Clarity Issues

Robert_Alabama said:
When I am driving all EV, I am experiencing pretty much what KentuckyKen is describing. Maybe a teacup of gas each time the engine runs on it's own, maybe once every couple of weeks. I do occasionally get the engine on with hard acceleration, but again, little gas burn. I drive about 6.5 miles to work , and even if I get the gas engine on for acceleration, the trip computer shows about 150 mpg or about 5 ounces of gasoline. Essentially all the gas I have burned in 6 months has been highway driving. I don't think even a gallon has been burned when I have had battery available over the 5 months I've had the car.
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I'll admit I was a bit too exuberant testing out the ICE-enhanced acceleration when we first got our Clarity. I'm a reformed man, now. Bring on the Stabil!
 
David Towle said:
I've had my Clarity 2 weeks and am interested in the loss of power issue some have noticed. If there is no battery power at all, then you've got a 4100 pound car with a gas engine that only makes 103 hp at 5500 rpm. And doesn't Honda say its only a single speed transmission? (I would think it would really be a CVT but maybe with a narrower range than others)? That is an almost unheard of low power to weight ratio especially with 1 speed. Anyone ever own a fifties or early sixties VW Microbus? Given these conditions the car SHOULD be a total slug if there's no battery left. I would be surprised if it could accelerate at all up even a slight incline.

So I think the only solution is to plan ahead for hills, use the long push on the HV button to recharge the battery BEFORE you get to the hilly area. If you're not sure of upcoming hills, then just drive in the long push HV mode all the time. And save the EV mode for the end of the drive rather than the beginning. Does this all make sense to others?
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the battery never gets to no power.
 
Lash said:
Hello everyone, sorry it took so long to post an update on my high revving and sluggish acceleration issue with my Honda Clarity. To this date, it has happened five times. Four of the times I have experienced the high rpm revving and sluggish acceleration were when the battery was depleted, two bars or less. Three times in auto hv mode, the mode the car defaults to after ev mode and battery is depleted and once in hv charge mode. Three times in colder weather 20-40 degrees and most recently 65-70 degree weather. So I don't feel temperature is an issue here. I have an on going case file with Honda and to date, 6-1-18 the Clarity has been in the shop four times, over a month. I could live with this issue, even though the acceleration is sluggish if it were consistently solved by not depleting battery. Meaning putting vehicle in hv charge mode before battery is depleted. A suggestion from the sales rep and engineer at Honda. Honda drove the vehicle and installed a data recorder and claimed this is a normal operation of vehicle and loss of acceleration does not occur. (1) they are wrong about loss of acceleration response and vehicle does have a different and sluggish acceleration response when ICE revs high which is designed to charge the depleted battery quickly. BUT, A WARNING TO All CLARITY OWNERS and most importantly(2) the fifth time the high revving and sluggish acceleration occurred was NOT with a depleted battery but with a 40 % charge, 6 bars and at 68 miles per hour on the highway. This I don't understand, I CAN NOT live with and BEWARE, HONDA is resisting and will not take the vehicle back because they could only duplicate the revving and sluggish acceleration when battery is depleted. This is a SAFETY ISSUE AND VERY DANGEROUS. I have told HONDA I can not put my family in this car when the revving is inconsistent and acceleration is sluggish and does not respond as it should. Unfortunately I will need to take further action legally if Honda continues to avoid the issue and will not take the car back for a full refund under the MASS LEMON LAW and or exchange for another(not a clarity) vehicle of equal value. BE CAREFULL and make sure you let HONDA know about this issue so it can be fixed before someone is injured. Please respond or email if you would like more detailed notes of my experience with this issue.
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I have had the same issue last evening
 
Going 55 in the rain on Baltimore beltway. 2 bars. All of a sudden. 25 and super high reving. Cars blowing there horn as I tried to get off to the side the road. Had it towed to dealership. When waiting I googled and found this site. Just got off the phone with service. Of course they had no knowledge of this issue and indicated they had no issue on a short test drive by the dealership. So now my car is 45 miles from home and they will
“Try to” see what they can do with it today. In the meantime I have on transportation. My husband had to pick me up at 1am last evening on my way home from airport. Loved the car until now
 
David Towle said:
I hope you can keep driving it at least until it happens again because the data recorder information should shed a lot of light!
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David Towle said:
I hope you can keep driving it at least until it happens again because the data recorder information should shed a lot of light!
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i just talked to my local Honda.. they tell me there is bulletin # 18-097 that should fix the issue.. suggest that to the out of town dealer that has my car.. I hope that is the fix and just needs an update..
 
Clarity ev said:
I have had the same issue last evening
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Hello David.. if you send me email I will give you my phone number.. I would like to talk to you about your issue.
My local Honda dealer giving me grief stating " as designed" as well and I agree with you.. this can't happen when on highway i'm just glad mine happened when it was low traffic volume.. email @ [email protected] they need to be able to replicate or get check engine light to come one to see why it tells them then.
 
I have the same issue. SIRIUS dead. Not just an off/on problem, it seems to need at least a 1t minute interval to recover.
Has anyone talked to honda about this?
Would love to hear their reply!
 
David Towle said:
Thanks that's helpful. I was wondering that because it was a bit colder yesterday and the range was way down under 35 miles. I need to use HV more. One problem with this, is on my car when I try to switch HV off it doesn't even when there's lots of juice in the battery. The HV indicator goes off, EV indicator doesn't go on, and I still hear the engine and see it on the graph. The only way I got it back on EV was restarting the car.
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you need an update... it does not "know there is electricity left: bulletin 18-097 just came out could solve our problem
 
Kysayshi said:
***HELP*** I have a Clarity plug-in. As I was returning from a road trip the following message " some driver assistant systems cannot operate radar obstructed" came on the dash. I took it to the dealer the next morning and of course the message went off. The dealer calls and informs me the "H" was scartched by the bow (yes I had a red bow like the ones you hang on a door or car for the holidays). They blame the scratches for the failure and refused to look into the issue further. I have not seen these scratches yet as I am due to pick up the car tomorrow. The H infront of the car is going to have wear and tear as it is infront of the car. It does not make since for the "H" to have to be pristine in order for the senors to operate. Furthermore, if these "scratches" do infact impare the operation of said sensor wouldn't the message still be on the dash??? Any helpful input would be most appreciated. Oh and for all those who are interested I was quoted a price tag of over a grand to replace that darn H, and they said that I would have the H replaced before they would investigate the senor issue if it were to occur again
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Just out of curiosity, were you in a storm? I got that in an ice storm, and as soon as the ice in front melted all was good. I think some sensors got blocked by ice...
 
barnesgj said:
This is not the slow singing that it does in the parking lot. Is definitely the engine revving. And it was a higher pitched sound than the loaner makes when it revs. And the car just didn't want to go when I pushed the gas. Again like it was stuck in low gear.
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it slow response it not just at pick up time.. I just had it for the 1st time at 7K miles. if you have this problem on your own car REPORT It.. the excessive reving and no "GO" when pushing the gas happened to me the other day as i'm driving 60 miles on a highway. .. took to dealer.. other's on this post have had the same problem. HOnda doesn't think there is a problem. all dealers need to be made aware of the over reving with no power.. to get them to take action and recreate the issue. ALso, what is the "indent" you are referring to? Did someone at honda tell you not to go past it?


barnesgj said:
I have been driving a loaner Clarity for 4 days. When I picked up my new one today, it didn't act at all like the loaner. The battery was not charged, but the loaner had not been either. When I pushed on the gas, the engine whined like it was stuck in first gear. I know these don't actually have gears, but that's what it sounded like. The car had almost no acceleration, even in Sport mode. The salesman was with me and when I told him it didn't feel right, he had us drive the loaner. As soon as I drove that one off the lot, he could tell the difference. We took it back to their service area and he was told that they just needed to charge the battery. I had to bring the loaner back home.

While I was driving the new car in Sport mode, I pushed the accelerator past the indent and immediately smelled burning rubber or plastic. It went away when I backed off the pedal, but I'm concerned that I may have damaged the car. The salesman wasn't concerned about the smell at all. If they get the car so that it runs like the loaner, should I be concerned that it may have problems later? I really don't like the black on black of the loaner, but it runs great. Did anyone else have problems when you picked up your cars?
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visajet said:
Just wanted to provide an update: I have tried different modes multiple times since then (with the battery depleted) and haven't seen this come up again. Looks like it was the combination of pretty cold weather and hilly roads that caused it. Even range of the battery is so much better when the temps cross 50deg.
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just checking for reving and poor power after a full year .. I got my car in April so this is first cold weather and while driving 60 on highway .. I think it was just moving from no EV to HV and it went for 60 to 30 in a very short distance.. could not get it back up to speed.. very concerned about it.. Dealer has not hear of this "issue"
 
MBG said:
New to the forum--thanks to all for adding insight/experience/recommendations. The comments that Ive read are much more helpful than reading the owners manual and contacting the dealership.

a few questions/observations that I havent seen asked (if I missed them in earlier posts, sorry for any redundancy)
- When my battery range says "0"-and my dashboard no-longer has "EV"- I still have 2 bars on my battery level charge meter (left hand side of the dash). Is that normal?
- At times, for no apparent reason, driving on same flat, city road (temp around 55), around 35-40 MPH, with battery fully charged, EV mode disappears, and I assume I am now in engine mode. Why does that happen?
- When battery is fully discharged, I hear loud revving sound at times- (as if its a car stuck in 2nd gear). It's not every time I accelerate, but it's quite often. I haven't figured out the pattern- but it stops as soon as I recharge the battery. Any thoughts?
- If I'm driving a long distance on the highway, after the battery becomes discharged, should HV mode be selected or does it not matter for fuel efficiency.

Thanks again
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asking about you question --"When battery is fully discharged, I hear loud revving sound at times- (as if its a car stuck in 2nd gear). It's not every time I accelerate, but it's quite often. I haven't figured out the pattern- but it stops as soon as I recharge the battery. Any thoughts?" do you lose power when that happens? It happened to me two days ago going 60 MPS on a HWY and lost power.. if you lose power please advise dealer.. they need to know what is happening and when.. this could have been a big issue for me if there was a lot of traffic .. greatfully it was late at nite and the beltway was low volume. when I recharged.. it is now running fine and dealer says there is no issue.
very worried if this would happen when driving 65 - 70 on a busy highway.
 
I am truly sorry to hear about this loss of power issue...had no idea it was a thing until I read the thread tonight.

I'm sure folks with the issue of losing power/high engine rev are aware this should be reported to NTHSB at the following link: https://www-odi.nhtsa.dot.gov/VehicleComplaint/

...and can follow up on a consumer site like... https://www.carcomplaints.com/Honda/Clarity_Plug-In_Hybrid/

As a side note...I will allow my Clarity to go to 0 EV range/two bars and then give it a heck of a work out over the next week or so and report back.

This can be a very serious thing and Honda is showing its true colors by being unresponsive...to be expected though by any large greedy American corporation.

Good Luck!
 
Jerrypd said:
I have the same issue. SIRIUS dead. Not just an off/on problem, it seems to need at least a 1t minute interval to recover.
Has anyone talked to honda about this?
Would love to hear their reply!
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Someone else posted on another thread about the same subject, that if you wait for the Honda graphic to go through its cycle on the dashboard screen before pressing the ON button, Sirius will work even after preconditioning. I have tested this and it works every time, as long as I remember to be patient and wait for the graphic to finish.
 
Clarity ev said:
Going 55 in the rain on Baltimore beltway. 2 bars. All of a sudden. 25 and super high reving.
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Sounds like this is what's known as "limp mode" or "limping home mode". I learned this from my daughter whose mother-in-law had this experience in the 2006 Prius that I gave her. Google these terms and you will find oodles of examples. Evidently, it is some kind of self protection the car puts into place when there is something wrong with something or other or a faulty sensor that leads it to believe there is something wrong with something or other.!

In the case of my daughter's car they opined that the transmission needed replacing. She decided that, given the other things wrong with the car, she would not bother with such an expensive repair. That was back in September. She has been driving the car ever since and it has not happened again.
 
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