I'll try explaining it differently...this isn't a perfect illustration but I quickly found a generic representation (non Honda) of how RPM relates to power generation of a typical electric generator...it is very "peaky" to use language used when describing typical torque/HP curves:
Now...apply it to the Clarity. When your ICE first fires up due to electrical demand (HV mode activated either manually or by bringing EV range to zero), the engine is running, rather slowly for a bit. The engine is just warming up...get the oil circulated and warmed up for maybe 5 minutes before putting a big load on it...at this rpm yes the engine is running, but you're still mostly burning battery and EV range continues to drop. Let's guestimate at this point it's revving at maybe 1,500 rpm and not obtrusive. It is no coincidence that most gasoline powered cars, with today's modern high-ratio gearing and overdrive, are also often running at 1,500 or 2,000 rpm all the way up to 70 mph -- this is simply what modern non-aggressive drivers have become accustomed to...an engine that rarely exceeds 2,000 rpm in most driving circumstances.
But those engines aren't spinning generators. A brave new world.
Back to the chart. Most generators have a very specific RPM they are most efficient at. Naturally Honda would target this. And as a general rule it's in the 3,000 to 3,400 rpm range, but all are different. The other consideration is trying to provide a definition of "Angry Bees". For many, it might be as low as 2,500 rpm. For others, it might be 5,000 rpm. We have no earthly idea since Honda didn't give us a tach.
As stated earlier, when the engine first fires up and is walking along at 1,500 RPM and warming up it is entirely possible it is generating only 25% of the electricity it could generate if it were running at 3,000 rpm instead, where it is most efficient at producing power. Of course spin it at 5,000 rpm and it will generate even MORE power, but maybe only 25% more while burning 2 or 3 times the gasoline...efficiency drops way off. For generators: Extremely high RPMS are not efficient. And low RPMS are ALSO not efficient. Mid-range RPMS are most efficient.
So knowing this, what is the most efficient between these 3 options: Run the engine at 1,500 rpm for 4 hours? Or run the engine at 3,000 rpm for 1 hour? Or run the engine at 5,000 rpm for 45 minutes? All three produce the same amount of electricity in the end. Option 1 is more pleasant and quiet. But the 3,000 rpm run for 1 hour would burn less gasoline than either of the other 2 options. This is what Honda programmed into the car. And for this reason, I believe on typical high-speed interstate runs in HV mode...AND SOMETIMES AROUND TOWN...this engine very likely running in the 3,000 rpm range periodically -- and by design -- because it is the most efficient rpm for producing electricity after the engine warms up. The car's goal is to spin a higher RPM for a shorter period of time to save gasoline, charge the battery as fast as reasonable, and shut itself off so you can go back to saving yet more fuel -- and SOME owners report "angry bees" at this 3,000 rpm level because for the past 20 years they've been driving cars that walk along at 1,500 to 1,800 rpm at 70 mph...and cars that NEVER spin 3,000 rpm while coasting down a hill -- like the Clarity might occasionally do.
For those who wait for the engine to warm up, then it starts to rev, and it bothers them so they hit the EV button a couple times and then switch back to HV just for the sake of shutting down the engine noise? I think you're being simply wasteful -- confusing the computer and starting the engine warm-up process over again. If the car is allowed to rev a bit more it's converting gasoline into electricity in the most efficient manner. But the average driver doesn't get that, and thinks the engine is simply revving too fast. It's not.
No question when I was hammering to the top of a 12,000 foot mountain pass, I was way up in the 5,000 to 5,500 rpm range on this car. The generator was producing as much electricity as it possibly could, but certainly not efficiently...it was just tapped out. And this was evident by looking at the live MPG meter (this is the best representation we have on this car of a tach) and seeing it was getting less than 15 mpg on the way up. Those weren't "angry bees", those were "irate bees screaming for bloody mercy".
Now compound it with the fact that in electric mode this car with active noise cancellation is darn near the quietest thing anyone has EVER driven. It's easy to get used to that. Then the engine kicks on and after warm-up it revs to 3,000 rpm. While you're traveling only 40 mph no less. This makes the engine quite noticeable. And that bothers some people. They report "angry bees."
Lets compound it further and acknowledge that most Clarity purchasers bought this car for relatively short trips, with most striving for as much EV driving as possible, and there are few road-trip discussions here and few long-ride vacations taken. So if you have a 50 mile range, rarely exceed it, and now drive it 60 miles one day, you have 50 miles of usual silence and a comparative 10 miles of "wierdness" and "angry bees" -- which you would rapidly learn and understand more if you just kept driving for another 200 miles. Many owners would benefit from allowing the programming to go through all of its cycles periodically so they can learn more about the car...instead of ALWAYS trying to drive it like a BEV. This is NOT a BEV -- it's a PHEV. Running the engine is good and smart...an engine that never starts is an engine that's dying a slow death.
Anyway, on longer trips I assure you the car settles in eventually -- the first 10 to 15 minutes or so of ICE coming on can be a bit odd as the engine warms up, you still lose more EV range, then the engine later starts revving to replace that EV range it lost during that warm-up process. It later does settle in to a nice even RPM after the computer figures out what load it's really taking on with this particular trip...unless of course you keep pushing buttons and resetting things...
My biggest point is it's just different. Not broken. And whether people "like" it or not is very subjective so there's no point in even discussing it -- if you don't "like" it, by all means do whatever you "like..." Push buttons till you're happy, or sell the car, or whatever.
And as a disclaimer ALL of my numbers above are fabricated/estimated/assumed out of my own head and from my own experience of driving (and tuning and rebuilding) many 4 cylinder cars aggressively and knowing what they sound like...and having repaired/tuned/rebuilt multiple gasoline powered electric generators...I really do think my numbers are relatively close to reality.
Enough yammering -- just trying to explain my train of thought. Maybe this clarified or maybe it confused...
