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Embarrasingly short level one charger. WTF Honda!?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by Naughtysauce, Oct 14, 2021.

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  1. Oct 14, 2021 #1
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Is it just me or is the charger that comes with the Clarity laughably short? I backup into my garage and my previous GM charge cable made it to my car with about 2 feet of cable to spare while the Honda charger barely makes it to the front door and this is why I dislike the charge ports being place in the front instead of the rear. Picture shows my current setup, I might start using my spare Volt charger so it can actually reach my car. Would the charging times change as the Volt chargers I believe had to amp settings 8/12?

    20211013_201749.jpg
     

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  2. Oct 14, 2021 #2
    petteyg359

    petteyg359 Well-Known Member

    The "charger" is a mostly dumb physical plug converter. The Volt's 8/12 amp thing is part of the vehicle, not the external brick. It would charge the Clarity at 12A, too. No UL-approved L1 charger with a 5-15 plug is going to give you more than that as it would be breaking NEC specs.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2021
  3. Oct 14, 2021 #3
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Thank you! I can finally dump the Honda one in the dumpster.
     
  4. Oct 14, 2021 #4
    petteyg359

    petteyg359 Well-Known Member

    Take it to a Goodwill instead. Or find an electronics recycler. That's a lot of copper to be tossing in the garbage...
     
  5. Oct 14, 2021 #5
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    That's a good idea. I wasn't literally going to throw it in the bin, just an expression on how crap I thought it was. But yes, I'll def find it a new home.
     

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  6. Oct 14, 2021 #6
    Landshark

    Landshark Well-Known Member

    Oregon 2019 Touring PHEV
    I got a chuckle out of your set up. The brick hanging from the plug. The cable twisted in a knot on the floor.

    Can you add an outlet on either side of the door? Problem solved.

    It’s probably more common for people to pull forward into a garage. And many garages may only have an outlet in the ceiling for an opener and one or two near the “front” inside wall. In a typical 20x20 garage, it would only require a 12-15 foot cable to reach an outlet from the charge port on the Clarity.
     
    Last edited: Oct 14, 2021
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  7. Oct 14, 2021 #7
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Not without having an electrician come out to put one in. I'm not going to invest in such a trivial purchase if I already have a solution which is my old Volt charger. But I just wanted to confirm here the charge rates would be the same as the included cable.
     
  8. Oct 14, 2021 #8
    Robert_Alabama

    Robert_Alabama Well-Known Member

    The 2011 and 2012 Chevrolet Volt "Chargers" had settings on the EVSE to set to either 8 or 12 A. So these would change the charging time if you set it to 8A. These EVSEs had orange cords and orange accents on the EVSE body. Later models were all black and behaved like @petteyg359 said (were not switchable and charging amps are controlled by the car at 8 or 12), and the new generation models look like the charger in the Clarity.

    You can sell your old Honda Clarity EVSE on Ebay for a reasonable amount since it has the capability of easily adapting to 240V use.
     
  9. Oct 14, 2021 #9
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    I already have a base time for the Honda charger from 0-100 which was around 11.5 hours and I'll test the Volt's charger once I'm done with my HV range test that I started today.

    I don't really want to go through the hassle of selling it, will most likely recycle or give away to anyone willing to pickup once I'm done testing the Volt cable.
     

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  10. Oct 14, 2021 #10
    leehinde

    leehinde Active Member

    Or send it to me. Mine works fine with length to spare. I could use a backup.
     
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  11. Oct 14, 2021 #11
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Are you in socal and willing to pickup? I want to do the absolute bare minimum to get rid of this thing.
     
  12. Oct 14, 2021 #12
    insightman

    insightman Well-Known Member Subscriber

    Ann Arbor
    My Clarity's 120V EVSE delivers more Amps than my MINI Cooper SE's OEM 120V EVSE, so I think it's better than dumpster fodder.
     
  13. Oct 14, 2021 #13
    leehinde

    leehinde Active Member

    Sadly, no. But there many. others on this board who are.
     
  14. Oct 15, 2021 #14
    Mowcowbell

    Mowcowbell Well-Known Member

    I find the Honda OEM evse to be quite useful... especially since with some basic skills you can make a 240v adapter and double the speed of the charging from the OEM evse. It is made by Panasonic and is used in the Toyota Prius Prime as well.
     
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  15. Oct 15, 2021 #15
    Mowcowbell

    Mowcowbell Well-Known Member

    Looks to me like the issue is your terrible electrical plug situation in your garage, you should never have the brick dangling from the plug.
     
  16. Oct 15, 2021 #16
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    Closest outlet the ridiculously short plug can reach. Even if I park forward it wouldn't reach.
     
  17. Oct 15, 2021 #17
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    I've seen the conversions and I'm not going to risk my family's life to save $200. If I wanted to go 240v, I would buy a 240v.
     
  18. Oct 15, 2021 #18
    Landshark

    Landshark Well-Known Member

    Oregon 2019 Touring PHEV
    Do you have a 240V outlet in the garage?
     
  19. Oct 15, 2021 #19
    Naughtysauce

    Naughtysauce Member

    No, I don't see the need for it, especially for a battery this small. My daily commute is 20 miles top so if I charge everyday, I can usually top the battery off in 5-6 hours while I'm sleeping. Also there are soo many free level 2 charge points in my area, if I ever need faster charging I have options.
     
  20. Oct 15, 2021 #20
    dnb

    dnb Active Member

    I agree the plug is annoyingly short. I park outside my garage door and even with a outlet right next to the door, on the driver's side, I have to pull in instead of backing in for it to reach. Its about a foot short otherwise.
     
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