Canadian owners - outdoor overnight?

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Ohliuw

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Seeking opinion from Canadian owners - has anyone kept it outside during the cold winter nights? I live in Ottawa, so winters are cold and long... What was your experience like?

My understanding is that it comes with the battery heater, but I read somewhere that the manual states that plugging the battery won’t help if it’s down to -30?

I was trying to decide between the Clarity and the Niro EV, but the EX trim of the Niro doesn’t come with battery heater (wth were they thinking), so now I lean more towards the Clarity as I don’t have a garage.

Thanks
 
Well, I’m not in Canada (or even Canadian) so I have no experience with my Clarity in temps under +15 F (-10 C).
But I can point you to several references in the manual. Page 377 and pages 465 to 467 will address this issue.

If my take on it is correct, then you need to keep it plugged in when it’s outside and temps are going to approach -30 C or so. (And probably a good idea in less chilling weather too, although the manual doesn’t say what the cut in temp is.) The Manual does say the power system will not start if the pack is cold soaked and drops to approximately -30C. I would also think that the HV battery heater would help with battery health and longevity.
The manual also states that when plugged in, the battery heater will maintain the battery temp for you until next driven. It’s just not clear to me if that also works if not plugged in. I’m thinking that’s such a drain that it won’t, but we need some real world data from some helpful Canadians on this to be sure.

I do know that there is an engine heater a available from Honda for the Clarity ICE. It will require a second circuit and an extension cord. And one friend from the northern US told me he also used a wrap around 12V battery heater to make sure his gas mobile would start since he didn’t have a garage either. Hope this is helpful and I don’t know if you need to do more than just keeping it plugged in and taking advantage of having an HV battery heater.
Best wishes, as I could never take the cold up there. Brrrrrr!
 
It’s still beautiful summer here in Kitchener-Waterloo but winter will come in a few months. I have done some research to prepare for my Clarity’s first winter. The battery heating won’t work if it’s not plugged in. If you don’t have a garage, can you somehow have it plugged in? If not, you might not find a way to start it up after a cold night.
I’m thinking driving another ICE car if it’s under -20°C the whole day. Since I can’t have it plugged in in my company’s parking lot. Leaving it there in the cold for 10 hours could be a problem.


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I'm in the worst of both worlds in the sense that I deal with Canadian weather but have the US model with no battery heater.

Based on what I've read here and in the owner's manual, I'd be pretty confident that the battery heater would keep the system warm enough to start even if the ambient temperature dropped below the magic -30. But it needs to be plugged in to accomplish that. If you drive the car to work and park it in a lot all day, unplugged, all bets are off.

That said, I have been following this and a few other forums on the Clarity for a few months, and I have yet to see anyone actually report that their car would not start because the temperature was too cold. There are a few potential explanations for that other than the cold not being an issue - maybe it has happened but no one has posted to a forum, maybe I missed it, or maybe Clarity owners duck the issue by not putting themselves in this position. It's pretty rare, even this far north, to have a period when it's that cold for long enough for the car to reach an ambient temperature below -30. I was in the position last year of doing a test, and now I wish I had, although starting the car under those conditions is not something I'm eager to do just in the quest of knowledge.
 
If the -30 situations are rare maybe there are creative solutions, such as finding a parking garage that is not necessarily heated but will remain above -30 and then take Uber the rest of the way. Or maybe a coworker lives nearby or on the way that would let you park at their house and plug in your heater, you would then ride to work with them in sort of a mini-carpool situation, it's typical in carpools that some don't drive and just reimburse for gas. If you don't have a heater then maybe they would let you park in their garage since the space would be empty anyway.
 
Thanks all. I will leave it plugged in at night, and I also have a indoor parking at work, so I guess I should be fine.

I plan to lease it for 4 years as this would also give me the full rebate, but I will have the option to buy or get rid of it 4 years down the road - depending on the prices and technology then and how well this one behaves.
 
Ohliuw said:
Thanks all. I will leave it plugged in at night, and I also have a indoor parking at work, so I guess I should be fine.

I plan to lease it for 4 years as this would also give me the full rebate, but I will have the option to buy or get rid of it 4 years down the road - depending on the prices and technology then and how well this one behaves.
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I think you're fine, and I agree with your logic on the lease.

Next Winter if I get another opportunity to park the car outdoors below the magic temperature I really want to know if it is really true that it simply says "Go away" when you try to start it. Quest for knowledge.
 
I live in Canada and park outside unplugged. What I found was for colder temperatures, I can't remember exactly, but I think around -16ish (don't quote me on that). Whenever I started my car, the engine automatically turned on and ran HV type mode where the engine was always on. Depending on the temperature, the engine would remain on longer when it was cold.

I don't have a level 2 charger, and I tried plugging in the level 1 charger and found that the time for the engine to turn on was much lower, and depending on how long I plugged in I could start in full EV mode. I also didn't time it, but I would think around 45 minutes minimum to not have engine start.

I think the lowest the temperature I saw was around -23 and I started no problem, just the engine would be on for around 10 minutes.
 
Kranberry said:
I live in Canada and park outside unplugged. What I found was for colder temperatures, I can't remember exactly, but I think around -16ish (don't quote me on that). Whenever I started my car, the engine automatically turned on and ran HV type mode where the engine was always on. Depending on the temperature, the engine would remain on longer when it was cold.

I don't have a level 2 charger, and I tried plugging in the level 1 charger and found that the time for the engine to turn on was much lower, and depending on how long I plugged in I could start in full EV mode. I also didn't time it, but I would think around 45 minutes minimum to not have engine start.

I think the lowest the temperature I saw was around -23 and I started no problem, just the engine would be on for around 10 minutes.
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This is consistent with my experience of the engine starting immediately on turning the car on at temperatures below about 15°F. I don't have the battery heater so cannot comment on its effect on this.

I'm still looking for someone to say that they parked outside at lower than the magic -30°C and the car did or didn't display an error message when they tried to start it. The owner's manual is quite specific but I don't know whether to believe it.
 
My 2012 Prius Plugin would always run the ICE first thing on a cold day (not even in the belows) and on a warm day say around 70ish. It's favorite first start temps with no ICE was high 40s to low 60s.

According to the manual, this was all triggered by the desired temperature of the battery. Once the car was parked and started again, even after some time, it would start without triggering the ICE.
 
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I live in Ottawa and park my car outside (my wife gets the garage). I have a 240V charger and I use the Honda Link app to turn my climate control on 20 minutes before I leave for work (it will only run for 30 minutes max). This does two things - provide a prewarmed cabin, thereby reducing the huge drain heating the cabin places on your battery (you lose up to 40% of how far you can drive compared to summer - depending on how warm you keep the cabin) and it prewarms the battery by charging it just before you leave - so the battery heater doesn't drain your battery further.
 
I also live in Ottawa, but my Clarity gets a garage spot. However, I have had it at the cottage sitting outside all day at temperatures approaching -30C, and it started immediately in those conditions.
 
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