37 miles full range in warm weather? Is it charging all the way? Also charging issues on level 2

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by Naughtysauce, Oct 11, 2021.

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  1. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Just got into a 2018 CPO Clarity w/ 36k miles about 2 weeks ago. The car is great, very roomy and the build quality is much nicer than my previous GM EV. That being said, there have been some range issues that might be just quirks that I'm not familiar w/ in this Honda platform and hopefully I can get some help from fellow owners. I am very familiar w/ how weather, driving habits, speed etc affect EV's so I'm hoping it's just Honda quirks I'm running into.

    In the first 2 weeks I've had the car, the first few days I had it in HV mode since the dealer we got it from was 90 miles away, I didn't get to fully charge it till about 2 days later. Charged off the level one charger fully to around 39 miles temps in my area have been hovering around 68-75 degrees since I've owned the car(gotta love socal weather). I brushed off the low range to me driving it at high speeds the previous 2 days(70-80mph in HV mode on our drive home from dealer) and possibly other people test driving it w/ a lead foot. I know it can take the computer a while to re-calibrate to my driving style. I ran that charge all the way to empty which is the last 2 bars and I got 38 total miles till the motor came on which was a bit disappointing considering I drive the car rather conservatively and I rarely run climate control as my daily commute is only around 16 miles, but like I said, I'm letting the computer figure it all out. I've charged it several times after that on the level one, but never to full so I didn't want to count those trips.

    The first charging issue I ran into was at and EV-Go charger right next to my gym, I hooked up, went into the gym for around 2 hours and noticed that the charging light was off so I assumed the car finished charging. Nope, it only charged up to 3/4 full and even though I was in the gym for over 120 mins, the EV-go App says it only charged for a total of 108 mins. Since I was having issues connecting to the Honda Link app, I had no way of knowing the car stopped charging. I had no time to figure out the issue since I had dinner reservations after so I just noted the issue and moved on.

    Yesterday at another gym, there are free level 2 chargers by the restaurants next to my gym and I snagged one up, I arrived w/ around 7 miles of range left. Plugged it in, went into the gym for my normal 120 mins + session, was tracking the charging the entire time through the Hondalink app as I was able to figure out how to sync the app to my car which was a pain to trouble shoot(essentially unpaired my Bluetooth, removed device, and reconnected my device fixed the issue). I noticed that the app said it was fully charged at 37 miles around the 1.5 hour mark which I thought was strange since documents stated this car takes around 2.5 hours charging from a level 2 from empty. Since I had a little bit of charge left, I assumed it would be done around 2 hours. As a responsible PHEV owner, I went to the car to unplug it and move it so other people can use the charger(I wish more people practiced proper EV etiquette). I have the energy flow always on in the infotainment screen and noticed something odd. Although the instrument cluster stated battery was full since it was all the way to the top, the energy bar on the infotainment was about 3/4 full w/ a bit more to go. I was expecting about 45 miles on this charge since the weather has been in the 75-80 range in the last few days and I drive the car on ECO to avoid running the engine and my speeds never exceed 50mph(lots of speed traps in my area).

    So is something wrong w/ my car? Why does the energy graph only go 3/4 full when the range indicator shows full? Is it a degradation meter like they have in the Nissan Leaf's where the bar goes down as the batteries degradate? Is 37 miles in my weather and gentle driving habits normal and if so, that is highly disappointing. Had the selling dealer check for software updates before I bought the car and he showed me a pic of the shop's computer saying no software updates were available so I'm assuming it was updated during the CPO process.
     
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  3. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    20211010_101347.jpg Screenshot_20211010-100759_HondaLink.jpg [​IMG]
     
  4. David Towle

    David Towle Well-Known Member

    The scale on that graph varies with estimated miles and never seems to go all the way to the top, I don't know why. Next time check the gauge to the left on the instrument cluster, if that one goes all the way to 100% you are probably fine. Range varies dramatically with speed, I get similar range to yours on the highway around 75 mph, but most of my driving is around town and for that I average about 70 miles range.
     
    Kailani likes this.
  5. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Do you have the PHEV or Electric? 70 sounds high even in the most optimal situation. My Temps are between 70 and 80 right now, just in town driving gently and never over 50mph.

    Also yes I did check the status bar on the left and it says full.
     
  6. MrFixit

    MrFixit Well-Known Member

    Did your dealer provide you with the battery capacity of the vehicle? That is the best unambiguous measure of EV health.
    When buying a used car, it would be wise to insist on this reading. You could try to get your dealer to do this now (he may try to charge you) or you can set up to do it yourself (see Budget Battery Capacity thread in this forum). A new vehicle has a capacity of 55 ampere hours.

    Degradation over time is expected. We have a shared spreadsheet where many of us who participate are looking at trends.
     
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  8. The graph represents 0-50 miles. Note the 25 in the middle. It does not represent the charge status of the battery.

    37 miles seems low. I commuted in LA for the first 1 1/2 years of ownership. Rarely got less than 45 miles. Tops was around 65 in heavy traffic. A battery capacity measurement would confirm whether or not degradation is a cause.
     
  9. su_A_ve

    su_A_ve Active Member

    Estimates are based on previous drives and also on battery capacity. There's ways we now have to check the battery capacity using an OBDII reader and apps. Check the forum for a thread discussing the one you need (about $30) and what app works (free). This will give you an idea of what's the current battery capacity.

    If you have a lead foot and your drive is highway 65+ with no traffic, you probably will see lower EV ranges. The car gives better EV ranges at lower speeds.
     
  10. David Towle

    David Towle Well-Known Member

    I have the PHEV, temps here are 75-90 for the last 5 months. No, 70 is easy to hit, this is my situation details to get over 70: highest speeds about 50, standard EV driving mode, gentle acceleration, look way down the road for red lights and give a tiny amount of throttle to do a true coast as much as possible. When you have to use the brake, start out with a light application at speed, then gradually push harder as the car slows. That keeps the regen energy at the lowest average possible (kinetic energy is proportional to the speed squared). I believe the lower the rate of regen, the higher the regen efficiency (mostly).
     
  11. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Thanks,

    This is the answer I needed. Would you recommend Torque pro for the diagnostic app?
     
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  13. David Towle

    David Towle Well-Known Member

    I forgot to say I almost never use the AC also, only on the highway when its too loud with the windows down.
     
  14. MrFixit

    MrFixit Well-Known Member

    NO,
    Do not try to use Torque Pro.
    We ran into buffer overflows with the longer data messages that the Clarity provides.
    You must use "Car Scanner". It is aware of the Clarity PID's that we provided the developer to access the battery capacity.

    Furthermore. MOST of the ELM327 interface devices also have buffer overflow problems. Unless you want to re-live that nightmare, purchase the specific one that we have tested and recommend. It is the Vgate iCar Pro (BLE4.0) that sells for around $30.

    This thread is now pretty cluttered, but it goes through the heritage of this:
    https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/budget-battery-capacity-readout.10531/

    Toward the end, there is a quick-start summary.
     
  15. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    That's the one I bought thanks to your recommendation
     
  16. I don’t use a diagnostic app, so I can’t recommend one. I had a dealer measure the battery capacity and provide a full report. Shortly thereafter, a member of this forum who lived near where I was at the time, also measured the capacity. Until I see a noticeable reduction in range, I won’t give it a second thought.
     
  17. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Just a quick update, just finished charging at a local BMW plant w/ free chargepoint charging. I arrived w/ 10 miles, it charged exactly 2 hours delivering 9.66kwh total energy and 27 miles which made my full range exactly 37 miles just like my last charge which I thought is a bit suspect. Factoring in a 12% loss from charging, I'll assume it delivered a total of around 8.5kwh. That means at 27 miles added, my efficiency is around 3.17 kwh per mile which is rather poor especially w/ how gentle I drive it and it being 75 degrees in my area. I was expecting at least 4kwh p/m, my last GM was getting as high as 5.5 kwh per mile a week ago before I sold it.

    From what I've read, the usable battery pack is around 12-13 kwh of the 17 total, which is a bit bonkers that they would put such a big buffer. I've unplugged the 12 volt and will leave it like that overnight to see if maybe it just needs a reboot. I also bought a OBD2 tool and will get a true capacity which I hope will help, but I'm not sure w/ such a big buffer on both ends. Honda really built an excellent vehicle but a terrible Plug in as far as the EV mindset goes. I'll also try to charge it the next few rounds using the level one at my home after I run the battery out to rule out if it's only level 2 giving me bad readings.
     
  18. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Don't mind the 2.5 hours charging time, that's the total time it was plugged in, it stopped charging exactly at 2hrs.

    Screenshot_20211011-220914_ChargePoint.jpg
     
  19. Phil_Meyers

    Phil_Meyers Active Member

    The GOM doesn't mean much. 9.6kwh with 10 miles left seems about right to me. Note the odometer when you start to drive it around and again when the battery gets drained. I usually get 50 in the city, 35 or so up here in the mountains.
     
  20. Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Unfortunately I have a longer trip today so I'm going to be running HV mode on most of the day with a full battery pack so I won't be able to run down the battery as usual. Does using HV mode negatively affect your EV range once you go back to normal mode?
     
  21. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Technically, I don't believe Honda ever refers to HV as a "mode." Honda's 3 Clarity PHEV modes are ECON, NORMAL, and SPORT (Honda capitalizes them). You can be in any mode in combination with HV or HV CHARGE. HV uses both battery power and engine power, but it attempts to keep the battery's state of charge at the same level it was when you pressed the HV button. So when you "go back to normal" your Clarity tries to give you the same EV range you had before you turned on HV.

    I have a piece of paper I tape over my D button to remind me to turn on HV after I stop the car for any reason on a trip. That saves me from the frustration of realizing 20 miles down the highway that I've been driving in EV, using up my battery, when I meant to be in HV.
     
  22. mattheo0118

    mattheo0118 Member

    Go to a local Honda dealer and have them test the battery. It should still be under warranty.

    My 2018 claritys (had 2) consistently showed 52 miles on EV. Reality I would get around 45 miles on 70/30 (highway). My 2020 stays at around 50 miles on EV but Im getting 43-44 per charge..

    Your 37 is terribly low. I've never seen any of my Clarity under 45 miles EV on the screen

    The Clarity can charge from empty to full in 2hrs. The onboard 6.6kw receptor has taken 7kw from a charge point.. there's most public chargers pushes out 5-6kwh.
     
  23. Phil_Meyers

    Phil_Meyers Active Member

    Just drive it in EV mode until you get two bars, see how many miles you drove from the odometer. Then just switch to charge mode if you want to drive with half battery.

    Driving in HV just keeps the battery within a range once you press the button.

    I live in the mountains and commute to the city. My commute is 60 miles each way. I drain the battery at least twice a day. I drive it in HV mode part of the way home so I don't get the angry bees which is annoying at best.

    I have already put 58k miles in 22 months. It gets 105 where I'm at. About the same EV mileage as when first purchased. I really don't worry about the battery. Honda has a rock solid battery strategy imo.
     

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