$1.49 unleaded. It may bee time to unplug the Clarity...sigh...

It could be worse. You could have purchased your car a year and a half ago for your long commute and free charging at work, only to have been laid off a week before the virus hit. Then youd be paying $600/month for a car that idles in the driveway with no new job to take it to anywhere on the horizon.

Like me But I am healthy and, not to sound like a cliche, that's the most important thing.

I'm not trying to give you a hard time I am just venting.

 

@Geor99 ,

You may have brought up the most important point in this entire thread. Best wishes, and I sincerely hope that we all get through this with our health, financial security, and our unique vehicles intact! This too shall pass...

Tailwinds,
Cash

 

Ok, I’ll accept full responsibility for suggesting that we stay on topic. Please forgive me.

I’ve been on this forum since we bought the car last August. Prior to that the only other forum I’ve been active on, is an RV forum for that past 3-4 years. No Facebook, no Twitter, which I’ve heard can be ruthless.

On the RV forum, you have to post as though you’re corresponding with the Queen of England, otherwise someone will get their knickers in a twist and report you to the authorities who will issue warnings, and in the case of serious offenses, give points, which are bad.

The rules are very vague, which works to the moderators advantage as they can claim that someone has violated any rule they choose to create. They will never tell you what you’ve done that violated the unspoken rules. It isn’t even explained how many points are required to get kicked off the island. It has happened to many members, who simply rejoin under a new name. So it is all rather childish.

I’m happy to be among adults who seem capable of withstanding a bit of friendly banter.

 

There are people here in Michigan driving around, looking for operating non-essential businesses and calling 911 on them. In response, the police are asking people to cool it on the 911 calls from vigilante business-monitors.

On this forum, however, we don't need to call 911. We have our excellent moderator, @Domenick, to keep us from going too far astray (usually only when people forget to be civil).

 

That sounds like non-essential travel. Was anyone reporting the vigilantes?

 

They can always claim they're on their way to buy food or prescriptions.

 

A poster put a chart on the Facebook Clarity page comparing cost of electric mileage vs. gas mileage.

With our electricity at $0.06 a kWh gas has to drop to below $0.85 a gallon to break even. I doubt I'll ever go all gas driving in the Clarity.

 

Putting a 10 year old battery in a 10 year old car may be a poor choice. Why not put in a new one?

Speculating on the future cost of LiFePo batteries, in 8-10 years, a new replacement HV battery for a Clarity may sell for 25% of what it sells for today. Or, there may be improvements in battery technology that allow for the installation of a battery with increased range and life expectancy at a price that is less than current technology.

AZLithium has offered individual Clarity batteries, a ~48V/1.2kWh unit, for around $250. 14 units would replace the entire 17kWh battery for $3500 plus labor. They obviously have the ability to disassemble the vehicle. More batteries will come to market as more Clarities are sold and wrecked.

Ace Hybrid Group in Stanton, Ca specializes in rebuilding and replacing Hybrid vehicle batteries. Clarity is not currently in their repertoire but it’s only a matter of time.

It could cost significantly less to replace the battery in 10 years than what you imagine today. Other factors to consider would be the cost of gasoline and electricity in 10 years in addition to any new legislation or regulations that may develop over that time period.

 

I put my Clarity in storage for the winter and suspended the insurance because I had the option to drive my daughter's car as the winter beater while she is away at college and not needing a car. I was looking forward to getting the Clarity out of storage as spring arrived, but now I'm not commuting due to state mandate and burning cheap gas in my daughter's car for limited driving for necessities. So it's not worth putting the insurance back on the Clarity, which is about double what it costs to insure my daughter's car. Not complaining because either way I am saving quite a bit of money combined between gas, electricity, and insurance. But I do miss driving the Clarity....