Has anyone driven A Clarity Phoenix to Flagstaff?

[Geor99]

I live in Phoenix (NW Peoria) while I haven’t taken to Flag, wife and I each on separate occasions did the drive to and out of Palm Springs and no problem. Hybrid mode and go or I toggled EV and HV for steep areas. It will be fine for Flag.

Love the car, 11K miles since October with solar and level 2 charger.

You're like me: a 2 charge per day person

How many charging cycles do you think we're good For? At our rate, the numbers rise quickly.

 

[S L .]

I live in Los angeles and drove the clarity to sedona in the summer last year and to flagstaff last month (had a little snow).

Just make sure your battery is not depleted, use hv mode and drive like a normal car. No angry bees. No problem going up hill.


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[tom kirshbaum]

I live in Los angeles and drove the clarity to sedona in the summer last year and to flagstaff last month (had a little snow).

Just make sure your battery is not depleted, use hv mode and drive like a normal car. No angry bees. No problem going up hill.


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Thank you!

 

[markc]

As has been said many times, do not overthink these things. There is some very sophisticated software managing the car's power system, just let it do its job. We also regularly drive west from Denver and that is a 6000 foot climb. We find the Clarity to be no noisier than our Sonata Hybrid and it is certainly quieter than our other vehicles. If you are coming from a pure electric then everything is going to be louder, it is just the nature of these things. If we know we are going more than 50 miles we put the car in HV from the very beginning. I do try not to let the battery run all the way down; keep in mind that the gas engine is essentially a Honda motorcycle engine, and those can rev very high indeed, and so it is deigned to always have help from the electric motor. Mess with that balance and the car is less happy.

 

[Mowcowbell]

As has been said many times, do not overthink these things. There is some very sophisticated software managing the car's power system, just let it do its job. We also regularly drive west from Denver and that is a 6000 foot climb. We find the Clarity to be no noisier than our Sonata Hybrid and it is certainly quieter than our other vehicles. If you are coming from a pure electric then everything is going to be louder, it is just the nature of these things. If we know we are going more than 50 miles we put the car in HV from the very beginning. I do try not to let the battery run all the way down; keep in mind that the gas engine is essentially a Honda motorcycle engine, and those can rev very high indeed, and so it is deigned to always have help from the electric motor. Mess with that balance and the car is less happy.

Markc, I agree, no need to overthink it. I'm planning on driving my Clarity from OKC to Ruidoso, NM in the fall and plan to run it almost exclusively in HV mode. This is an altitude change from 1200' to 6920', but a gradual incline most of the way. I expect to never hear 'angry bees' and hope to see ~45mpg during the trip.

 

[Landshark]

It's a commuter car designed for trips of under 50 miles between charges.

If you can charge the car within 50 miles of the last time you charged it; it is an awesome car.

If this describes 80-90% of the miles that you will drive; buy this car!!!

If your number is less than this; I would not recommend the Clarity.

And for sure, if your number is under 50%; there are many cars better suited for your situation.

I can charge at work and I drive 90% of my miles on all electric. For me, the Clarity is incredible.

There are a number of cars that are capable of commuting 50 miles between charges. The Clarity is one.

Few of them are capable of going 100, 200 or 300 miles without a thought. Even fewer, are able to travel 700 miles in 10 hours, as our Clarity did, without needing to make 2, 1 hour charge stops.

The Clarity is also currently eligible for approximately $14K in dealer, federal and state/local incentives.

It is an incredible car and you may have underestimated its abilities.

 

[Landshark]

You're like me: a 2 charge per day person

How many charging cycles do you think we're good For? At our rate, the numbers rise quickly.

Current lithium batteries are capable of retaining 70% of their original capacity after providing 3000-5000 charge cycles.

If this is your M-F car, 2 full charges per day would take 6-10 years to reach those numbers. At which point you would theoretically have a 35 mile range.

You also have the option with the Clarity of not completely depleting your batteries 2X per day.

 

[Geor99]

Mlm

Current lithium batteries are capable of retaining 70% of their original capacity after providing 3000-5000 charge cycles.

If this is your M-F car, 2 full charges per day would take 6-10 years to reach those numbers. At which point you would theoretically have a 35 mile range.

You also have the option with the Clarity of not completely depleting your batteries 2X per day.

Hopefully, Honda put some cushioning into the software, like I understand GM did with the volt.

This way we may see a lot more than 70% of the rated ev mileage from the battery after those 1,000s of discharges- due to the degradation being hidden due to software cushioning.

It is years too soon to worry about this; but does anyone know how the 10 year battery warranty here in California works?

Do we get a free or subsidized battery replacement if our battery life is under a certain number of miles?

Or is it a free/cheap replacement if we are under x% of the 55amp-hours from a battery capacity test? Is the installation free/less as well?

I can imagine people on the borderline trying to deeply discharge their batteries in year 9 in order to get under whatever the limit is.

I haven't seen any degradation, as my vehicle is still under a year old.

This may be a question better to post in 2025

 

[Steven B]

Mlm

Hopefully, Honda put some cushioning into the software, like I understand GM did with the volt.

This way we may see a lot more than 70% of the rated ev mileage from the battery after those 1,000s of discharges- due to the degradation being hidden due to software cushioning.

It is years too soon to worry about this; but does anyone know how the 10 year battery warranty here in California works?

Do we get a free or subsidized battery replacement if our battery life is under a certain number of miles?

Or is it a free/cheap replacement if we are under x% of the 55amp-hours from a battery capacity test? Is the installation free/less as well?

I can imagine people on the borderline trying to deeply discharge their batteries in year 9 in order to get under whatever the limit is.

I haven't seen any degradation, as my vehicle is still under a year old.

This may be a question better to post in 2025

Based on the limited degradation we've seen thus far, a replacement will be rarely necessary for anyone's battery. It has to fall below 36.6Ah from 55Ah within 10 yrs in Cal or 8 yrs everywhere else (Honda policy, but similar % for other mfrs). Science says the degradation curve is steeper for the first few hundred charges and then less steep for the remainder of its life. Projecting forward the curve shows the age to be much more than 10 yrs. Galvanic corrosion between the (coated) steel and aluminum components will probably cause the car to fall apart before the battery needs replacing.

I'm sure the same bloke that ran his car empty could devise a way to always charge his car in a 150F oven (or -10F roll-in freezer) and get it to degrade faster.