Switching From Volt To Clarity

I'm not sure what the one guy is talking about saying the engine was coming on in the Volt at 50 degrees in the parking lot. I have been driving a 1st gen Volt since 2012 and my 2nd gen 2016 with almost 100,000 miles total between the two and the gas engine NEVER comes on when there is power left in the battery. Unless of course you force it to with the Hold or Mountain mode options, or you have reached the 1 month limit without using the engine or the 1 year limit without using the same tank of gas (which I have done 3 times now). Also, the Volt is far better with acceleration, comfort and handling. Yes, it is a little smaller, but you get better range and far more experience with the technology. Volt has been around since 2010 and Honda is just getting around to making plug ins that are even remotely useful. The Clarity should have been out in 2012 or sooner. One car doesn't fill all, so if you need more room, then maybe the Clarity, but my 20 something "kids" fit just fine in the back seat and I am 6 feet tall and fit in the back just fine as well. We have used the 5th middle seat, but it is just for short trips. Also, the Volt does the best for using the power in the battery, we drove 154 electric miles on a 194 mile trip between Mammoth, CA and Fresno, CA through Highway 120 in Yosemite! I would like someone to make that trip in the Honda and see how well they do! We have gone on 3500 mile tips and got a solid 43MPG and shorter 1000 mile trips with 57MPG. Build quality is the best! I have driven the Honda and wasn't impressed at all. Older Hondas made me want to exit the vehicle as fast as possible and get back to mine! Also, to the guy that has never driven a Volt and raves about the Honda after he has been driving a gas car...well DUH! Anytime you ditch your Grandpa's gas car and get into something electric, you will notice a world of difference, no matter who makes it!

 

Isn’t the $7,500 federal rebate only for fully electric ?
Im on a waiting list for the Clarity Electric, I have a Tesla Model 3 reservation but wanted the 35k short range battery and not the 60k model they’re only offering now.

 

I own a 17 Volt and an 18 Clarity.... volt wins the geeky available tech Data...great metrics. But I have to say the Clarity wins hands down for feeling like you drive a nice car...Don’t get me wrong love the Volt... but I feel like I’m driving an economy car when in the Volt... and feel like I am in a hi profile luxury car in the Clarity.... as for either.. I use no gas!


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I would almost guarantee the reason the Volt’s engine came on during your test drive was because the car was never switched out of “transit mode” after it was delivered to dealer. Your experience was nearly exactly as mine 2 years ago when I test drive a Volt. The Volt’s engine DOES NOT turn on during normal EV drive mode if the battery still has a charge remaining. I’ve owned my 2017 for 2 years now, so I can attest to this.

 

The blue line is supposed to dynamically move depending on driving conditions/selected driving mode. When you are in ev eco mode the blue line is usually 75-80% across the energy dial. When you switch to sport mode the blue line should shift to about 50% across the dial. Also, when you are out of battery the blue line either goes away completely and all that shows is the white, dashed line, or there is just a small amount of blue showing before it changes to white. Your car doesn't do that? The place on the dial where the line switches from blue to white is the point where the engine is supposed to turn on.

 

Agree, it was horrible when I turned in my 2013 Volt, never was in shop. But turn at closer local dealer was hell


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Mine doesn’t change until I select HV, but the different EV modes do remap the pedal as to where ICE turns on. I would have expected the blue/white indicator to change among the different EV modes but mine doesn’t either. Another software error found??

 

The blue line will adjust when the battery is low and power becomes more limited. A few miles before the battery goes dead you will see it start to adjust down until it drops low enough that the engine starts.

 

OK Stephen, I realize you love your Volt and hate the Clarity but I have to question a few of your claims just based on facts and not feelings. I’m not bashing the Volt, it’s a good PHEV, but some of your claims don’t seem to hold water.

Volt has far better comfort than a Clarity? No middle back seat, much less hip room or leg room or head room and back seat knees up to your chin low seating compared to the Clarity. The middle back may come w seat belts but even the Volt forums say it’s only good for baby seats, small children and those you want to torture (their words not mine). Have you sat in the back seat of a Clarity? It’s without a doubt “far better” than the Volt on just size alone.
Sorry, I have to disagree on this after comparing the two side by side.
Far better handling? No way except for smaller wheelbase and length making parking a little easier.
Really, both have more than adequate acceleration and handling. Have you driven a Clarity? In what ways do you think the Volt handles far better than the Clarity?

There is just no way to get 154 miles on one charge of a Volt’s 17.1 kW battery (of which not all is usable) on level ground. That’s 3 times the EPA range. Could it be that it was on the downhill leg of the Mammoth (7,880 ft) to Fresno (308 ft) route which seems to be a drop of about 7,500 ft according to my Googlefru. To make a valid claim you have to go both ways on an incline and average the two. So pardon me, but that claim is a little hard to swallow just based on physics.

I’m glad you love your Volt, I’m just asking that we keep the comparisons factual.

 

No. The federal tax credit applies to any car with a battery of 5 kW or larger. The credit is $2550 plus $417 for the first 5 kW and $417 per kW above 5 with a maximum of $7500. So the Clarity qualifies for the full $7500. And it is a tax credit, not a rebate. You must have a tax liability greater than $7500 in the tax year in which the car is put in service. It cannot be carried forward into another year.

 

Different size vehicles, the Volt, being based on the Cruze is about the size of a Prius, while the Clarity is the size of a Camry. I sat in them at the auto show, the middle back seat too. The Clarity was fractionally smaller than the Camry middle seat, but better than the Fusion. The Volt would require someone probably less than 5 ft 7 inches to fit with a straight back and neck, and you straddle the cup holders. Neither the Prius or Volt is particularly large, and I wouldn't prefer a car without independent 4 wheel suspension myself.

The engine design in the Volt has more features and ability, but that makes it more expensive to build, which is why they didn't make another vehicle with that power train so far. The Clarity is an EV power train with engine generator, but it is still an economy design for mpg and lower cost. They already made a Clarity EV using the same EV design, showing the power train can be put in different vehicles.

 

This is a great discussion. I own a 2012 Volt and am starting to think about replacement cars - I'm starting to notice battery degradation (lower range, engine turns on before battery is at 0, many reduced propulsion power messages when turning on a near-empty or empty battery). I live in Vegas and the car sits out in the 115F heat all summer at work (no covered parking), so not terribly surprised to see this happen, but was hoping I'd make 8 years, not 6.

The Clarity is technically good, but I have a hard time with the looks. The new Volt looks nice, but is too small (I was single when I bought the first one, by the time I replace it I'll probably have 2 kids). And I want to keep it under 40k, so a lot of the mid-sized BEVs will be out (Model 3, whatever future crossover BEVs that come out). I wont buy for another two years (hopefully), I can only hope Honda has a mid-cycle update to make it look less weird.

 

Mr. Parks has conveniently neglected to compare how long it takes to recharge a Volt with its 3.6 kW on-board charger (reportedly 4 hours) vs the Clarity PHEV with its 6 kW on-board charger (just over 2 hours from my experience). Wouldn't that factor be of importance to someone focusing on EV travel?

 

I would expect it to do that, but not on my car, at least when I've tested. Here, for example, is a photo of it in Sport mode with the white line starting exactly where it does in Eco mode:

Now, how the needle responds to the pedal is completely different in this mode, so the ICE will come on when the pedal is about halfway down (per page 12 of the manual), which is annoying to me because you basically can't tell exactly what that point is without watching the dashboard instead of the road. The upshot is, if I feel like using Sport mode but want to drive EV-only, I have to either go gentle on the accelerator or constantly watch the needle to make sure I'm not pushing it too far. Likewise for Normal--I only can tell by feel what is going to kick the car out of EV mode in Eco, based on the detent.

This second one is a UI bug, but here's the white line showing that the ICE should be on all the time when in fact we're in EV mode and the ICE isn't running even though I'm accelerating:


Interestingly, this may have been psychological, but it sure seemed like the car was willing to put more power into the electric motor from only the battery in Sport mode than in Eco.

This is my experience as well, although it's technically not an error since the manual explains this is what it's supposed to do, it's just sort of hard-to-interpret design. I also really wish that wasn't how it was designed, since sometimes I enjoy the responsiveness of Sport mode but really have no interest in using the ICE.

That's funny to me, because everyone I've ever talked to has said that it's a really nice looking car. I'm not big on the chopped rear wheel look, but even that's pretty subtle, and apart from that it looks almost exactly like a slightly more aggressive Civic.

This comment was interesting to me, because I'd generally take that bet--after a test drive, most people would probably choose the Clarity. Comparing the base model of each, the Clarity is certainly a better deal. If you use the back seat with any regularity, the Clarity is a better choice. If you like the luxury feel and spacious ride up front, the Clarity is a better choice.

But having actually owned both cars, and switched back and forth several times over the space of a month while selling my Volt, if my wife wasn't a Honda fan and preferred a bigger car, it would have been a close call for me, and there's a good chance I would have gone with a loaded Volt. It's nice not having to apologize if I give somebody a ride in back, and I'm quite happy with it, but the combination of peppier feel, hatchback, and my preference of drivetrain polish and feel gives the Volt some genuine advantages to me.

One note: The Volt, to me, does not feel like an economy car at all. It feels like a compact car, but there's a difference between a cheap car and a small car. The Clarity definitely does have a more luxury feel, though.

 

It's too bad Honda couldn't find a way to adjust the detent so it signals the departure from EV in all 3 modes, not just ECON Mode.

 

That would have been ideal.

Well, actually, ideal for me would be just having a separate mode that will never turn on the ICE even if you lead-foot it, but maybe I'm not the target market.

 

I believe Honda sees engine-powered acceleration as a safety factor. They don't want people to have to go searching for a mode button (or worse, a menu selection) when they want instant power to avoid a potential accident. I think the detent is a perfect way to accomplish this goal while providing haptic feedback for drivers who don't want to activate the engine. They just didn't fully implement the detent concept (possibly due to additional expense).

 

I think this pic may prove that I can honestly report which car is More comfortable, drives better and all those other non truths...While my Volts are very nice cars.... they do not come close to the refined luxurious feel of the Clarity... Sorry Steve.


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I suppose that kind of depends on your driving and charging habits.

If your plan was to just use the included 120V charger and let the car charge overnight, it wouldn't really make much difference (in fact, the Volt's drastically smarter time-of-use-rate algorithm could provide an advantage). If you routinely drive more than 40 miles in a day with a 2-4 hour stopover at a place with an L2 charger in between, then the fast charge is a major advantage.

I, for example, I probably have the opportunity for a fast charge to be useful maybe once or twice a month; usually I'm either driving a lot without a break or not all that much. I bought an L2 charger as much for fun as anything, although in the long run it will eventually save a few gallons of burned fossil fuel. In contrast, if your work routine was to drive 40 miles, park for two hours somewhere with a charger, then drive another 40 miles, you could save thousands of dollars worth of fuel over the life of the car.