Canadian Clarity Eh!

From Page 12 of the manual https://www.honda.ca/Content/ownermanuals/eBizPublication/A/OwnersManual/2017/11/29/5538eee9ea5bf510eee9ea5bf51087de020a____EN_20171129142250.pdf


Also in ECON mode the climate control cycles less often, maybe also at a reduced level. Also if you turn on the driver's seat heater in ECON mode it reduces or maybe shuts off the climate control.

Also I believe "HV Charge" will stay on if you switch to other modes, but you likely only use it on highway driving and probably want in in "HV" mode in that scenario.

 

Okay I'm going to have to play around with the modes to see what the car does. I'm still not sure even after reading the manual.

 

Since I don't have my car yet, the following is based on my test drives and from reading/researching.

Normal, ECON, Sport mode are driving mode where the car drives in EV until the juice runs out (12%) or if you press the HV button or if your press the accelerator pass the detent. Different mode is program to determines how the car response to power output, climate control, throttle response. Think of you owning 3 different electric car manufactured by BMW (Sport), Honda (Normal) and Yugo (ECON) (slightly exaggerated ) and you can choice which car you drive that day (or moment)

Normal mode has nothing to do with HV 'mode' as you can drive in all 3 modes with or without HV 'mode' on.

HV is hybrid meaning the car will use the engine when the situation arises like not enough battery, hard acceleration, continuous high speed steady drive (for efficiency determines by the car and the current driving condition). And even when the engine comes on, the car will determine if the engine is acting like a generator only or if it will behave like a regular engine/transmission and directly turning the wheel or both.

I remember when I did my test drive (not knowing much about these different modes and HV). I drove on the highway at around 105kph and press on the HV button, nothing happen as the engine did not come on right away until I hard press on the accelerator. And the engine did not go off once I cancelled HV which confuses me. I had to stop the car and restart to get back to EV mode even after I exited the hightway and driving on city road with plenty of battery charge left.

If someone can test all 3 EV modes with or without HV button on (including HV+charge) in highway and city driving and note if and when the engine comes on and turn off, that would be great

Questions I have,

1 Does Sport mode really provide more regen? I know it will keep the regen level without cancelling it but does it actually provide more regen slowing down from a given speed compare to ECON EV mode?

2 in a control test in exactly same weather, road condition and speed, does Sport mode uses more battery charge even though you drive like you are driving in ECON mode?

 

Something is not right now, my calculation shows MSRP with all fees, tax and rebate in should be $33057.16. Here's the number base on my number, I excluded my trade in, all season mat and extended warranty and my $700 discount,

$33,900 MSRP+ $450 PDI+ $18.5 Enviro fee+ $1165 Freight+ $100 AC tax+ $10 OMVIC = $41,643,50 + $5413.65 HST = $47057.16 - $14,000 rebate = $33,057.16.

Check your invoice and see what other do you have to increase your total by almost $900

 

I double checked and I added the deposit in made to the purchase cost since they added it as a positive line item but missed that they will refund me my deposit at time of delivery. So the total purchase price after rebate should be $33,439.94. The remainder of the difference is:
Freight is more at $1,655
And I chose white paint at $300

I uploaded a pic of my actual invoice.

 

My invoice seperate the freight and PDI so mine is $1615 and yours is $1655.
I have $18.5 enviro fee which you have $17.25 OTS fee.

ok, that's better. I am checking to see if my dealer charges $300 for white paint. I don't believe there is, will let you know

 

Thanks for checking. I’d hate to think the dealer made an error in their favour. They actually originally forgot to charge me for the white paint.

 

Just confirmed with my dealer, all Honda models with this White Pearl color cost $300 more

 

In my experience, normal mode is very different from Econ. In Econ mode (alone, not combined with HV), it stays EV under all circumstances I've tried except if you floor the accelerator (pass the detent). In normal mode, the computer decides what is most efficient energy-wise (not necessarily cost-wise). Early on, when I was experimenting with the car, I found that my short highway drive caused the ICE to directly drive the wheels in normal mode. You can tell on the energy monitor screen because the ICE cartoon lights up and a small white "gear" symbol appears between the drive wheels and the ICE. If the ICE is just providing electricity for the electric motor, the gear symbol does not come up. It doesn't take high speed. The ICE will directly drive the front wheels if you're going at least 45-50 mph and then engage and disengage depending on what is most efficient.

You can be in HV mode in combination with Econ, normal, or Sport. The main difference is that the ICE will run to maintain your battery charge. That doesn't mean the battery won't drop by some miles of range during your drive. I've seen that it will do that when it is needed and then recharge later when it is most efficient. That could be why I seem to get better gasoline mileage when I keep a significant battery charge in HV than when the battery's depleted.

 

In regards to modes and my understanding and the Clarity PHEV:
The battery in the Clarity can provide 120 hp. The generator set can provide 60 hp (through the generator, electric power). Total system power is rated at 212 hp (not sure what that means). I am unsure if the Clarity PHEV can provide any power from the generator motor to the wheels like the Volt can. I can't find the source for the battery limit, but it was on one of these sites where a Honda engineer was talking about the PHEV.

In EV (Econ) mode without starting the engine, your max power is going to be 120 hp. In sport your max is going to be 180 (or maybe 212?), but you have to start the engine. All the modes will realistically have the same max power, but how they get there are different. Sport makes the go pedal more responsive which makes it easier to start the engine (and it starts well before the detent).

So honestly, I don't think sport mode will have any impact on range, only your driving habits. I agree, it seems like normal mode is unnecessary. Econ accelerates plenty quickly if you push the pedal enough and the car has no problems driving speed on the highway with that mode either. I don't use sport anymore as my wife doesn't like it when I forget to put it back in Econ. Can't say I miss sport. I will do some 0-60 tests in the different modes to see if it matters.

 

After playing with all the modes, I now only use Econ mode and I'm happy. I think some of these other modes are more trouble than they're worth.

 

I feel there is a lot of confusion about the modes. I thought I understood it and had it pinned down. But the truth is since my wife and I only drive in EV / Econ mode (unless the battery is depleted) I realize I don't have any experience with other modes.

No matter what mode the car is going to make some decisions and alternate between the modes itself. The text in the manual doesn't help much either. For example on page 15 under Electric Source the text reads, "When the High Voltage battery is sufficiently charged, the vehicle is propelled solely by the electric motor. When the remaining power of the High Voltage battery drops to a certain level, the vehicle switches to HV." What does it mean "switches to HV"? Does that mean it goes into Hybrid Vehicle mode (Normal?) or does it mean it turns on the HV mode which is the same as the button marked HV? The abbreviation HV is never defined. From this text it appears there is no way to force the car to use the ICE exclusively other than HV+Charge. Even in HV+Charge it will revert to EV when the battery is fully charged (to 58%).

Today I had to drive a 62 mile round trip. I stayed in EV / Econ mode all the way up the hill on the 31 mile leg. The battery ran out about a mile from my destination. Then I drove back just watching what the car would do. It seemed to toggle between ICE charging and EV mode. The car was in Normal mode with Econ On. If I switched Econ on and off it did what was expected; it would alter the power a bit for more efficiency. If I toggled the HV mode switch nothing seemed to happen.

The manual says the HV mode will maintain the battery level (prior posts indicate it will not maintain above 58% charge). I suppose that is the only difference between HV mode and Normal mode which apparently will allow the battery to drain down to two bars.
- Normal mode will allow the battery to drain
- HV mode will maintain the battery level

For the first time I now understand that Normal mode is the absence of HV and Sport.

Personally I think Honda has created a bit of a mess. The good news is we will just continue to use EV/Econ mode and just drive the car. The car is a dream to drive.

 

It's probably best not to overthink it. I always assumed HV, whether you switch to it with the button or if the car switches to it when the battery drains too low, would operate pretty much the same way as a regular Prius.

 

Quick question

Most other EV I have seen has some type of lock on the charging port where you can program it to either lock or unlock during charging or unlock after charging is finished. Does the Clarity has this feature? I looked into the PDF manual and don't find anything relating to this.

 

I was wondering this too as I’d hate to have the OEM portable level 1 charger get stolen if I plug it in while away from home....or have to watch over it charging so it doesn’t get stolen.

 

Can someone confirm the battery heater automatically warm up the battery when the temp drops to a certain temp? Does it matter if it is plug in or not?

 

I have order my Clarity in December and the dealer received it two weeks ago. I have planned delivery for next week. I have read the manual and it thriggered a question around very cold temperature. The manual mentions that the car will not start if the battery temp drops below -30 and the car is not plugged in (so the battery heater would otherwise maintain the battery temp). I have asked the following questions to my dealer and awaiting answer from their technical specialist:

1. So as long as the car is plugged-in on either level 1 or level 2 no worry about car starting below -30 ?

2. If the car is outside at -30 and cannot be plugged in, what will happen? Will the ICE start and will need to wait for battery heater to warm up battery to move? Or not even and it will need to be towed?

Although -30 BEFORE windshield is rare even in Quebec, this is a situation that could happen in the winter in Canada.

I will post the anwser I will receive, but curious to see if anyone has some insight on this?

 

I have asked that question to my dealer and awaiting answer from technician. My understanding is that it will automatically start as long as the car is plugged in.

 

I really hope that is not the case. -30C is not that common but it does happen and if you leave the car at the parking lot in the morning for work (or at a park and ride) and leaving late in the evening, your car won't start and you are stuck in -30C temp could be deadly. Since there is a gas engine backup, there is no reason why Honda won't use the battery warmer to warm up the battery

 

Which dealer?

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