Clarity test drive results

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dfmb

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My wife and I test drove a Touring Clarity and came away with the following conclusions:

Pros:
- quiet interior, even when the engine is idling when driving, you can hardly hear it
- nice acceleration and driving feel in EV mode
- lots of space inside
- LKAS is pretty slick
- good overall value

Cons:
- passenger seat feels really lousy and doesn't get seat tilt adjustment
- there's a weird hump on the floor at the passenger feet that is pretty uncomfortable. You can scoot all the way forward to clear it, but then you're sitting against the dash.
- Seats lack side bolster support.
- infotainment is meh. Kinda slow and I missed the volume knob
- suede trim looks like dirt magnet
- Bridge wings are annoying and got in the way of my legs

Overall the car feels like it is trying to be a luxury/nice car, but isn't quite there. Driver comfort is much better in the Sonata Limited that I drove. It had heated steering wheel, vent/heating seats, more comfortable seats, better infotainment system (AM and FM presets on same page). I realize this car is more about the EV range and a decent price, and that's the reason to accept some of the shortcomings. But they are there, nonetheless.

I'm kinda torn between the Sonata PHEV for driving comfort, and the Clarity for its EV prowess (range and elec. heater).
 
While you didn't ask for advice........

Go with the Sonata (And this is coming from someone who really likes the Clarity!). You mentioned several things you didn't like about the Clarity comfort and conversely several things you did like about the Sonata comfort. Although none of those things bother me at all in the Clarity, they would affect you every day and make the car no fun to get in and drive. So, since you have to live with this every day, get the vehicle that fits you and is comfortable. BTW, I agree with you about the infotainment system.
 
dfmb said:
My wife and I test drove a Touring Clarity and came away with the following conclusions:

Pros:
- quiet interior, even when the engine is idling when driving, you can hardly hear it
- nice acceleration and driving feel in EV mode
- lots of space inside
- LKAS is pretty slick
- good overall value

Cons:
- passenger seat feels really lousy and doesn't get seat tilt adjustment
- there's a weird hump on the floor at the passenger feet that is pretty uncomfortable. You can scoot all the way forward to clear it, but then you're sitting against the dash.
- Seats lack side bolster support.
- infotainment is meh. Kinda slow and I missed the volume knob
- suede trim looks like dirt magnet
- Bridge wings are annoying and got in the way of my legs

Overall the car feels like it is trying to be a luxury/nice car, but isn't quite there. Driver comfort is much better in the Sonata Limited that I drove. It had heated steering wheel, vent/heating seats, more comfortable seats, better infotainment system (AM and FM presets on same page). I realize this car is more about the EV range and a decent price, and that's the reason to accept some of the shortcomings. But they are there, nonetheless.

I'm kinda torn between the Sonata PHEV for driving comfort, and the Clarity for its EV prowess (range and elec. heater).
Click to expand...

Clarity has a bigger battery and much better trunk. Hyundai drops the (smaller) battery in the trunk, reducing trunk capacity to 10 cu.ft, vs 15.5 in Clarity. The EV range is also 48 vs 28 in favor of Clarity. It is also about $5k cheaper once you factor in actual selling prices and tax credits.
 
The Clarity may not be the car for you. It happens.

For me the seats are very comfortable.
I haven't noticed the hump you spoke of.
I agree about the infotainment system.
Suede trip hasn't been a problem after 14 months and 22,000 miles.
I agree about the shift panel wings. Unnecessary, useless, and bothersome.

For us the Sonata wouldn't work due to the shorter EV range. Your situation may be different.
 
Back last September/October when I was seriously looking, my first choice was Sonata PHEV. I called dealerships in Oregon, Seattle and San Francisco. None had any Sonata PHEV on the lot, and no clue when they might get one. One dealer wrote me a kind email indicating some kind of Battery shortage, but still made no sense. i.e. Hyundai has other hybrids i.e. Ioniq or whatever its called that are readily available-- just no Sonatas.

So I agree with advice to get the car you want (of course). But also, I hope you can find one. I could not.

So I "settled" for Honda Clarity since it's what I could actually buy. Have not even remotely regretted that decision since. i.e. for me, the Honda is a great fit.

-Dan
 
Are you in Canada? The US touring model has a seat tilt adjustment.

It is very difficult to fit everyone. For my stubby legs the bridge wing is perfect. I can lean my leg against it when in cruise control relaxed but ready to spring into action. I use the passenger side wing as a resting place for my phone using one of those dashboard sticky pads. Works perfectly.
 
Thanks for all the input.

I'm leaning heavily towards the Clarity despite the small issues I found. The lack of folding seats in the Sonata sucks and they are indeed hard to find. I prefer to drive a car that is more prevalent so that dealers know how to handle issues that come up. At least the Clarity will provide more of an EV-focused platform that can be tweaked if so desired. I can always install different seats if I want.

Since we weren't all that impressed by the Touring seats anyways, I'm now looking at the base model. I prefer not to have the suede, and the seats in the base are just as OK as the Touring ones. I was actually impressed by the interior of the base model, it didn't have a lot of plastic or cheap cloth that I was expecting.
 
One more pro-clarity comment. I didn't realize winter temps had such a stong impact on EV range. Anyway, given the Sonata has like 27 advertised EV range, I presume it also get cut significantly in winter. So my "47" miles is really like 32 miles of EV range to me in winter. Lowest I've seen is 26 miles EV range (with constant heater use etc.). But my point being even with the winter hit on Clarity EV range, I'm still getting the advertised Sonata range (or better).

BTW: The Sonata completely avoids this issue by simply turning on the gas engine *every time* one turns on the heater. So there is no such thing in Sonata land as heating with electric only. I like that Clarity gives me the option. If I don't mind burning gas and want more heat, I simply single-tap the HV button and let the car run the gas engine as desired. Since my daily commute is less than 26 total miles, it means I can go weeks at a time without ever burning gas. My record thus far is six weeks, no gas.

In my case I always have some longer trip (100 or more miles) to do, so of course I have to burn gas for those. And of course, I guess this keeps the gas fresh, not that one need worry about that. i.e. the car will run engine periodically as needed if you don't require it to.

-Dan
 
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Personally, I prefer the Touring - it’s got this nice semi-luxury feel to it. Plus, a leather steering wheel is quite a bit nicer than the vinyl on the base. Now, I do agree about front seats comfort : just ok. If Honda could improve one thing on the car in the “easy improvement” category - seats would be it, as in, lumbar support. Incidentally, there are various pillows for lumbar support that one can consider. I am using an improvised lumbar support and have done very long drives without any issues.
Per your idea of potentially buying the Clarity and replacing the seats for more comfortable ones - I suppose it’s possible but the cost would be pretty high plus the hassle ... in other words, if I were you, I would not assume you could just “replace the seats” and then buy the car without investigating first the cost of replacing the seats. Assuming that the seats you would like would be compatible in terms of dimensions and the airbags, I’d guess it would cost you about $4 - 5,000 per a new seat. Two seats: about 1/3 of the cost of the car. Better off buying a used Volvo with terrific seat comfort. Or, model 3 - really nice and comfortable front seats.


dfmb said:
Thanks for all the input.

I'm leaning heavily towards the Clarity despite the small issues I found. The lack of folding seats in the Sonata sucks and they are indeed hard to find. I prefer to drive a car that is more prevalent so that dealers know how to handle issues that come up. At least the Clarity will provide more of an EV-focused platform that can be tweaked if so desired. I can always install different seats if I want.

Since we weren't all that impressed by the Touring seats anyways, I'm now looking at the base model. I prefer not to have the suede, and the seats in the base are just as OK as the Touring ones. I was actually impressed by the interior of the base model, it didn't have a lot of plastic or cheap cloth that I was expecting.
Click to expand...
 
I once owned a 2011 Hyundai Sonata Limited. I found the driver's seat to be initially comfortable, but on very long trips, not so much. My wife found the passenger seat to be horrible on long trips. However, seat comfort is a personal issue and/or Hyundai has improved the Sonata seats. In contrast, we find the Honda Clarity Touring seats to be very comfortable. On one trip last summer, I spent 14 hours in one day driving from Columbus, OH to our home in Florida, 880 miles.

Even though the Clarity PHEV weighs about 250 pounds more than the Sonata PHEV, it is reported to accelerate to 60 mph in 7.4 seconds versus 7.9 for the Sonata PHEV. This is largely the result of the Clarity having a 135kW motor versus the little 50kW motor in the Sonata. The Clarity has a higher HV fuel economy, 42 versus 39. The Clarity qualifies for the full $7500 Federal tax credit, versus $4919. In EV operation, the Clarity's 47 mile rated range is a whopping 67% more than the Sonata's 28 miles.

Had I even known about the Sonata PHEV, I would not have considered it because of the small trunk and lack of fold down back seats. The pass through on the Clarity is not ideal, but at least it has a pass through.

We each have deal breakers when it comes to automobiles. Personally, I love my Clarity Touring PHEV. 1,000+ miles since my last gasoline fill up and I still have a nearly full tank.
 
I agree about that hump on the driver floor. I have yet to find a really comfortable position for my right leg.
 
Dan Albrich said:
BTW: The Sonata completely avoids this issue by simply turning on the gas engine *every time* one turns on the heater. So there is no such thing in Sonata land as heating with electric only. I like that Clarity gives me the option.
Click to expand...
Based on what I am seeing and others have reported, there are limits to that option. At some temperature around 0°F, the Clarity appears to trigger the ICE to provide cabin heat. This makes sense given the amount of heat required at this temperature and the reduced capacity of the battery due to the cold. My experience is that if I turn off the heat it goes back into EV - not that I'm going to freeze to avoid burning a bit of gas.
 
Agree about some points, that hump on the floor felt extremely weird when I test drove the car but one week into my purchase I'm used to avoiding it when I step in the car and don't feel it at all while driving. Yeah, the infotainment sucks but all I need is Android Auto and that works fine (for the most part, sometimes I have to plug/unplug the phone to start it).
I go the base Clarity trim as I couldn't justify paying the extra 3K for the upgrades. The only need I really wish the base trim had was a leather-wrapped steering wheel, the regular vinyl one looks and feels cheap and goes against the luxury look/feel of the car.

I never considered the Optima or the Sonata PHEV as part of my purchases, the EV range and cargo room are simply not good for me.
 
Agzand said:
Clarity has a bigger battery and much better trunk. Hyundai drops the (smaller) battery in the trunk, reducing trunk capacity to 10 cu.ft, vs 15.5 in Clarity. The EV range is also 48 vs 28 in favor of Clarity. It is also about $5k cheaper once you factor in actual selling prices and tax credits.
Click to expand...

Depending if you live in an area where it gets very cold, be ready for days when your EV range is cut in half.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
Weird. I’m honestly going to have to look to see what “hump” is being discussed here. I’ve never noticed it, nor has Karen.

And I did get “up close and personal” with the floor when installing floor mats.

I find the seats fine, once lumbar support is addressed. Then again, I put supplemental lumbar support in all my cars, even those with more support as standard.

For the infotainment system, the UI is a bit clunky, but it gets the job done. I think a lot depends on what you’re used to. It’s a modern marvel compared to our 2005 Element which has been our daily driver, but about on par with our 2011 Ford Flex, with the nice addition of CarPlay. This also applies to the speakers, which sound fine to these aging ears, world’s better than the Element, and about the same as the Sony system on the Flex.
 
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dfmb said:
My wife and I test drove a Touring Clarity and came away with the following conclusions:

Pros:
- quiet interior, even when the engine is idling when driving, you can hardly hear it
- nice acceleration and driving feel in EV mode
- lots of space inside
- LKAS is pretty slick
- good overall value

Cons:
- passenger seat feels really lousy and doesn't get seat tilt adjustment
- there's a weird hump on the floor at the passenger feet that is pretty uncomfortable. You can scoot all the way forward to clear it, but then you're sitting against the dash.
- Seats lack side bolster support.
- infotainment is meh. Kinda slow and I missed the volume knob
- suede trim looks like dirt magnet
- Bridge wings are annoying and got in the way of my legs

Overall the car feels like it is trying to be a luxury/nice car, but isn't quite there. Driver comfort is much better in the Sonata Limited that I drove. It had heated steering wheel, vent/heating seats, more comfortable seats, better infotainment system (AM and FM presets on same page). I realize this car is more about the EV range and a decent price, and that's the reason to accept some of the shortcomings. But they are there, nonetheless.

I'm kinda torn between the Sonata PHEV for driving comfort, and the Clarity for its EV prowess (range and elec. heater).
Click to expand...
 
Is this floor hump you’re complaining about, the battery hump right next to the front edge of the seats? That’s the only hump I can find in the front floor. It’s so close to the seat that I never put my foot there. I honestly don’t see it being a problem. However, I was disappointed that the deep well WeatherTech mats don’t cover it.
 
KentuckyKen said:
Is this floor hump you’re complaining about, the battery hump right next to the front edge of the seats? That’s the only hump I can find in the front floor. It’s so close to the seat that I never put my foot there. I honestly don’t see it being a problem. However, I was disappointed that the deep well WeatherTech mats don’t cover it.
Click to expand...
Yes, that would be the hump. It's more of an annoyance on the passenger side, because short people like to put their legs straight down and then the hump is there. This isn't a dealbreaker or anything, just an annoyance.
 
dfmb said:
Yes, that would be the hump. It's more of an annoyance on the passenger side, because short people like to put their legs straight down and then the hump is there. This isn't a dealbreaker or anything, just an annoyance.
Click to expand...
My apologies for my “tall privilege” showing. I had no idea someone would be placing their feet there.
Cue Randy Newman’s Short People song.
 
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