I still love my Clarity and would buy it again in an instant, despite the few very minor eccentricities it has. I added one this week: After looking all over the screen and then doing a careful search of the full manual I noted that the USB player does not have a pause button!
Yep. The only way to pause USB stored music is to hit the power button. This is a definite oversight in the design.
meant to say that I will be a long time before charging an ev will be as quick pumping gas. That and the cost of these vehicles will slow their dominance in the market.
I hear you on every one of the points you make and candidly cannot disagree with any. The last car I owned with rear wheel skirts was a 1954 Pontiac, and at least those were removable. All of this said, I decided to pull the trigger on the 2018 Clarity notwithstanding these issues. I wasn't willing to take the risk that the $7,500 federal income tax PHEV credit won't just go away sometime soon, and I know that the available funding for the Texas state $2,500 rebate will not last long either. In my case, that is a total of $10,000 FOR SURE applied to the vehicle's cost, cost of fuel, cost of insurance, etc. I am happy to accept that versus a gamble that these incentives won't be there this time next year, or that the price of the vehicle itself will increase for 2019 models. To me, that is all worth a lot of radio knobs. And since my previous car was pre-2016, the technology in this car is like "Star Wars" to me anyway. Even the rear wheel skirts look better to me in this light. Or it could just be that my "senior" sense of taste and sight is in decline. Anyway, you should consider this viewpoint as you make your final decision.
JayR, As for the skirts that is a personal issue. I don't even notice them. The trunk isn't that bad. Yes I would prefer a hatchback but I'm sure the Clarity design was to reduce weight. We sold our 2015 Prius which had gobs of trunk space and the lift back. We've done okay with the 15.5 cu ft which is pretty usable. The split 60/40 seats are also a disapointment because it is more like a large pass-thru. Still we recently put our 8 year old son's new bicycle in the car by lowering the 60% side and putting the front wheel through the opening. There will be no changes for the 2019 model year.
You're asking for a logical explanation for a reaction which is completely emotional. That's not possible. No matter what the styling, you'll find some people will say they love it, and others say that it's one of the ugliest things they've ever seen. Whoever first said "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" had real insight into human nature!
Barring a major redesign of the body, they have to stay. If they were dropped without improving the rest of the car's aerodynamics, then both the car's range rating and its energy efficiency rating would suffer.
I believe Honda will leave the Clarity alone however..... https://www.motor1.com/news/249808/2019-honda-pilot-phev-spied/ The 2019 Pilot has been spotted with PHEV drive..... i wonder what they updated. I have read the Odyssey hybrid has a lot of new features, my co-worker has the Accord 2018 hybrid and loves it! I do like having the PHEV option. Have fun.....
I'm sure some people do feel that way, but my suggestion is take some of your $7500 tax rebate to your favorite body shop along with the following picture and say "make it look like this".
Every time someone complains about the Clarity "wheel cover" I recall Crocodile Dundee saying "That's not a knife." when a punk pulls out a tiny switchblade to rob him and Dundee responds by pulling out his giant Bowie knife and saying, "That's a knife."
I purchased the Honda Clarity after driving the Volt, and BMW. Had a MB CLA 250 and considering the very inexpensive price of the car I’ve been pleased with the purchase. My wife wouldn’t let me purchase an all electric car yet so the Tesla was out along with the Leaf and other EVs. My daily commute is 21.5 miles one way (43 total) with over 35 of them on 65+ mph highways. The only time I need to use the HOV mode is during the winter or on those days I decided to use the sport mode. The minute the temperature was over 60F the battery carried the load. Have taken a few trips, have over 7,000 miles and have put in 37 gallons of gas and as best as can be figured am getting about 180 MPGe. Have used a total of 1752 KWh with my daily average being around 13 KWh using a Siemens L2 EVSE with WI-FI connectivity. Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
I would love for the Clarity to have a glass solar roof like the tesla and side mirror signals would be nice. I live in the North East so heated steering wheel should have been included with touring. Other than that, this car is amazing and I dig the looks more and more. It is unique and stands out from any other car.
I had the 2014 version of the Accord Hybrid (now a Clarity owner) and thought it was great too. In addition to the incredible Honda hybrid engineering, it also looked like any other Accord on the road (with the exception of a badge or two), and I thought this was an additional strength in terms of appeal to the masses out there. That Accord Hybrid "converted" me from a Hemi V-8 Jeep Cherokee guy to hybrids and PHEVs. Clarity is just the latest, greatest from Honda in my view, but stay tuned! From what I can read, there are lots of interesting new EV models to come from Honda and other manufacturers in the next few years.
I'm pretty sure after the tax credits and state rebates, Clarity is cheaper than an Accord Hybrid with similar configuration. And I doubt the Accord has better material than Clarity considering its Japanese counterpart sells for US$50K. And I don't understand the "2016 technology" claim.
The Clarity was based on electronic 1designs from the 2016 Civic, so it doesn't offer newer details like integrated front and rear parking sensors and blind spot warning system.
New to clarity.. is there a camera display when we signal left or is it available only when we signal right? Please help.
Claritys are made with cameras only on the opposite side of the driver. In a left hand driver, it will be on the right front passenger side. RHD will be on opposite side.
I assume Honda didn't think it would be safe to have you looking right to view the screen when you're turning left.