Poll: Unexpected ICE Turn-ons with full battery?

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by M.M., May 12, 2018.

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Does your Clarity's gas engine ever come on when the battery is full and you don't expect it?

  1. Battery is full & long downhill & it's hot outside

    11 vote(s)
    16.9%
  2. Battery is full & long downhill & it's cold outside

    8 vote(s)
    12.3%
  3. Battery is full & little or no downhill & it's hot outside

    21 vote(s)
    32.3%
  4. Battery is full & little or no downhill & it's cold outside

    7 vote(s)
    10.8%
  5. Battery is full & car is in park & it's hot outside

    3 vote(s)
    4.6%
  6. Battery is full & car is in park & it's cold outside

    1 vote(s)
    1.5%
  7. ICE has never started unexpectedly that I've noticed.

    31 vote(s)
    47.7%
Multiple votes are allowed.
  1. kevosuki

    kevosuki New Member

    Yes. ICE used to come online what almost seemed like every other day. Ever since I used normal driving mode, no unexpected ICE. The only time it kicked on was when I floored the accelerator. Engine will kick on even before the kickdown.
     
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  3. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    Ken said he drives in Econ mode and JCE rarely comes online.
     
  4. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    Should I pursue this issue or just say "I love Big Brother!"?
     
  5. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    I’d like to make a comment on the poll. It seems a little over half of us are reporting their ICE has never started unexpectedly. After installing an hour meter under the hood and noticing that there were times the ICE had run and I didnt even hear it, I started watching rhe HV range. I drive all EV local under 50 miles so I didn’t notice at first that it would decrease by a few miles about once a month. Then when it did I popped the hood and found hour meter had gone up 0.1 and the exhaust manifold was warm. And one time I caught he engine running and knowing it was on, could just barely hear it inside while parked and couldn’t at speed.

    So I am going to speculate that the 51% reporting no ICE may have actually had some small amount of engine running for System Checks and just may not have heard it running.
    If so, it’s a testimony to how quiet the engine is at idle and how well Honda has isolated the interior from noise.
     
  6. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    I am sending an email with my case number every day I drive the car. Maybe they will get annoyed enough to do something.
     
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  8. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    This is the Clarity TV ad. Notice there is no mention of the ICE coming online while the battery is charged fully. On the contrary, it implies that the ICE will come online AFTER the battery is depleted.
     
  9. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    It can’t really address everything in just 30 sec and I think the intent was to show that there is no range anxiety as in a pure BEV.
    And the manual does state on p13 the 5 scenarios where the ICE will turn on and even stay on.
    So even though we don’t have a pure EV mode we can force the car into, with a very small amount of effort we can drive it in 40 to 60 mile hops as a virtual BEV with neglible ICE usage.

    But that doesn’t mean you’re not having a problem with excessively frequent ICE operation compared to what the rest of us are experiencing.
    Still rooting for you!
     
  10. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    So when it feels like it.
     
  11. Alex0913

    Alex0913 Member

    Have you estimated how much you are spending on gas by ICE coming on when it shouldn’t?
     
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  13. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    Very little. But that is not the issue.
     
  14. Alex0913

    Alex0913 Member

    I guess that’s out as part of an argument since the other ones you posed were basically rejected by Honda.
     
  15. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    Yep. Honda does not think anything is wrong.
     
  16. V8Power

    V8Power Active Member

    For my Clarity, the first day commuting to work with a full charge in Econ mode, the ICE turn on a few times under little load and while coasting. After that time, it has not come back on unexpectedly for nearly 300km of pure EV driving.
     
  17. DVoran

    DVoran Member

    Have experienced this about once every other week and usually when the EV range is above 50 miles. Lasts about 3-5 minutes and then the ICE shuts down. It is a puzzling issue but one that I’ve begun to ignore as I feel at some point I’ll have to run the car in ICE mode just to use up the gas so it isn’t completely stale. By the way, how long should we keep a tank of gas in a car? Shouldn’t we be using at least half of the 7 gallon tank every 2-3 months?


    Sent from my iPad using Inside EVs
     
  18. AnthonyW

    AnthonyW Well-Known Member

    Bob,

    I think the only good thing is that you have the car on lease and get to return it after a while. My car would turn on after a full charge but the occurrences where few and far between. I suggest this to give you piece of mind. Consider buying this wifi smartplug (2 for 20 bucks):

    https://www.amazon.com/Outlet-Compatible-Monitoring-Function-Required/dp/B079Q5W22B/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1532228701&sr=8-3&keywords=teckin+smart+plug

    Tested it and the power delivery of the 120v 16amp charger that came with the car and even a 120v 20amp charger are well within its safety rating. If you have the stock charger, you will gain 7.00% SOC each hour. If you have a 120v 20amp charger, you will gain 9.85% SOC per hour. These percentages added are during the warm months of the year. Goal is to charge to 90% or 95%. So if you have the stock charger lets use 10.00% for easy math. If you are at 40% SOC when you get home and you want to get to 90% then that is a 50% difference. 50% devided by 10% is 5 hours. Add another 2 hours on top. Either set the schedule to turn on automatically and then turn off 7 hours later or simply plug in the charger, turn on the smart plug (either through the app, or on the plug itself) and set the timer to turn off 7 hours later. Setup of the smart plug is easy and you can control everything from the app. App gives you real time watts, amps and volts and also daily and cumulative kWh used. Once a week charge to 100% so that the BMS can balance the cells. If you don't go above 90% or 95% your ICE should never come on. Manually turn it on once or twice a month to keep everything lubed (if your weekly full charge doesn't make it come on).

    Try it out if you want and let me know if you have questions. Think it might give you some peace of mind.
     
  19. KentuckyKen

    KentuckyKen Well-Known Member

    Here is a link to a thread on this:

    https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/how-long-can-gas-stay-in-tank-honda-response.2534/page-2

    Note that I am a proponent of adding Stabil to the tank since I drive almost exclusively EV and just went 4 1/2 months on the tank filled by dealer at purchase. I think that is prudent if you’re not doing a significant amount of HV and the gas sits in the tank for a long time. BTW, I’ve seen estimates of gasoline life range from 1 month to 1 year, so who knows for sure?
    Certainly, the closed system of a modern automobile gas tank will keep gas longer than the plastic more tank in the garage, but loss of the higher volitive components and condensation can cause sludge to build up over time.
    It’s a judgement call, but I add Stabil if my gas is going to sit in the tank more than 2 months.
     
  20. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    What is the purpose of the monitoring plug? We have a 240 Blink for charging the car.
     
  21. AnthonyW

    AnthonyW Well-Known Member

    Perfect, then you don’t need anything else. I assumed you were using the stock plug. Is your blink a 240v 32a or 240v 16a. If it is 240v 32a you will get 42.5% charge per hour (in warm weather). Set your schedule so that you land between 90% and 95%. That should stop your unexpected turn on’s for good.


    Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
     
  22. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    It is 32 amp, I think. If car is almost completely depleted it takes about 2.5 hours. Now, I don't see a percentage option for charging. Only When Battery is Full or Select End Time. By the way, if the car is plugged after the start time, it will not charge. That is a defect in the app or onboard timer. Our Leaf would start charging immediately if plugged in after the start time.
     
  23. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    In the user manual on page 15 I found this:
    When the High Voltage battery is sufficiently charged, the vehicle is propelled solely by the electric motor. When the remaining power of the High Voltage battery drops to a certain level, the vehicle switches to HV.
     

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