Heating the Car

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by Atul Thakkar, Oct 15, 2018.

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  1. AnthonyW

    AnthonyW Well-Known Member

    Also see the very first attachment on the very first post of the thread below called AC system description.

    Honda Service Express Bulletins for 2018 Clarity PHEV
    https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/Honda-Service-Express-Bulletins-for-2018-Clarity-PHEV.2183/


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  3. Vezz66

    Vezz66 Member

  4. Eric1978a

    Eric1978a New Member

    Would it make sense to you then to pre-condition maybe 40 minutes before the AM commute, that way the car has 10 minutes to charge back up before leaving? Or is that not enough time?
    I'd like to precondition the car as well as possible in the winter, so that the battery doesn't drain too fast during the AM commute. But I'd also like to start the commute on a full charge.
     
  5. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    From the way you phrased your question, it appears you already know preconditioning cuts off after 30 minutes. If you have a Level 2 EVSE the Clarity uses that to power the climate control during preconditioning and you don't lose any charge.

    I don't know how much of the battery 30 minutes of preconditioning uses up (it depends on the outside temperature), or if you can replace that charge in just 10 minutes with the Level 1 charging cord, but 10 minutes is long enough for cold weather to suck away the heat preconditioning generates. Let us know how your experiment turns out.
     
    KentuckyKen likes this.
  6. toronto_clarity

    toronto_clarity New Member

    Thank you all. First off it was my mistake. It is the driver's seat heater that comes on not the passenger seat. Now I understand based on the page 191 / 192 of owners manual that this is normal operation, one can choose to shut off the seat heater if they don't need it.

    Seat Heaters section
    “When the ECON mode is active, the driver’s side seat Heater functions according to the status of the
    climate control system. If you want to use only the climate control system, press the seat heater button
    to OFF.”
     
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  8. Hoon

    Hoon Member

    When plugged in to a 240v, is there a way to keep the heaters running without doing precondition? For example if I have two hours to work on my laptop inside my car, how can I do this? Or if I'm camping and have access to 240V plug, is there a way to keep heater or AC on without using the battery?
     
  9. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    I haven’t tried it, but couldn’t you plug in, enter car, lock doors, and precondition with fob. I think you have to also have windows up and be careful not to press the brake, but not 100% sure on that.
    But with the car off, you would not be able to charge your lap top and with car on to energize the 12V cigarette plugs, I don’t think you can heat off external power.
     
  10. Hoon

    Hoon Member

    I tried that some time ago at a shopping mall, but it felt like there was no heat coming out. Just the fan running.
    I was plugged, entered the car, close door and all, with the remote - press lock -> hold fan for two sec. I also use Honda Link often times in the morning to heat up the interior but usually I have to try it twice because Honda app is junk.
     
  11. AnthonyW

    AnthonyW Well-Known Member

    Kentucky Ken is correct on the procedure in the first paragraph. The car will still charge when in accessory mode as long as you turn it of, start charge, get back in and start accessory mode. Then you can use the 12v accessories and ports. I used to do this all the time when I first got my Scangauge and was watching readings while charging. In this mode the HVAC blower will work but I seem to remember that neither the AC nor heat work.


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  13. Hoon

    Hoon Member

    Yeah, but I'm not concerned about 12V in the car as I don't need it. I'm also thinking of situations like camping, where if the weather was too cold to sleep in the tent, would I be able to sleep in the car with the heater powered from 240V. I wouldn't mind re-enabling climate control every 30 minutes, but I don't know if that even works while in the car.
     
  14. Atkinson

    Atkinson Active Member

    You can repeat the heat cycles as many times as needed from inside or outside the car.
    Additionally, the console USB power connector (on the left at least, but maybe more outlets) is hot while the climate control cycle is running.
     
  15. Dan Albrich

    Dan Albrich Well-Known Member

    So we know Honda's chart for pre-conditioning such that one must be in a range of temps for it to work. For example, in winter, if the car is already 50F inside, it will skip scheduled pre-conditioning because the car isn't cold enough to need it in Honda's view. I and I think we believe the settings last set have no bearing on pre-conditioning.

    The one monkey wrench I'd like to throw (non-scientific, but just experience) is that pre-conditioning in my experience isn't just one set temp. I, like others used to think it just selected 70F. i.e. too hot, too cold, whatever, just make it 70F. But a recent trip this Fall to the beach, very cold feeling morning in the 30's F, and high humidity, and in fact rainy and foggy-- kinda felt cold to your bones kinda deal early morning. I asked the car to pre-condition, and it went to 80F for sure. Which when you opened the door felt lovely-- kind of like pulling something out of the dryer on a cold winter day. But my point being is that I've seen pre-conditioning exceed 70F on a very cold wet day.

    My guess is that the car senses temperature, and makes some pre-conditioning decisions based on that.

    Also, it seems to me that Honda's chart is absolutely obeyed for scheduled pre-conditioning, but I believe I have successfully forced pre-conditioning using the FOB.
     
    Hoon likes this.
  16. Hoon

    Hoon Member

    Thanks for sharing your experience. I too noticed some mornings the preconditioning makes inside close to 80F which I like, when plugged inside garage.

    Last time I tried sitting inside the car while plugged in, maybe because I was in the car and the car decided it’s not that cold inside, it was just blowing air with no heat.

    Can we keep ignition on while plugged in so we use power from the grid? I don’t think this worked either.
     
  17. The Gadgeteer

    The Gadgeteer Active Member

    I like the feature that the Honda Link app tells you the interior temperature when the remote climate control is running.
     
    insightman likes this.
  18. JoneK

    JoneK New Member

    I bought a car heater. It is very useful in winter. With this air heater, I don't need to worry about the coldness.:D It is a great invention.
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  19. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    Interesting. Only draws 8 Amps, so I could see it not running down the 12V in the short term. And less than 4 Oz per hour of diesel, so it’s cheap heat that doesn’t reduce your EV range.
    How did you mount it? Cabin, trunk or under hood? And how did you run the air intake and exhaust if not external. And if external, where did you route the air ducts? I ask because I’m still trying to find the best way to route cabling through the firewall.
     
  20. ClarityBill

    ClarityBill Active Member

    Interesting possibility. How did you install it?
     
  21. JoneK

    JoneK New Member

    Sorry, I am on vacation now. When I go back home, I will show you the installed picture of my car heater. For now, I only saved an E-instruction on my phone.
     
  22. The Gadgeteer

    The Gadgeteer Active Member

    I seriously think you are joking. That is why the PHEV has a gas engine... to run it as needed. That is the whole point of the “H” in PHEV. Adding a heater will be a cost that will never be recouped.
     
  23. ClarityBill

    ClarityBill Active Member

    The problem with this gas engine is the waste heat is 'not' used. It seems that most of my heat comes from the resistance heater: The gas engine is used to generate electricity that goes through the resistance heater. This adds load to the undersized gas engine. I have used the entire HV battery charge, and gone to zero EV range operation, on a level interstate in a snow storm (needed to use defroster the entire time).

    I drive alot of miles (42K per year), and I may get ROI based on 75+% efficiency of an oil furnace vs. <40% efficiency of ICE-generator heat.

    A more important factor for me, this may be a band-aid for the 'weak' Honda engineering. (Should have found a way to better utilize the waste heat of the ICE, rather than add load to under-sized ICE.) I really don't like the high-rpm operation (noise) when the ICE is operating at high loads.
     

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