My Clarity has driven about 1200 miles since the last gas fill before Christmas. Not as many miles as some in these forums but still great as far as I am concerned. Drove to do some skiing today with some family. I live in Eugene, destination near Willamette pass known as Gold Lake snow park about 70 miles away and of course up the mountain pass. A little less than 1/2 tank remaining. I know the route well, and a year after owning Clarity know a little about how it works thanks mainly to these forums. It's always a little hubbub getting everyone on the road, and decided not to fill up before leaving. In my past I always (as a matter of course) filled up gas tank before going to mountain just to be safe. I think i had about 140 miles estimated HV range, and maybe 170 total estimated range with EV at trip start for about a 70 mile go and return trip ( or about 140 total miles). But here's where the knowledge comes in. I knew one might be cutting it a little close, but realized coming down the mountain one basically gets those miles for free (or better gains range). Got to the ski location with about 90 miles estimated remaining (HV+EV). And one might think I need 70 miles of range just to get home. But I knew this isn't true with Clarity. Also keep in mind at 40mpg, that's just less than 2 gallons of gas. Which on any other car would be concerning. There's a town called Oakridge about 25 miles from the destination with gas stations. Didn't stop there on the way up either. Got to destination with 70 HV miles remain, and 20 EV, or about 90 miles remaining total. No worry. Had a great day visiting with family and skiing. Driving down, I knew there would be a near zero cost between ski spot and Oakridge. Turned out correct. I actually gained range coming down. I arrived at Oakridge with 103 total estimated miles due to the steep down hill 25 miles, then filled up gas. A full tank cost about $14.00 (about 5 gallons of gas) then back to town. Anyway, I marvel at the long down hill and how efficiently our Clarity does. It comes at little, or no cost, or in some cases an increase in range. Try that in any gas mobile! At best a gas car can optimize coasting down hill to minimize fuel use, but can't increase range along the way. -Dan PS: Technically speaking I knew I could go home without fill. But one advantage of rarely filling is to seek out best pricing. Oakridge is a small town with low gas taxes. So the per-gallon cost was easily 30 cents per gallon less than at home. i.e. I can sometimes wait for opportune fill-up timing
The car certainly has some wonderful features. Be sure to take the EV Range mileage estimate after a long descent with a grain of salt. The last time I crested the Siskiyou Summit heading NB on I-5, EV range increased from 50 to 80 on the descent into the Rogue valley. The battery gauge only added one bar. After a full charge, EV range the following morning showed 102.
I think our Claritys have a different software load. Under any condition, my EV range will *never* show 50 or more miles. Cannot happen, and never will. My EV range up the mountain got down to about 10 miles of estimated EV range, and when I got to Oakridge, I believe it was 22. With little HV range used on the trip down. Anyway, the numbers on your (landshark's pictures) literally cannot happen on my car. If you like seeing numbers this high, don't ever get SB 18-097 applied to your car... I will also add, my EV range estimates have been pretty accurate. i.e. if my car this time of year says 30 EV. When I get to 0 EV range left, I'm usually around 28 actual miles (it's always a couple miles less than estimate), and when that happens the gas engine turns on. So it's very predictable. I never get wild estimates, they're very consistent in my case. -Dan PS: I am assuming the software patches I've had the dealer apply to my car is what changed my EV range. I'm not 100% sure this is the reason but it seems logical.
Ours is a 2019, manufactured 5/19. We’ve had it since Aug, 2019. I will add that this was the first and only time that the displayed EV range was so high, despite having made similar descents several times. We do get very close to the “normal” displayed EV range, which is 50-60 in temps above 60F. This would be for city, residential and some freeway driving. Freeway driving only will reduced actual range to the low 40’s. In colder temperatures, displayed and actual range drops to ~35-40. The car is kept in an attached, unheated garage that rarely gets below 40F.
Landshark- My Clarity sat on the lot for around 4 months. The dealer never charged it. I got the 'angry bees' sound all the way home the day I drove it home. I secretly suspect my car doesn't have quite the range of a "normal" Clarity, but I am OK with the range I get. I will say, the pic you attached shows a range few Clarity owners will ever see, even coming down a mountain. I also wonder if folks estimated range matches actual gauged by the trip meter/s. I have mine set to auto-reset A for each time I charge, and auto-reset B each fill of gas.
The estimated EV range on our 2019 matches our actual as long as we drive consistently with our past driving - and the temperature hasn't changed too much. We typically drive 12.5 miles to and from work and around town using surface streets. Stop and go. Regen braking. Several times now I've started our 12.5 mile work drive with 13.5 or 14 miles EV range and pulled in with 1-2 miles remaining. If the temperature goes up we will get more actual than the EV range than the car calculated from colder temps. Goes down we will get fewer miles. If we get on the freeway and drive 70 mph we will get fewer. If we started driving freeway all the time the car will eventually recalc the EV range and it will match our actual pretty well.
