I swear that when I first got the Clarity (Touring) the heated seats would be on automatically if it was very cold outside. Now I have to manually turn them on. My wife remembers that being the case as well. Our Volt used to start the seat heaters when the car was started, the level depending on the temperature outside. I tried to find a setting for the heated seats in the settings menu and the manual but was unsuccessful. Was I dreaming? Tim
The driver's seat heat comes on automatically if the climate control is in 'auto' mode. And the level is proportional to the temperature - when I started the car after it had been sitting outside at -25C for several hours the seat heat came on at the highest setting. And the gas engine started immediately as well.
I started in Econ mode this morning (0 F) and the seats did not come on. I'll try in Climate / Auto mode and see what happens. I wonder if they come on in pre conditioning. I'll check that as well. Thanks. Tim
It took me many months with my Clarity before I realized that EV button presses toggle back and forth between EV and EV/Econ, and that it retains the selected mode between driving sessions. I found out when I pressed it, and the seat heaters came on next time I started it. Personally, I'm not a fan of the seat heaters, and I have elected to run in EV, without them. I'll deal with the increased battery drain in order to enjoy a comfortable cabin.
The other quirky thing I found out last night about Econ mode was with wiper speed. I was in the highest "intermittent" wiper setting, if you come to a complete stop the wiper speed reduces, doesn't shut off but the swipes come in slower. The moment you start moving the wipers increase their speed up to the setting you have chosen. Speed sensing wipers. If this has been designed into the car, its some amazing level of detail in programming to save juice. I was amazed.
Anybody know any way to get the driver’s seat heater to come on when preconditioning? I’m getting a toasty car in 20 min, but a cold seat. Then I have to wait a few minutes for the seat to warm up.
Every Honda that I've had of late (2014 Pilot, 2016 Fit, 2017 Civic, 2018 Clarity) all have had speed-sensitive variable wipers. Guess I've just gotten used to it over the years. It is nice!
Owner's Manual, Page 191: "When the ECON mode is active, the driver’s side seat heater functions according to the status of the climate control system. If you want to use only the climate control system, press the seat heater button to OFF. " Not much of an explanation, but it's a start?
KyKen's question was specifically for preconditioning, and I've not found a way to coerce the seat heaters to come on during preconditioning.
The ECON Mode button toggles between ECON Mode and NORMAL Mode. And you are correct, unlike SPORT Mode, these two modes remain in effect after you turn off your Clarity PHEV. As @KentuckyKen and other ICE-phobic Clarity PHEV drivers do, you can select ECON Mode and drive with a light foot to stay in EV Drive mode, but you cannot select EV Drive mode. NORMAL Mode requires an even lighter foot to stay in EV Drive mode. This chart from the Owners Manual shows how the ICE-startup threshold is different for the 3 driver-selectable modes:
