Possible To Remotely Lock Clarity Using Mobile HondaLink App?

@RickSE, I believe you are on the right track when you say "beta paid program". The way I'm adding it up is that Honda is putting their toe in the water. Even though most of the tech in this car has been employed in their earlier hybrids it is still a bit of an unknown how this evolved car is going to perform in the real world (especially in very cold environments).

When you stick your toe in the water you limit risk. Being in the construction industry I was always risk aware when I specified something new. Before wholesale specifying, and employing, a new product, I tried to beta test on myself to limit my risk exposure.

Even though this car is engineered to be flawless, on paper, it still had to show that it can work in the real world. Honda is beta testing and we are the beta users. I would bet that someone at Honda is looking at our comments, I know I would.

My 2 cents worth.

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There will soon be a Pilot Plug-In Hybrid. It will be interesting to see how closely it follows the engineering of the Clarity PHEV. More interesting will be how it varies from the Clarity PHEV in battery size, driving modes, and selectable options. Will one chevron still represent the default level of regen or the first level of greater regen than the default level?

 

I'm always surprised at the "no commercials" comments I see here. They have absolutely advertised this car. I have personally seen this exact commercial during some professional and college sports events on major networks, no less than 50 times over the past 6 months or so...though I haven't seen it in about a month now. And I'm not all that much of a TV watcher:


Honda ran this commercial in Indianapolis a LOT. And I think it was a national commercial, not just local to here. Yet it seems that particular commercial ran to no avail whatseover. I have still met ONE lone human being in my life who has even heard of the car (in ARIZONA, and he only knew of the hydrogen version), we had a nice chat -- and to this day I have not yet EVER seen another Clarity on the road...and I'm on the road a LOT as driving 40,000 miles per year is typical for me.

I can pretty confidently say that Midwesterners have almost no interest in this car at all. I'm an exception, and I'm sure there are a few others. But zippo mass market appeal...

The fact that in a good part of the US it is now actually cheaper to drive this very car on gasoline than it does on electric, in my estimation, is REALLY gonna hurt sales going forward. Until this oil price landslide reverses (and I assume it will someday), the financial benefit aspect of this car's purpose is slipping away in much of the US...funny how quickly things can change in 9 months. Many states now are selling gas in the $1.90's and it's still dropping.

My break even is $1.64/gallon -- cuz I get relatively cheap electricity. From a pure financial perspective, if gas dips below that I guess I abandon the home charger. But "saving the earth" is worthy still in my mind. But not in many others. I know darn well in some other states with higher electric bills that break even can be as high as $3/gallon, and for most of the general public you gotta show them the money. Doing so is not so easy anymore...with gasoline approaching historic low prices, many are now more interested in buying another Escalade.

 

Never seen a clarity commercial. I live in a ZEV state, so the commercial could say something like “get $15k off a $37k car that gets 42 mpg”. Fade to black....

 

Like you, for me there is more to the Clarity than dollars and cents. A significant number of the electrons flowing into the car were produced from renewable sources, and that matters. Plus I like the way the car drives, at least on EV. Not so much when the battery is flat.

It's a pity that our cozy little group here on this forum does not represent the opinions of the vast majority of US car buyers. You are right that low gas prices will hurt sales, not just of the Clarity, but anything smaller than an American Land Boat. If the incentive goes away - and I think that's likely given this administration's attitude - I'm afraid that will effectively kill the PHEV market, and the hybrid market as a whole will already be depressed.

And I have yet to see a Clarity commercial.