Is it possible that rode noise is louder because there is no engine noise so you only hear road noise? I have owned several Honda vehicles and they are all louder than similar vehicles from other brands. So I am just guessing.
Of course the electric motor makes no detectable sound, but the combination of 4000 lbs car and tires going across the road arguably makes quite a bit of noise -- and maybe even comparable to a gas-mobile in some situations. What I find is my town has a few sections of brand new squeaky clean road. Not as much as one would like, but we do have some new smooth road surfaces. When I drive Clarity in electric mode on those surfaces the sound (or lack-thereof) is truly impressive. Unfortunately, most of the roads I drive on are in relatively poor shape. And so driving on them produces a certain amount of noise. Likely both more noticible in Clarity because it's otherwise so quiet, but also when you drive a really heavy car the sound of the wheels meeting the road can be significant.
I just ran a check today. At 60mph in EV mode, but raining, my cell phone app read 85db. I held the phone up next to my face to record the sounds. I'm curious so I'll do it again when it isn't raining.
What I find very loud is the fan. I think it is much louder than my Prius, although maybe it is more powerful since it has a much bigger space to heat. When I turn the heating on and it first starts to blow and full speed, I can't turn it down fast enough. I find the car quite warm enough at one or two bars on the fan. (Bear in mind that I keep my condo at a toasty 63F and the car temperature is set at 65 or 66, except when we have my 87 year old dance carpool in the car in which case I run it up to 68F.
