EV only Range after nearly 4 years... where you guys at?

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So the range on my Honda Clarity is hovering around 30 miles all EV recently. I used to get 47-50 miles in the middle of summer when new. My commute has changed quite a bit, I go uphill and only drop my kid off at school, vs in the past i started out going downhill toward work.

But nearly 40% drop in EV miles since purchase feels steep. What percentage loss is warrantied before the 8 year mark? I love the car.. but hardly drive it anymore that i work from home. The EV mileage estimator may be off some because 5 days a week i'm only driving 4 miles a day sometimes. I guess i could purchase a battery life tester of some sort.. any suggestions?
 
I was getting low 30s in the winter and back to high 30s to low 40s now that the weather is warmer. I have a '18 with 37k
 
NocEdit said:
What percentage loss is warrantied before the 8 year mark?
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Less than 70% or 36.6Ah’s. A dealer is not likely to recognize a battery capacity reading from equipment other than their own. As you have mentioned, the EV Range estimate is not an accurate way to determine battery capacity.

It may be worth the effort to take the car for a “Sunday Drive”. Find a route where you can drive at speeds between 35-55mph, on relatively flat roads when the temperature is above 60F. Maybe you’ll go through a few small towns and slow to 25-30mph for a mile or so. The idea is to measure the distance that the vehicle will actually travel under something similar to the test conditions which determined the mileage rating. If the result is in the 30-32 mile range, the battery may be near the warranty threshold.
 
My 2019 with 26,000 miles is still getting 54-56 miles fully charged. I would say it runs on battery only 95 % of the time since I only do a couple of longer trips a year so hardly ever use the gasoline engine. Winter time the charge drops down to about 48-50 miles.
 
It's hard to look at daily range from cars and draw any real conclusions. My car has lost approximately 15% of the battery capacity as measured by amp-hours. I can still get over 50 mile range if I drive the car on flat roads at 40-50 mph in moderate temps. If I drive it on interstate, I can push that number down to say 35. If you add frigid weather to this, it can drop as low as 20s. It's just that everyone's daily expected driving for the car is very different, so range quotes are nearly no help for guessing at how the battery is holding up.... Speed, terrain, ambient temperature (and thus climate use), and driving style are the drivers in these numbers much more than the battery capacity....
 
NocEdit said:
What percentage loss is warrantied before the 8 year mark?
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Landshark said:
Less than 70% or 36.6Ah’s.
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I should probably clarify the answer that I provided to the above question. The warranty will cover a battery that has a loss of capacity that is greater than 30% of the original capacity. As I recall, the wording in the warranty describes the warranty threshold as “remaining” capacity rather than as a “loss” of capacity, so that was the figure I mentioned. I have already kicked myself for not answering the question that was asked.
 
Landshark said:
The warranty will cover a battery that has a loss of capacity that is greater than 30% of the original capacity
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The correct answer is this:
The original capacity of the Clarity HV battery is 54 Ah. The warranty applies when the capacity drops below 36.6 Ah. That is 2/3 of the original capacity, or 66.6%.

A snippet from the PDI is here:

upload_2023-5-10_15-56-55.webp
 
To answer your question, I have ideal temps these days. When my Clarity was brand new, I saw about 43 miles estimated and actual EV range. I now get about 30 EV range. I live on a steep hill (about 1600 feet up). My range has always been lower than "normal." I'm fine with what I get and no complaints.
 
The battery should still be under warranty. Mr FixIt's post is super helpful. You likely don't have an easy way to get to the Amp Hours measurement; however, I bought a Vgate iCar Pro for $30 on Amazon and it was able to give me the total amp hours really easily. You just plug it into the OBDII port and run the "sensors' test. I'm a 49.6 Ah now, so a degradation of about 10% so far.
 
Landshark said:
Are you toodling around town at 30mph or on the freeway at 65mph when those ranges are achieved?
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We live in a hilly area and very far north. Half is freeway at 60-70 mph, the other 30-40 mph. Always plug in a night or if free charging at the destination.

It’s fine for us, but I was sold on the “about 50 miles EV” idea and it’s never been close.
 
Interesting... just had car repaired after deer hit..(they did a nice job) replaced both rad's. Had an issue after that with all the error lights.
they checked the job and corrected 'something' - I did a 12V battery reset at the time. Now; 4 weeks later I am getting 'real' increase in
range - never mind the 'guess-o-meter' AND Battery Capacity is 54.28 according to Car Scanner. Getting a range of 56-60 miles on my regular
daily ride of 36 km each way.
 
turtleturtle said:
It’s fine for us, but I was sold on the “about 50 miles EV” idea and it’s never been close.
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If you want to get “about 50 miles EV” you’ll need to drive it “about the same way it was driven during the testing to obtain that result”. Otherwise, you might get 35 miles or 65 miles. The same principle applies to ICE vehicle as well, with the exception of cold temperatures having a greater impact on EV range.
 
Landshark said:
If you want to get “about 50 miles EV” you’ll need to drive it “about the same way it was driven during the testing to obtain that result”. Otherwise, you might get 35 miles or 65 miles. The same principle applies to ICE vehicle as well, with the exception of cold temperatures having a greater impact on EV range.
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I know. YMMV. Thread is asking for current stats, those are mine, and I’d imagine middle of the bell curve for most.
 
turtleturtle said:
Thread is asking for current stats, those are mine, and I’d imagine middle of the bell curve for most.
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Including the grammatically questionable title, the OP has asked several questions. The underlying concern for asking the questions appears to be that of battery degradation over time.

Responses could indeed be used to construct a bell curve, however, the OP’s data, in particular, should be thrown out with the bath water as it is an apples to oranges comparison that compares 2 completely different types of driving.
 
Hey, I admit to jealousy that's about it. I am sincerely pleased when folks get above rated EV range. And it makes me feel better about Honda's claim.
i.e. my own Clarity never really got 47 even when brand new. Or if it did, that was like 1 day in summer. So someone who asks me, I say my Clarity gets about 30 EV which is more correct for my situation. i.e. now days I might get an unusually high 40 on ocassion, and in the winter I now get 24. So 30 is more realistic for my particular car and driving patterns.

And oddly I'm the opposite of a lead foot and drive 25mph virtually everywhere, but I do live on a very steep hill. Its too warm to use the heater and my AC is broken so I leave it off 100% of the time. So it isn't that either. I have another appointment with the dealer this week to fix AC. When it broke last year they refused to fix and just recharged it.
 
Dan Albrich said:
And oddly I'm the opposite of a lead foot and drive 25mph virtually everywhere, but I do live on a very steep hill. Its too warm to use the heater and my AC is broken so I leave it off 100% of the time. So it isn't that either. I have another appointment with the dealer this week to fix AC. When it broke last year they refused to fix and just recharged it.
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Are you at 1600 ft of hilly road or 1600 feet of vertical? Either way your engine must go on every time you leave home unless you have figured out how to stop charging at less than 100%.
 
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