Maybe I've forgotten the reason and if so it's probably because I never use the HV mode. However my wife and I were thinking it's probably not a bad idea to keep the battery fully charged in the winter since pre-heating the interior is a nice feature in cold weather. The only way to do that is to have a significant charge remaining in the battery. Since we've been running on gas since the weather turned cold (more expensive to use battery in the cold here in N.Y. with our electric rates & cheap gas), using HV mode and keeping the battery charged is a new approach for us. So since we started using HV mode, we notice the battery still drops in charge, although not as much as if you're running EV. But still, why should it drop to any degree if you're actually running on gas?
Because the electric motor assists the ICE. Watch the power graphic to when when it happens. The car rarely uses the ICE alone.
I think using the heater is the main drain on your battery even in hv. Although it's not the only drain.
Because it's a serial hybrid - that's what the "H" in "HV" stands for. It's a hybrid of an ICE vehicle and an EV so, of course, it's going to be using both "fuels". I just did a 3200+ mile trip with two 1200-mile legs. I did the long legs in HV mode and started each with a full charge. At the end of each the range meter showed about 2/3 charge remaining. As it was interstate highway driving there wasn't a great deal of regen happening - or, at least, not enough to replace all the electricity used.
One thing I find annoying is that the car will revert to EV mode with each restart. I would have much preferred a mode where the last choice is retained on restarting the car. I often forget to immediately hit the HV button and wind up using EV miles until the realization hits me that I’m back in EV mode.
One way to avoid this is to set the information screen to show the power source and you will notice instantly that you are not in HV mode.
I suppose that would help, but certainly not an ideal solution as would be a 'last choice retained' mode. But I'll give that a try.
But still, why should it drop to any degree if you're actually running on gas? Perhaps because it doesn’t have a “gas mode”, and outside of HV Charge or EV it’s an HV or Hybrid Vehicle. Fortunately, mine doesn’t drop much on the few long trips I’ve taken. Just a bar or two for 250 miles and that’s with forgetting to put it back in HV for a few miles after a stop.
When in HV mode look just to the right of the battery gauge. In HV mode there is a green car icon there. Not there otherwise. My wife clued me onto this when we drove to St. George the other day. I had no idea because I kept looking up by where Sport and EV display.
I noticed that too and missed seeing it before I got used to the display. It’s totally unintuitive how they placed some of the icons. Evidently, the display was was arranged early one morning after a long night of sake and karaoke by the Clarity design team.
Agreed, but invariably I don’t always look there immediately. By the time I remember, I’ve often driven several miles. IMO this is just a flaw in Honda’s design. Most equipment I’ve used, not just cars, retains the last choice of the user. I could understand if there was some safety related concern, but that’s certainly not the case here. I shudder to think of the inconvenience if most equipment reverted back to some factory mode of choice.
The "H" in HV stands for Hybrid, not "Pure ICE" So in HV (assuming you start out with a full battery) the car will continue use stored electricity until the battery gets down to about 34 estimated EV miles without recharging. Once it gets there, it'll go back and forth on battery, but it will keep the battery level at around 34-35 estimated miles. When it's in HV mode, it's just like a Prius with the exception of burning down any EV range to about 34-35 estimated miles. There's no way to save a "Full" battery that I've been able to figure out in almost 2 years of driving this car short of parking it.
That’s not what mine does in HV on Interstate and highways at 55 to 70 mph. I start in HV with a full tank and full charge and only lose 1 to 2 bars battery and only about 10 to 15 % of HV est range which stayed in the 40s. And I got 50 mpg based on Odometer and gas receipts. (49 mpg taking into account the small amount needed to return to full charge). It always seems to want to maintain the SOC with just a small loss.
I'd like to know why does the car drive better when you put it in HV mode, vs when it goes into HV mode when the battery is depleted. Isn't there enough battery left to have the car behave better?
