Charging difficulties with Clarity Electric

We got DCFC every 15 miles. There's over 120 DCFC in Socal alone. The Bay area has twice the number.

 

Just what I was meaning earlier, battery fully charged, but range gauge implying the car isn't charge. Once I realized what it was showing it was no issue, but I did try for 10 minutes trying to figure out why the new charger wasn't working

As I said before, it has been bitterly cold here, high single digits for a week with temps as cold as -21 F. There is a bug in the HV range calculation where it seems to take your total MPG discounting electricity to calculate the range, so it sometimes shows as high as 650 miles when in reality it is half that...

20180104_212656 by Eric Tastad, on Flickr

 

Only 89 miles! You'll get better and reach 120 mile range in no time.

 

Glad too hear it, as Jy says it can become a game to see how much range you get

 

I live in Cincinnati and have had a Leaf with a DCFC plug since 2013. I have yet to see a single DCFC charger in my life. I don't think there even are any within 200 miles of here, which is a bummer. I would like to use that fancy plug at least once!

 

What are you talking about? I found 13 within 20 mile radius of Cincinnati. Open Plug Share, filter out j1772, and select Chademo.

 

Compare to us Californian

 

Great to read that the car is working for you! May you have many trouble-free years with your Clarity Electric.

 

Crap, you're right. I haven't checked in a while, honestly, but I haven't heard of anything around other than 240volt chargers. Knowing the support I have seen for any type of green car in this town, especially from the dealerships, I assumed none were even in the works. I'm glad to see I am wrong about that. Now if they would just install a few of these between cities we could actually go somewhere in our Leaf besides using it as a local commuting car. Still, I might try one of those local fast chargers just to say I did.

 

FYI, Clarity Electric needs CCS/SAE plug, not CHAdeMO.

 

I've read through this conversation but was hoping to get a little more insight from those driving the electric only clarity. I currently drive the Fit EV and in cold weather I find range drops 40+ percent. I'm curious if anyone is finding better results from the clarity's new battery technology and active heating/cooling hardware. 89 miles or more would be great but 50 cuts it way too close. Any thoughts?

 

I dont think the EV is sold in any cold climates? I get down to 24 mile range or so with my Clarity PHEV in very cold climate, but unlimited gas range.

The EV is a great price though, but the range wouldn't work for me. I think the EV version has a battery heater so it should be possible to get better range in the cold. Maybe if someone has one in a cold climate they will comment? I think most are in warmer areas though.

 

Not speaking from personal experience regarding the Clarity Electric (BEV), but just a general observation: For BEVs, range losses for very cold weather are generally reported in the range of 20%-30%. So I find a 40%+ loss to be surprisingly high.

Are you pre-heating the car on those very cold mornings, using electricity from the wall rather than stored electricity from the battery pack? If not, then doing so should help your EV range significantly.
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Yes. The range loss is not due to cabin heating. The air cooled/heated battery in the fit loses a lot of range when the temp drops. I'm hoping the clarity has improved.

 

I am in SoCal as well. Usual commute is from PV (right at bottom or hill) to Norwalk (23 miles each way). My commute will increase to be from PV to Moreno Valley (76 miles each way) here and there. What mileage have you gotten for these past 2 months? I love the way the clarity looks, but I am concerned about mileage. I like the leaf, but the 70%depreceation over 5 years and expensive lease does not make sense. Prius prime or clarity PHEV are great, except the 4 seater part, but it just bothers me that it is not fully EV.

 

I am in SoCal as well. Usual commute is from PV (right at bottom or hill) to Norwalk (23 miles each way). My commute will increase to be from PV to Moreno Valley here and there. What mileage have you gotten for these past 2 months?

 

Your ev mileage will vary depending on how you drive, traffic patterns, and hills. We normally get about 40 miles EV. But the gas engine is rated at 42 mpg. The cost difference, assuming you are charging at home, isn't very dramatic between EV and gas. There is a great deal of peace that comes with the fact that once the battery is drained you have the engine to take over.

Since you are in SoCal with such fine weather you can expect to get about the same EV mileage year-round, and you are in the sweet spot for best performance (I lived in Thousand Oaks for 25 years). Do you have a charge station at work?

Test drive the Volt and the Clarity. They are quite different cars. Did you consider the Bolt?