Schedule Climate 2020 Clarity doesn't work

My 2018 scheduled climate control stopped working several app updates ago last year. I can make schedules all day but the car never actually turns on the A/C (unless it is already plugged in which defeats the point). I gave up on the tech support after four calls and a month and just accept that it's not going to work.

https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?threads/hondalink-support.7744/#post-95906

 

I believe that the car needs to be plugged in to utilize that feature.

 

Which makes no sense at all. You can turn it on manually with the app whether it is plugged in or not; the app or Honda's servers should be able to send the exact same signal at the scheduled time.

 

Here are some things I've learned about the scheduled climate control.

First the reason for using the scheduled climate control is to make the car more comfortable without using any power from the battery. So the car is expected to be plugged in. It is possible for the scheduled climate system to work without being plugged in as long as there is a certain level of charge but of course that will use battery power. The heater draws quite a bit of power and will shorten electric driving range.

It is my understanding that if the car is plugged into 120V it must have a very high SOC for the scheduled climate to work. 220V works much better.

Second you have very little control over the system. You don't get to set the temperature nor does it matter if the climate system was operating, or what the temperature was set to, when you turned the car off. Honda has a range of ambient temperatures and cabin temperatures which establish if the system will start on schedule or not.

I've attached two pages from the service manual outlining this feature.

https://photos.smugmug.com/Vehicles/Cars/2018-Honda-Clarity-Touring-PHEV/i-Xh3D6MG/0/80f798b6/X3/Clarity Climate 1-X3.jpg

https://photos.smugmug.com/Vehicles/Cars/2018-Honda-Clarity-Touring-PHEV/i-tmVxtFT/0/d056ac85/X3/Clarity%20Climate%202-X3.jpg

 

To the contrary, *my* reason for using scheduled climate control is so I can actually get into the car when I leave work to go home instead of having to stand outside for a few minutes while the fan blasts at full speed to make it bearable enough to just sit in.

I live in Texas. My car is parked in my garage; it isn't melting when I get into it in the morning. At work, it is park in a big open lot. During the summer, the car gets so hot inside (despite a reflector/shade in the windshield) it is not just uncomfortable (i.e. burn your *** on the seat), it is unsafe to drive until the A/C has been running for several minutes because nobody's brain works correctly when baking at 140 degrees.

 

I believe as long as your SOC is high enough it should work.

I am somtimes in a similar situation. I'm able to remotely start the climate system from the app.

 

In my limited experience this system seems to be garbage. I work in the desert and when I come out to my vehicle it can be 110% outside with close to 90% soc and it still won't kick on. I have tried everything....making sure AC is blasted before I turn off the car in the morning. Nothing works. As the OP stated.....having it only work when it's plugged into my garage helps not at all. I finally just gave up on it.

 

And the point is we shouldn't have to use the app to manually control it. The schedule should actually do things on schedule.