2018 Clarity Electric to 2021 Clarity Fuel Cell ???

I leased a Clarity Fuel Cell from 2017 to 2021. At the end of 4 years and 42,000 miles I still had about $5000 left of the $15,000 fuel allowance. It's a wonderful car, powerful, smooth, loaded with features. You'll find it an upgrade from the Clarity Electric. The lease allows 20,000 miles per year. It is lease only; they don't sell them and you have to give it back at lease end. The range is rated at 360 miles. I found that to be pretty accurate. They also give you 21 days of Avis car rentals for taking trips outside the reach of the fueling network. Those rentals must begin and end in California.

The drawbacks are: 1) the hydrogen stations are only in California; 2) there have been many situations where stations are down and you couldn't get fuel when you wanted it; 3) there's an annual servicing that costs about $400; 4) the trunk is small because of the fuel tank. I'd recommend visiting the Honda Clarity Fuel Cell Owners Facebook group to get more information on the fuel situation in your area, and other things.

But, if you can live with those issues, it's a great deal at about $400/mo. especially when you factor in the CVRP rebate that more than covers the down payment. I enjoyed mine immensely and would have gotten another but I wanted to be able to take trips out of state. I bought a Tesla Model Y. Feel free to contact me if you'd like more information.

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I've seen lots of repair woes with the Nexo on the Facebook group, and complaints that the Hyundai dealers can't fix them. The Clarity has been pretty reliable and the dealers have trained people to work on them. The Toyota Mirai appears to be the most reliable.

FCEV is a great car for going between LA and Sacramento. I live in Davis and took that trip many times in my Clarity. Can't beat free fuel! Btw our other car is a Pacifica Hybrid.

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It’s a good thing the fuel is “free”. $10,000 of fuel to travel 42,000 miles works out to roughly .$24/mile. Ouch! That’s the same as my 3/4-ton truck using $4.00/ gal gas.

Of course the “free” fuel comes at the price of a $400/mo lease payment, after which the car will be surrendered. So, a bit over $14,000 for a 3 year period. Seems like an expensive way to reduce costs.

 

I posted previously that the CVRP number appears to be $4500. Not an insignificant amount, just didn’t see the $7000 figure.

Only you know your finances. Sometimes I see folks chasing a rebate or free fuel offer at the cost of a higher monthly car payment than could be had otherwise. If you only drive short distances will you actual be taking full advantage of the $15,000 free fuel offer?

Your monthly expenses may be less if you lease something for ~$200/mo and pay for the gas or electricity that is required to drive the short distances that you travel.

 

Being a Clarity Touring owner, I think it would be fun to be driving the most deluxe Clarity of them all. Does the Clarity Fuel Cell emit the same pedestrian warning sound as its siblings?

 

I think that is true with hybrids in general, I agree that many people think they are going to somehow come out ahead. When people ask me about my car it's pretty clear that they are under the impression that you save money by owning a hybrid. There are some extreme cases where that might be true, but for most people if saving money is the primary goal they would be better off buying something cheaper. I tell people that you should only get a hybrid or an EV if that is the type of car that you want for other reasons. The nice thing about it though is that if it is the the type of car that someone wants, over time the savings on gas, along with rebates if available, reduce the overall price quite a bit so you can wind up not paying that much more to own one than you would a regular car.

I would look at a hydrogen car the same way, some people just enjoy driving something unique, exotic in some ways, and in the case of the Clarity FCEV an overall pretty nice car to own for someone who is just looking for something comfortable to drive around with. And it has at least a semblance of the PHEV advantage of longer range with quick fill ups, although clearly with some major caveats for a hydrogen vehicle that really need to be taken into consideration. Also if someone has the idea that they are helping the environment with an FCEV, I would steer them towards a PHEV or EV as a better choice if that's their primary motivation.

Seems like many if not most people who have leased the hydrogen FCEV thought it was a pretty good deal for what they get, meaning they had their reasons for wanting one, and with rebates, and for most people free fuel for the duration, not necessarily all that expensive of a car to own compared to a lot of what else is out there.

 

@Frankwell said:
"Seems like many if not most people who have leased the hydrogen FCEV thought it was a pretty good deal for what they get, meaning they had their reasons for wanting one, and with rebates, and for most people free fuel for the duration, not necessarily all that expensive of a car to own compared to a lot of what else is out there." Biggest reason for me might be Cobalt Blue Pearl.

 

The FCEV only came in red, white and black, Cobalt Blue was only available on the Clarity Electric. Although they called it Vortex Blue on the Clarity, but it's the same paint code as Cobalt Blue on other Hondas. Interestingly both the FCEV and the EV started out with a couple of special colors that were later changed to the PHEV colors. Included below are also the interior colors, both cars had a grey interior on some colors which the PHEV never had. Also both had a white with black interior combination which is what I would have got. And the FCEV had white with brown interior (not beige) for its last two years.


Fuel Cell

2017-2019 Bordeaux Red Metallic/Grey
2020-2021 Crimson Pearl/Platinum Grey

2017-2018 White Orchid Pearl/Black
2019 Platinum White Pearl/Black
2020-2021 Platinum White Pearl/Brown

2017-2021 Crystal Black Pearl/Black

Electric

2017-2019 Vortex Blue Pearl/Grey

2017-2019 Modern Steel Metallic/Grey

2017-2018 White Orchid Pearl/Grey, Black
2019 Platinum White Pearl/Black

 

I thought the blue was just restricted from the PHEV. Such a great color. Just another Honda decision I don’t understand.

 

Congratulations on your son getting into UCD! It's very competitive. We live about a mile north of the campus. The H2 station in West Sacramento has been pretty reliable and is handy to I-5. That's where you'd probably refuel on your trips to Davis before heading back south. The range on the Clarity is sufficient that you can also take the scenic route via PCH through Big Sur and make a little vacation out of the trip. You refuel at San Jose and Santa Barbara. Photo of my Clarity on the coast route near Big Sur attached.

While our Clarity Fuel Cell was leased, we bought our Pacifica Hybrid. So naturally we drove the Clarity instead of the Pacifica whenever possible. As a result our Pacifica now has only 13k after 18 months, mostly used locally, nearly always on electricity. On your trips to UCD in the Pacifica you're probably burning about 30 gallons of gas, which is around $125. The Clarity would spare you that expense and keep those miles off your Pacifica.

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The Clarity Fuel Cell emits a sort of spacy, high-pitched moan at low speeds. I could imagine a pipe organ making the sound at very low volume.

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