Can someone please explain EV, HV and Sport modes

P

ProspectiveBuyer

Member
I should understand this by now, but I've had trouble figuring out the difference between the different modes. Even on test drives, the salesmen tend to hedge their explanations. Can anyone explain this clearly and when it's best to use which. Also, I was on a test drive tonight and asked to use the windshield wiper spray. And it basically dribbled out but never got the windshield wet. The only water that came out ran outside the field of vision. Is that customary for the Clarity. The salesman didn't have a good answer for that either.
 
EV is electric vehicle. There is no button. However if you turn Sport and HV off and Econ on you will be in EV Mode as long as there is battery power.

HV is hybrid vehicle. This mode will toggle between using the gas engine and electric mode as needed. In this mode the battery will roughly maintain the level of charge so you can save battery power to switch back to EV Mode when you want to.

It is suggested to use EV around town and HV on the highway.

Sport mode alters the response of the gas pedal to provide more power. The car will be more responsive and accelerate quicker in Sport mode.

If you switch all of Econ, Sport, and HV off you will be in Normal mode. This mode is like HV but unlike HV mode the battery will drain over time.

Finally there is HV Charge mode which will run the gas engine continually to both drive the wheels and recharge the battery up to a maximum of 58%. Once the battery is charged the car will revert to HV mode.

There windshield washer sucks. There's no way to get around it. The design is simply bad. You're not alone.
 
I disagree with you on the windshield wiper. At first I thought it was a problem but actually the wiper sprays water from the blade, not from the hood. So it gets sprayed and wiped at the same time. It’s actually a superior system imho
 
Can someone please do a quick video showing the wiper spray in action so for those of us that does not have the car yet can see it in action and judge for ourselves if it is wimpy and reasonable, thanks in advance
 
iluvscuba said:
Can someone please do a quick video showing the wiper spray in action so for those of us that does not have the car yet can see it in action and judge for ourselves if it is wimpy and reasonable, thanks in advance
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It is garbage if you live in a wintry area. It works, but the tiny tank only lasts a few days if you drive on salty roads. I get some streaking too. Will demo next winter when it is a problem. It isn't enough to stop me from buying the car, but it is a bit annoying.
 
Part of the reason these modes are confusing is that there not 1 but 2 sets of "modes": Driving Preferences and Propulsion Preferences. In both of these "Mode sets" there is something called "Normal" which is the absence of the other options. That is, if you aren't SPORT nor ECON driving mode you are in "Normal driving mode"; and, if you aren't in HV or HV-CHARGE mode you are in "Normal propulsion mode."

The Driving modes indicate driver preference for how the car drives/performs, such as throttle response and climate control intensity.

The Propulsion modes indicate driver preference for how the car provides/manages energy, such as from battery, from gas engine, etc...


Driving modes: [Change the accelerator sensitivity and energy consumption features]

● ECON:
The throttle is least responsive and the climate controls may have reduced cooling performance

The Gas Engine will assist/start with the accelerator about 80% depressed [at the click]​

● SPORT:
The throttle is most responsive and the car will maintain the same level of regenerative braking (set by the paddle selectors).

The Gas Engine will assist/start with the accelerator about 33% depressed [halfway to the click]​

● NORMAL:
When neither ECON nor SPORT are selected, the car is in Normal Mode. The throttle is

The Gas Engine will assist/start with the accelerator about 50 depressed [about 3/4 to the click].​

Propulsion/Power Sources [Change Gas/Battery (energy production) priorities]

● HV [Press HV Button so that HV indicator turns on]:
This is the most similar driving style to a traditional hybrid car.

The Clarity will use the Gas Engine to generate electricity which powers your electric motors and maintains the charge on your High Voltage battery.

This is well suited to high speed highway driving, saving the Clarity’s battery for lower speed city driving.​

● HV Charge [Hold HV Button until HV Charge Indicator appears]
This mode will behave like HV mode AND use the Gas Engine to recharge your HV battery to “12 Segments”​

● Normal: [Press HV Button so that HV indicator turns off]
When Neither HV or HV Charge modes are selected, the car will prefer All Electric Driving using the electric motor powered by the battery only.

The Gas Engine will only come on in Normal mode if one or more of the following apply:
. You are going uphill or accelerating aggressively.
. The climate control system is in heavy use.
. The Ambient temperature is too hot or too cold.
. The High Voltage Battery state of charge is very low.
. The vehicle is running a system check.​
 
Then, if you're not confused enough, all the modes the intelligent people have described above are actually combinations of 3 basic modes in which the i-MMD 2-motor hybrid system actually operates. EV Drive Mode (which you can't select) drives the car using the large traction motor powered solely by the battery. HV Drive Mode (nope, can't select this exact mode, either) has the engine turning the starter motor/generator to provide power to recharge the battery and also supply power to the traction motor. Engine Drive Mode (the rarest of the 3, which a computer decides when to select) occurs when a special clutch connects the engine to the mechanical drivetrain to actually power the wheels (at e-way speeds, this is more efficient than generating electricity with one motor and using that electricity with the other). Engine Drive Mode can happen only when you've selected HV Mode (which is different than the underlying HV Drive Mode).
 
ProspectiveBuyer said:
Also, I was on a test drive tonight and asked to use the windshield wiper spray. And it basically dribbled out but never got the windshield wet. The only water that came out ran outside the field of vision. Is that customary for the Clarity. The salesman didn't have a good answer for that either.
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I also had problems with my wiper fluid. Sometimes a little fluid would dribble out. Sometimes nothing would come out, even though I could hear the pump whining. I took the car to the dealer twice. On the first visit, they did nothing, but on the second visit then finally spent the time to diagnose the problem and found a clog in the system. After removing the clog, huge amounts of fluid flowed out. The amount of fluid now is significantly more than on my other cars. However, I find that at least on my car, the top part of the driver's side doesn't get as much fluid coverage as the other parts of the windshield.
 
Wow! jdonalds + Demian Johnson + insightman = the definitive explanation of the Clarity driving “modes”. You 3 are definely charter members of the Clarity Brain Trust.

As to the windshield washer. Only used mine in non-freezing conditions, but mine works fine for me. I have noticed that I need to keep the handle pulled longer than on a spray from the hood type. That’s probably because it’s dispensing less. It covers the windshield fine on mine but I have not had a large insect suicide incident to really stress it.
It is a pain to have to refill more often, but then it does make me open the hood more often and check fluid levels which is a good thing. I keep a gal of w wsher fluid (added RainX to it) in the garage and pop the hood often.
 
Here’s the washer video. It’s hard to tell that it covers the whole windshield since it wipes it off as soon as it hits the windshield but if you look at the edges on the r and l you can see it does. The out put is much less than normal spray types so I just hold lever longer. Sorry, I can’t seem to upload more than a 2 sec video.
 

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jdonalds said:
It is suggested to use EV around town and HV on the highway.
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To add a bit more nuance to this:
If your destination is within EV range, it is almost always more efficient to leave HV mode off and drive on EV as much as possible -- even at highway speeds, the electric motor is more efficient than the gas engine.

However, the electric motor is more efficient at lower speeds/stop and go than at sustained high speed. So if your destination is beyond the reach of the EV range, (meaning you need to run the gas engine at some point to get where you're going), then it's most efficient to do so when you're on the highway.

The best rule of thumb would be, drive on EV until you get on the highway, then switch on HV until you are within EV range of your destination. Then switch HV off and ideally arrive at your destination just as your EV miles hit 0, but before the engine comes on :-)
 
To be clear on toggling HV...

You can enable HV in either of the 3 modes (Econ, Normal, and Sport), this will basically maintain or increase the battery level, and engage that clutch when cruising above a certain speed. As written above, HV is not a distinct mode, it is an option on top of the 3. I only engage it with Econ though.
 
Vezz66 said:
To be clear on toggling HV...

You can enable HV in either of the 3 modes (Econ, Normal, and Sport), this will basically maintain or increase the battery level, and engage that clutch when cruising above a certain speed. As written above, HV is not a distinct mode, it is an option on top of the 3. I only engage it with Econ though.
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I wasn't aware that the HV add-on mode could actually increase the battery level. Someday when my wife and I finally take a real trip (>50 miles) in our Clarity, I'll get to try that out.
 
Vezz66 said:
To be clear on toggling HV...

You can enable HV in either of the 3 modes (Econ, Normal, and Sport), this will basically maintain or increase the battery level, and engage that clutch when cruising above a certain speed. As written above, HV is not a distinct mode, it is an option on top of the 3. I only engage it with Econ though.
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I wasn't aware I could enable Sport and HV at the same time. I'll have to try that out.
 
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