not reached a SOC that would be considered damaging. The battery is also still under warranty.

The 12V battery will need to be replaced.