Clarity Issues

I have noticed this "battery leakage" situation as well. EV range drops when HV mode is enabled. I wonder if HV mode lasted long enough, then would EV range would drop to zero? Sort of defeats the purpose of HV mode, if one wants to preserve their battery range for later.

 

EV range is an estimate that I think is based on charge level AND recent history. I think that what is probably changing is the recent history. The same thing can happen on the Chevy Volt, but it sounds like you guys are seeing more change in the range than I have ever seen on my Volt. Neither the Clarity nor the Volt have a way to display the charge level of the battery (which would be analogous to gallons of fuel left). On the Volt, you can look at the kWh used since last charge. Is there any way to see that info on the Clarity? If so, watch that to see if it is going up.

Also, on the Volt and I presume on the Clarity, the battery is still being used in Hold mode (HV mode on the Clarity). The car is trying to keep the battery level roughly constant over the long term. Same as it does when the battery is "empty", just at a different level. Perhaps the Clarity has a wider window that considers to be the same battery level.

 

We had a high of 43F today! "Claire" sat out in the driveway basking in the sun most of the day, while I gently tugged at the rime ice and snow on the solar array.

With lows of -19F (before the wind chill factor) and highs of 6-8F, highway driving at 72, and lots of heat, I'm down to 30 miles of EV range. Other than driving gently because that is how I drive, I don't really care about the EV miles anymore (gave up at the first Gen 1 volt). Funny, I realized the other day that taking the Clarity out for an hour or so (I work out of a home office, semi-retired too) is as much fun as a private pilot renting a small plane for an hour. That might fade eventually, but for now, it very enjoyable to drive it.

 

There are claimed ranges and the realistic ones. Once you've driven PHEV for awhile, you'll get a feeling for what your real miles look like - and it depends greatly on the season of the year, how aggressively you accelerate, where you drive, etc. Lots of variables here. I know that in the Prius PHEV, there was always a difference between what I saw on the range-o-meter and how much I range actually got. Freeway speeds (or what passed for them in the Prius PHEV) really cut into range, while downhill (even gentle) helps preserve it. I still haven't found a "coast" on the Clarity - even when I attach the ScanGauge II, I haven't yet found any condition where the ICE and motor both shut off (giving you infinite mileage). This was fairly easy to achieve on the Prius PHEV.

Over the lifetime of your car, you will also notice a range reduction - it took until last year for my 2012 Prius PHEV to show a decline, so EV range was pretty consistent for about 5 years.

 

I understand and agree with all of the “averaging” and “estimate” discussion here, but it is cast iron that the mine bled down from 46 miles range to the 14 during this trip - that’s not acceptable.

 

What you might want to do is use one of the trip odometers to get some mileage data on this. If one gauge says 'half full' and another shows 13 miles, then you need a way to know how many EV miles you actually getting from a full charge. If that number seems very low, it's a much easier discussion if/when you take it in to the dealer. The HV "HOLD" feature feels like a wild card. I'll have a good opportunity to test the HV Hold feature next week. We'll see what happens.

 

It has been a colder-than-average winter in Cincinnati so far this season and I have yet to see my full ev range show a number higher than 38. I wonder what the weather will have to be to show the listed full of 47.

 

Once it gets into the 50-60s you'll be gold. March-April. It might also go back down a little in the heat of the summer - like when it's 90º every day for a month. The sweet spot for batteries and ambient temp seems to be between 55º - 80º. The extremes play havoc on range. Living in San Diego, our extremes are within the sweet spot. Unfortunately, the cost of living here is not really in anyone's sweet spot.

 

One further thought on this Clarity issue. I find the fuel gauge (graphical depiction, not the numerical readout of gas range) to be reasonably accurate. However on the electric side, it’s reversed. The graphical readout is whacked, but the numerical readout seems reasonably accurate. Weird.

I wonder if there’s any hope of Honda refining this.

 

Surely this can be fixed in software - I know it’s probably not Hugh on their priority list, but it is a usability issue.

Another thought - why can’t the HV Charge mode be used up to 80% instead of 57% - any ideas out there about that?

 

Has anyone figured out a workaround for the Sirius-xm issue other than just leaving the car off for some indeterminate length of time? I'm having it too, and, while certainly a first-world type problem, it's very annoying.

 

I found no way to avoid it, but when it does occur, I simply hold the radio power button down until it reboots. At least that why, when on the road, you don't have to pull over and turn the car off and back on again.

 

Thanks so much, Ken. Works perfectly.


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What - no BSOD?

 

I have't specifically noticed the water, but if you haven't been under the car yet, almost the entire bottom (including the wheel wells) is a 'felt' type of material that seems to hold water like a sponge. There are also some pretty big areas that I would imagine can hold a lot of water (the plastic under the pinch welds, the 'corrugated' style metal under the battery pack.) It might just be dripping off of all of those places?

 

I had an opportunity to test this out yesterday in my Clarity. I started out the trip immediately in HV mode. From a initial estimate of 47.8 EV miles, the EV miles steadily eroded to 39.8, but then stopped. I reached my destination and on the way back drove in Eco mode. I had the SGII plugged in, and the ICE never fired up. The trip was 37 road miles in each direction. I used the same route for both trips. When I arrived at home my EV mileage remaining was 14.2, and according to HondaLink app, the battery was 28%. So apparently I ended up with more than 39.8 EV miles (when the erosion stopped), and more than even the original estimate of 47.8 EV miles. What I need to do now is find a slightly longer trip, one that exhausts the EV range completely.

So yes, going from 46 miles to 14 during your trip - particularly once you put it into HV - is something to talk about especially if it continues.

 

On the return trip yesterday (approx 300 miles) it only bled down about 14 EV miles, but I still don't get that - why should it lose anything while in HV mode?