Clarity Plug-In Hybrid's First Birthday

jdonalds said:
Totally. When I drive the 4Runner and stop at a red light the engine, a gas guzzling V8, still keeps running!!! By the time I start the 4runner and back it out of the garage the Clarity could travel 10 miles on the fuel used. No Brake Hold either. What a monster. But it does tow the boat so...
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You're right about how the Clarity saves time. You never have to worry about waiting for your Clarity's engine to warm up. In the matter of just a few seconds you press the On button, the Ready icon lights up, you throw it (er, press it) into gear, and you're off! (As Roy Scheider said in the movie, Jaws, "We need a smaller boat.")
 
My understanding is that modern engines do not require warming up before driving. That it’s best to get them up to temperature as quickly as possible, which is best done by just driving. Sure, it’s best to be somewhat gentle until warmed up, but just sitting and idling to warm up is unnecessary.
 
Fast Eddie B said:
My understanding is that modern engines do not require warming up before driving. That it’s best to get them up to temperature as quickly as possible, which is best done by just driving. Sure, it’s best to be somewhat gentle until warmed up, but just sitting and idling to warm up is unnecessary.
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You're right, and engines that use 10W-20 oil need even less warm-up than thick-oil engines. However, being a geezer, I never start a car in cold weather without thinking about the warm-up time and I give it 10 or 20 seconds. Because our Clarity rarely starts its engine, I enjoy knowing that the engine has experienced zero friction as the traction motor backs me out of the garage immediately.
 
This is a great thread. Congrats @insightman on a full year! The Clarity really can change people's perspective -- my wife & I are trying to "sell" Claritys to everyone we know now.

At the risk of thread subject drift to yard tools: Much like the Clarity, a good electric lawn mower and weed trimmer can really change your mind about electric. We bought an EGO mower a couple years ago. An amazing change from our 20+ year old gas mower, so we bought an EGO weed trimmer as well, then bought the hedge trimmer too because the battery works with it, now I'm thinking hard about their chainsaw… Once you have a couple EGO batteries, the "bare" tools look really attractive.

Anyway, congrats again, and I'm pretty confident we will feel the same in about 9 months :-)
 
Remarksman said:
This is a great thread. Congrats @insightman on a full year! The Clarity really can change people's perspective -- my wife & I are trying to "sell" Claritys to everyone we know now.

At the risk of thread subject drift to yard tools: Much like the Clarity, a good electric lawn mower and weed trimmer can really change your mind about electric. We bought an EGO mower a couple years ago. An amazing change from our 20+ year old gas mower, so we bought an EGO weed trimmer as well, then bought the hedge trimmer too because the battery works with it, now I'm thinking hard about their chainsaw… Once you have a couple EGO batteries, the "bare" tools look really attractive.

Anyway, congrats again, and I'm pretty confident we will feel the same in about 9 months :)
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This is the electric conversion addiction I mentioned earlier, fed by the Clarity. Get the EGO chainsaw, it’s fantastic and it is SO nice to be done with 2-cycle engine chainsaws!
 
Honda is so nice to send me a 1st anniversary email. I'll be interested to learn if the purchased color also appears in the anniversary messages Honda sends to other owners. If we hadn't purchased the Plug-In Hybrid's official "hero" color, I'd have a big clue.

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jdonalds said:
Ken,

My garden equipment is all battery electric. No mixing gas and oil for 2-strokes, no gas cans around the house, no carburetors to adjust, no pulling a rope to start an engine, no fumes, no oil, no filters, no cords (well almost). All batteries are charged using roof solar.
- B&D 40V blower / Vacuum. I like it so much I bought a second one and keep one in blower mode, the other in vacuum mode.
- B&D 18V hedge trimmer. Works quite well
- B&D 18V lawn edger/trimmer.
- B&D 18V 6" Lopper (small chain saw)
- B&D 18V pole saw (10" chain saw)
- B&D 36V lawn mower (8 year old battery still working fine. Does front and rear yards on a single charge)
- Skill AC powered blower / Vacuum (for fall when the small blower/vac just doesn't do the job)

I've had to replace the 18V NiMH batteries about every 3rd year. The 40V lithium batteries are working well after 2 years.
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I couldn't edit this note (insideev restrictions) so I'm using reply to correct a tiny error. The Skill AC blower I listed is actually a Toro. Not that anybody cares but it bothered me.
I'm attaching a photo of my battery charging station which also includes a charger for my battery powered drill, and three Marine VHF radios. The two shelves are maxed out. You can see I had to hang two chargers off the edge of the shelf. Lots of lithium here. If we ever have a fire it may very well start here!
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jdonalds said:
I couldn't edit this note (insideev restrictions) so I'm using reply to correct a tiny error. The Skill AC blower I listed is actually a Toro. Not that anybody cares but it bothered me.
I'm attaching a photo of my battery charging station which also includes a charger for my battery powered drill, and three Marine VHF radios. The two shelves are maxed out. You can see I had to hang two chargers off the edge of the shelf. Lots of lithium here. If we ever have a fire it may very well start here!
20181014_161859-L.jpg
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That’s an impressive number of connections on your power strip. I hope it doesn’t turn into National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!
Seriously though, I trust you’ve added up all the charger’s Amperage ratings and are not overloading it.
It does inform me that when I go total electric for all my yard tools that I may need another circuit in the garage. Presently only have one 20 Amp circuit running wood shop tools, air compressor, dehumidifier, and garage doors.
Thanks for sharing.
 
What do you guys have against corded tools anyway? For the car and lawnmower cordless is needed, maybe the weedwacker too, everything else its just a waste of electricity to keep the batteries charged. They add weight to the tool too you know.
 
KentuckyKen said:
That’s an impressive number of connections on your power strip. I hope it doesn’t turn into National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation!
Seriously though, I trust you’ve added up all the charger’s Amperage ratings and are not overloading it.
It does inform me that when I go total electric for all my yard tools that I may need another circuit in the garage. Presently only have one 20 Amp circuit running wood shop tools, air compressor, dehumidifier, and garage doors.
Thanks for sharing.
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The thing is the charge station never has more than two batteries being charged at one time so the load is light.
 
David Towle said:
What do you guys have against corded tools anyway? For the car and lawnmower cordless is needed, maybe the weedwacker too, everything else its just a waste of electricity to keep the batteries charged. They add weight to the tool too you know.
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The few times a year when I have to use a cord for the leaf blower vac is a royal pain. It is so easy just to grab a battery, slam it on the tool, and go to work. The only tool that burns through charged batteries quickly is the little 6" looper chain saw but I usually only need it for a few minutes anyway.

The battery powered lawn mower works just fine for about 1,000 sq ft and my lawn is thick and tall.

The 40V blower will run for over 20 minutes and allows me to do a full cleanup of the front, side, and back yards. I never blow the leaves off the lawn with it; strictly for the concrete surfaces. No cord to haul around or switch to a different outlet around the outside of the house. Super quick to start using and I just pop the battery off and slide it into the charger.

Tool weight isn't an issue and I'm 72 years old. These tools are pretty light. I know there is a constant trickle charge going on but if I wanted to kill our household trickle charge it would involve much more than the garden tools. Also we have roof solar that produces between 20 and 50kWh per day so most of the electricity is from the sun.

For me going back to cords is like going back to an ICE car. Not going to happen.
 
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My mailing was in my car's color - Crimson. On 12/30 my Clarity will be one year old. It has about 3500 miles on it, 70% of them electric, and zero problems.
The thing I like most is the absolute quiet. It's like a library on wheels!
I have added a loud manually controlled backup beeper which I use in the Walmart parking lot to alert people as I back up.
 
jdonalds said:
The few times a year when I have to use a cord for the leaf blower vac is a royal pain. It is so easy just to grab a battery, slam it on the tool, and go to work. The only tool that burns through charged batteries quickly is the little 6" looper chain saw but I usually only need it for a few minutes anyway.

The battery powered lawn mower works just fine for about 1,000 sq ft and my lawn is thick and tall.
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1000 square feet? Good grief that's useless. My small lawn's about 17,000. I think I'll be using the old Lawn Boy for a long time yet.
 
Johngalt6146 said:
My mailing was in my car's color - Crimson. On 12/30 my Clarity will be one year old. It has about 3500 miles on it, 70% of them electric, and zero problems.
The thing I like most is the absolute quiet. It's like a library on wheels!
I have added a loud manually controlled backup beeper which I use in the Walmart parking lot to alert people as I back up.
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I trust you didn't put your add-on back-up beeper on the inside, as is standard on Toyota's Prius. Who thought up that scheme?
 
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