Clarity Plug-In Hybrid's First Birthday

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by insightman, Dec 2, 2018.

To remove this ad click here.

  1. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    You're right about how the Clarity saves time. You never have to worry about waiting for your Clarity's engine to warm up. In the matter of just a few seconds you press the On button, the Ready icon lights up, you throw it (er, press it) into gear, and you're off! (As Roy Scheider said in the movie, Jaws, "We need a smaller boat.")
     
  2. To remove this ad click here.

  3. My understanding is that modern engines do not require warming up before driving. That it’s best to get them up to temperature as quickly as possible, which is best done by just driving. Sure, it’s best to be somewhat gentle until warmed up, but just sitting and idling to warm up is unnecessary.
     
  4. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    You're right, and engines that use 10W-20 oil need even less warm-up than thick-oil engines. However, being a geezer, I never start a car in cold weather without thinking about the warm-up time and I give it 10 or 20 seconds. Because our Clarity rarely starts its engine, I enjoy knowing that the engine has experienced zero friction as the traction motor backs me out of the garage immediately.
     
  5. This is a great thread. Congrats @insightman on a full year! The Clarity really can change people's perspective -- my wife & I are trying to "sell" Claritys to everyone we know now.

    At the risk of thread subject drift to yard tools: Much like the Clarity, a good electric lawn mower and weed trimmer can really change your mind about electric. We bought an EGO mower a couple years ago. An amazing change from our 20+ year old gas mower, so we bought an EGO weed trimmer as well, then bought the hedge trimmer too because the battery works with it, now I'm thinking hard about their chainsaw… Once you have a couple EGO batteries, the "bare" tools look really attractive.

    Anyway, congrats again, and I'm pretty confident we will feel the same in about 9 months :)
     
  6. Much less 0W-20!

    Which is our spec, right?
     
  7. To remove this ad click here.

  8. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    This is the electric conversion addiction I mentioned earlier, fed by the Clarity. Get the EGO chainsaw, it’s fantastic and it is SO nice to be done with 2-cycle engine chainsaws!
     
    Remarksman likes this.
  9. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Oops, that's what I meant, 0W-20. Thank you.
     
  10. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Honda is so nice to send me a 1st anniversary email. I'll be interested to learn if the purchased color also appears in the anniversary messages Honda sends to other owners. If we hadn't purchased the Plug-In Hybrid's official "hero" color, I'd have a big clue.

    upload_2018-12-4_23-52-24.png
     
  11. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    All the mailings we get from Honda show our color, red. :)
     
    Remarksman and insightman like this.
  12. To remove this ad click here.

  13. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    I couldn't edit this note (insideev restrictions) so I'm using reply to correct a tiny error. The Skill AC blower I listed is actually a Toro. Not that anybody cares but it bothered me.
    I'm attaching a photo of my battery charging station which also includes a charger for my battery powered drill, and three Marine VHF radios. The two shelves are maxed out. You can see I had to hang two chargers off the edge of the shelf. Lots of lithium here. If we ever have a fire it may very well start here!
    [​IMG]
     
  14. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    That’s an impressive number of connections on your power strip. I hope it doesn’t turn into National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!
    Seriously though, I trust you’ve added up all the charger’s Amperage ratings and are not overloading it.
    It does inform me that when I go total electric for all my yard tools that I may need another circuit in the garage. Presently only have one 20 Amp circuit running wood shop tools, air compressor, dehumidifier, and garage doors.
    Thanks for sharing.
     
  15. David Towle

    David Towle Well-Known Member

    What do you guys have against corded tools anyway? For the car and lawnmower cordless is needed, maybe the weedwacker too, everything else its just a waste of electricity to keep the batteries charged. They add weight to the tool too you know.
     
  16. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    The thing is the charge station never has more than two batteries being charged at one time so the load is light.
     
  17. jdonalds

    jdonalds Well-Known Member

    The few times a year when I have to use a cord for the leaf blower vac is a royal pain. It is so easy just to grab a battery, slam it on the tool, and go to work. The only tool that burns through charged batteries quickly is the little 6" looper chain saw but I usually only need it for a few minutes anyway.

    The battery powered lawn mower works just fine for about 1,000 sq ft and my lawn is thick and tall.

    The 40V blower will run for over 20 minutes and allows me to do a full cleanup of the front, side, and back yards. I never blow the leaves off the lawn with it; strictly for the concrete surfaces. No cord to haul around or switch to a different outlet around the outside of the house. Super quick to start using and I just pop the battery off and slide it into the charger.

    Tool weight isn't an issue and I'm 72 years old. These tools are pretty light. I know there is a constant trickle charge going on but if I wanted to kill our household trickle charge it would involve much more than the garden tools. Also we have roof solar that produces between 20 and 50kWh per day so most of the electricity is from the sun.

    For me going back to cords is like going back to an ICE car. Not going to happen.
     
    Last edited: Dec 5, 2018
  18. Johngalt6146

    Johngalt6146 Active Member

    My mailing was in my car's color - Crimson. On 12/30 my Clarity will be one year old. It has about 3500 miles on it, 70% of them electric, and zero problems.
    The thing I like most is the absolute quiet. It's like a library on wheels!
    I have added a loud manually controlled backup beeper which I use in the Walmart parking lot to alert people as I back up.
     
  19. David Towle

    David Towle Well-Known Member

    1000 square feet? Good grief that's useless. My small lawn's about 17,000. I think I'll be using the old Lawn Boy for a long time yet.
     
    jdonalds likes this.
  20. insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    I trust you didn't put your add-on back-up beeper on the inside, as is standard on Toyota's Prius. Who thought up that scheme?
     
    MPower likes this.

Share This Page