-40 is very cold

northof49ev

northof49ev

Member
Just an cold weather update for anyone wondering how Clarity's fair in very cold weather. -40'C or F this morning on my 38 km commute to work. As usual below -15 the engine runs continually from start. Seat felt like a block of ice (I park outside on the driveway) and it took 15 km before the seat started to feel above freezing lol. Car interior heater blows warm air right away but it also took about the same to start feeling above freezing. Steering wheel was ice cold almost all the way. Thats the biggest missing on the car for cold weather commutes. Kind of like driving in a refrigerator with a warm air blower. But it can do it.
 
northof49ev said:
Just an cold weather update for anyone wondering how Clarity's fair in very cold weather. -40'C or F this morning on my 38 km commute to work. As usual below -15 the engine runs continually from start. Seat felt like a block of ice (I park outside on the driveway) and it took 15 km before the seat started to feel above freezing lol. Car interior heater blows warm air right away but it also took about the same to start feeling above freezing. Steering wheel was ice cold almost all the way. Thats the biggest missing on the car for cold weather commutes. Kind of like driving in a refrigerator with a warm air blower. But it can do it.
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Wow, the magic temperature where C = F! I thought Honda said the Clarity won't start if the high voltage battery temperature gets down to –22°F (–30°C). They probably just pulled that number out of the air because no Honda employee wanted to test the actual limit.
 
-35 yesterday and several days of -34 last year. No issues. It has some kind of battery conditioning happening because after the charge is complete you will still see the charge port light come on and off repeatedly. I have no idea at what temperature it activates but I have experienced no issues from either battery. Its got 55,000km on it now or about 40,000miles and still on the original 12V. The steering is stiff for the first km or 2 at that temperature but I just turn slowly til it loosens up.
 
It’s headed south. We’re expecting to see a low 2F, or -17C, in SW Michigan in a few days. We have the Jeep 4xe here, rather than the Clarity, and it is kept in an unheated garage.

Trees caused a power outage last night around 2:00am. The generator came on immediately and just shut down as power was restored around 11:00am.
 
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Its all relative to where we live. A friend in Texas was complaining that he lost some plants he had outside when the temperature dipped to 30'F a week or so ago. At 2'F he wouldn't have to worry because they would all be toast. Never been in Michigan but I know around Chicago the humidity can be pretty high because of the lake and cause a lot of fog. The ice fog we get here makes the trees look nice but coats our windows too. Nice that you have a generator for outages especially if it goes out once that cold hits.
 
Do Clarity have a system that can be programmed to pre-heat the cabin while being connected

Without using that «precious» app, that seems to be a «hit or miss» thing ...

Thank'S

LOP
 
In Canada it's kind of a no brainer. All EVs should be equipped with heated seats and steering wheels. Even though I enjoy the cold winters I have Reynaud's syndrome where the body cuts off blood circulation to the hands in the cold regardless of how warmly one is clothed. On days where it is cold but even slightly above freezing I can generally use the heated seats and steering wheel to avoid cabin heating entirely which greatly helps with range.
 
insightman said:
Wow, the magic temperature where C = F! I thought Honda said the Clarity won't start if the high voltage battery temperature gets down to –22°F (–30°C). They probably just pulled that number out of the air because no Honda employee wanted to test the actual limit.
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No, -22F sounds almost exactly right for NMC cells, the datasheet probably reflects as much. I also have had my Clarity operate below -22f a few times, -22f is most likely a rough estimation, the cars computers are most likely monitoring many many things.
 
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