A few more questions, and much thanks!

[Grant]

Hello again, and let me start by saying thanks for the assistance in my other thread earlier today. My wife and I have a few other questions that have come up from reading around through the forum. I am only making a new thread here in the interest of grouping the answers that matter to us together, and more importantly to make sure that the answers are current and not reflective of issues that Honda has already dealt with. For background, we are looking at higher-VIN 2018 leftover Touring models; mainly curious about life with an updated and service-bulletin-ed Clarity - what problems persist versus which were teething issues at release and has been de-bugged since.

1) HondaLink App and preconditioning. A lot of discussion early on about the app not working, or not working properly. Has that mostly been taken care of? Is it pretty stable now (would be using on current gen Apple phones/IOS)?

2) Preconditioning through the App... What all can be controlled. Is the control just on/off, and the system operates as needed based off the temperature chart/parameters I've seen elsewhere? And does it matter what the last setting you were using in the car while driving was? Are those who use it finding it to work well?

2a) Is it possible through the app to precondition when away from home when battery is low (lets say you're roadtripping and have used most of the tractive battery charge)? Is there any way to force ICE run to charge the battery, and thus let the climate control work, or is it something you have to specifically plan for if you want to be able to do it? (i.e. make sure you arrive at the amusement park, or festival, or whatever with at least x% battery left)

3) Does preconditioning through the app still mess with XM or other infotainment screen stuff.

4) We will be using just L1 charging at home. Does that mean we can't precondition in the garage? Or is it possible to shut off charging and then precondition, all from the app?

5) The split driver side mirror... It isn't the same as BSD, but does it seem a helpful improvement visibility-wise over a normal side mirror? (That is one thing we didn't get to pay attention to in our test drive, and there are no cars near us to go try again. I feel like even rolling into the lot I knew about as much about the thing as the sales guy did, but after coming home and diving into even more reading there are so many other things I wish I had known to look for, try, check, etc. C'est la vie, I suppose.)

6) How many routine driving activities require interaction with the touchscreen, in your actual experience? I have seen that expressed as a concern, but again, I didn't thoroughly play with lots of things during my tester.

7) Anyone who is familiar with both cars.... Are the preconditioning choices/options of the Clarity the same as (or less, or more) than with an Accord Hybrid? If different, what things can you do with one that you can't with the other?

*edit* 8) Is there any chance that, since the touchscreen/infotainment/nav arrangement is a slightly older vintage, that Honda will cease properly supporting it (parts, updates (idk if that is even a thing for these), etc) within the timeframe of, say, a ten or slighly more year ownership? */edit*

Thanks so much in advance for any thoughts and input you may have. I am in a few similar communities where I get to be on the other side of questions like this sometimes. I know it can be frustrating to be seemingly giving the same info so many times, so I really appreciate whatever help you can give me as I try to sift through what is old vs what is current, what is real vs what is user error, what is a one-off issue versus what is a frequent one, etc.

Thanks,

Grant.

 

[Robert_Alabama]

I'll hit a few of these:
1) I have had pretty good luck with the iphone 7 and the app. It only updates every 15% or so of charge, not instantaneously, but it is good to start and stop charging and to monitor progress. You can also use to find the car if you need to. Using the find the car option will update charging level to the current state (won't have to wait for 15% intervals). Generally I have found it working pretty well the last couple of months.
5) I like the split driver's side mirror. I have had no close calls with a lane change and feel comfortable with it. I just set it as far to the left as I can (so that I have to make an effort to see the door handle/side of car when I look in the mirror).
6) The touch screen is pretty ok for me. I will switch to the info screens once and a while, but usually leave it on the audio (radio), climate, or the drive info screens. Not a lot of playing with it during driving. I use the Navigation once in a blue moon, but it works fine (touring model).
8) I really doubt the lack of support for the touchscreen will be a problem. You can buy aftermarket parts already to replace the touchscreen, and there will always be wrecked cars out there. I wouldn't count on any real ongoing updates to these (there was a nav update available posted here some time ago, though).

 

[KentuckyKen]

I’ll give it a shot with 1 year of owner ship with almost all of it EV.

1) HL working perfectly fine on my iPhone 7 w latest OS

2) No first hand knowledge, but I do not think you can precondition on a low battery as the ICE will not come on. I believe that to be a safety feature that will not remotely start the ICE just in case it’s in an enclosed space.

3) Don’t use Sirius so don’t know.

4) You can precondition on an L1 but only after charging is over or stopped. We have some reports that heating is not as strong as in an L2. No reports that AC is weaker.

5) Split driver’s mirror will cover the blind spot if properly adjusted away from straight down the side of the car.

6) Some initial settings for music and climate control require the touch screen but after that I pretty much only use the steering wheel controls and physical climate controls. Built in Nav in the Touring is mostly touch screen or voice control.

7) Can’t say; I have nothing to compare.

8) No idea and no one has any reliable information on that.

I think that the Clarity is the perfect car. All EV in town but no range anxiety for long trips. At its price after tax credit, its many positives fully out way any of its few quirks and omissions for me. You’ll never get every single thing you want and none of what you don't like in any car. But that being said, IMHO, the Clarity comes amazing close to perfect for me.

 

[Mowcowbell]

One thing I've learned about preconditioning using the HondaLink app... your phone must have a signal when the preset time arrives. I work in the basement of a building and have zero cell phone reception when I'm at my desk. If I set the HL app to precondition my car 10 minutes before I leave my desk, it always fails.

On the other hand, the HL app always works when I'm at home and have a strong cell phone signal.

This is only a minor quibble about a car that is nearly perfect for my driving situation. I can run for weeks at a time without the ICE turning on. I've used 8 gallons of gas over the past 1400 miles. I wonder how Prius drivers can put up with their smaller, slower, and more fuel hungry vehicles!

 

[Groves Cooke]

Question #3. If you precondition, allow the graphic on the screen behind the steering wheel to do their complete gig before hitting the power button. Then Sirius will work. IF you forget and start too soon, turn the car off, open the driver door, let the little graphic thing do it's number and then start.