Honda Clarity vs BMW 530e

  • Thread starter Thread starter StickWare
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Landshark said:
Stickware,

In your previous thread “I hit 100,000 miles” you stated that you drove “most of the time” with 0 EV miles remaining. Myself, and others, may have incorrectly assumed that you simply didn’t bother to charge the battery, and drove the car as a hybrid.

There was some conjecture on that thread about your charging habits and the condition of your battery. We never heard back from you on the issue. Now you’ve mentioned charging at least twice a day. So, I’ll ask: Have you been charging the Clarity twice a day for 150K miles?
If so, did you then use the EV range first and then continue driving in HV until the next charging opportunity?

At best the Clarity will fully charge in ~2.5 hours. I can see an overnight/off hours/not working charge occurring, when did you find down time for a second or third charge?
Click to expand...

I have 240v installed at home. I typically drive in morning. Come home and charge. Then drive evenings/nights. Whenever I’m home, I charge.

Until recently, I always just read the EV range first. Lately I have been saving it until the end.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
 
StickWare said:
I have 240v installed at home. I typically drive in morning. Come home and charge. Then drive evenings/nights. Whenever I’m home, I charge.


Until recently, I always just read the EV range first. Lately I have been saving it until the end.


Sent from my iPhone using Inside EVs
Click to expand...

Thanks. That clears up my misconception that the car was mostly driven with 0 EV range and rarely charged. Would a more accurate description be that it was mostly driven with 0 EV range and charged frequently, sometimes twice a day, for the first 2 years/100K miles?
 
StickWare said:
As many of you know, I’ve been driving Lyft with my Clarity for the past 2.5 yrs, 154K miles. I just purchased a BMW 530e, another Plug in Hybrid

please don’t criticize me for doing Lyft

I thought I would just write some things that I observed while comparing the vehicles

engine: My BMW actually has some balls when punching the accelerator. It really picks up and you hear the engine. You also feel it shift through all eight gears on the transmission. The Clarity is much quieter. It does pick up nicely but not nearly as quickly as the 530e

I really miss the right turn signal camera!!! No camera under mirror on BMW

EV Range: My Clarity used to get 48 miles , sometimes 53 when I got it. Now it’s more like 27-30. My BMW is advertised as 21 miles, but it seems I get 17-20. However the way it uses this is different than the Clarity

EV usage: With the Clarity, it defaults to EV mode if there is a charge and the engine remains off unless you go crazy. The 530 is totally different and I’m still figuring it out. It does have an EV mode, and the car runs at a much slower pace than Hybrid mode. It’s a drastic difference compared to Clarity using electric vs HV.
In Hybrid mode (which it has two. Normal Hybrid and Hybrid Eco Pro), it actually uses your battery EV when you are at slower RPMs. The display is shaded blue in this range and is wider the more battery power you have.
When I first got it, I drove in hybrid mode and it used all my battery power surprisingly.

The BMW has a “battery control” mode which you set at the percent you want your battery to be at, and it will charge to that point. It’s like HV Charge. It charges to 100% though

Gas Tank:

clarity 7 gallons. BMW 12 gallons

fuel consumption: I get about 36-42 mpg on my Clarity. The BMW IS advertised as 25mpg. I’ve been getting 28-30


I have the four wheel drive version on the BMW


Rear Camera ; The rear camera is good on the Clarity but much clearer on the BMW.

warnings : The BMW has much better warnings on what is around you when parking The clarity does a better job warning of vehicles in front of you.

paddles: The Clarity the paddles control regenerative braking. On the BMW, they manually change the transmission gear. So you can manually downshift with them.


cruise Control: the ACC on the Clarity, I feel is it’s best driving feature. The BMW just has normal cruise control but it’s a bit different
If you slightly tap up/down it will increase /decrease by 1mph like any car. However if you hit it good, it jumps to the nearest 5mph increment. This is handy when going from a 55mph zone to 45mph zone. Tap it twice and you lowered your speed by 10 mph

I talked about how I use cruise control to slow down. The BMW slows down much faster!! Both have brake lights on when you do this. I do this all the time.

engine compartment: I’ve changed the battery in my Clarity easily. I can’t even find the battery in my BMW. I’m nervous about repair costs.


Dashboard; I find the BMW has a better dashboard display. It always shows my EV range and total range. You can select various things In the window just like the Clarity


when I think of more I’ll write it.
( I had this whole post typed and it didn’t post and deleted most of it, so I had to retype)
Click to expand...
Just noticed that there's a used, black 2019 530e IPerformance with 12k miles for sale near me for $38k.
 
I recently bought a 2018 530e msport from vroom for $31k, with 33k miles.

https://spins.spincar.com/vroomriverside/wbaja9c50jb033161

The only direct comp for that year is the mercedes e350e. While I see the clarity as the best of the non luxury phev bunch, the bmw is more of a super efficient version of the 540i. No virtue signaling styling changes, just a 5 series that can be much more efficient if you want it to.

I just ran through my first tank of premium gas with it, and averaged 65.18mpg over 712.4 miles (calculated manually). I have a 32 mile commute each way and charge on both ends.

I am amazed with this car, and how great it is for what it does. We rented a tesla model s while we were looking and the bmw seats, interior, and lack of road noise blow the tesla out of the water - and how much tesla can you get for $30k?

The extra weight makes it a little less nimble while driving aggressively, but I spend a lot more time in traffic than I do on curvy copless back roads so I consider it a fair tradeoff.

The clarity is more efficient, but the bmw produces many more grins.
 
ajsawyer said:
I have a 32 mile commute each way and charge on both ends.
Click to expand...
Can you stretch the 530e's EPA 21-mile EV range to make your 32-mile trek? BMWs are fun cars but my grin would vanish when I heard the engine start burning that expensive premium gas. Some people on this forum remain unsatisfied with the Clarity PHEV's 47-mile EV range, but after nearly 4 years (and, shock, paying MSRP), I think the Clarity is an exceptional car and an unbeatable value.
 
I recently drove the 330e and X5 45e in a BMW PHEV drive event. The 330e feels like my old E90 328i, you feel at home the moment you get in the driver seat. I was underwhelmed by the range and accelerator response however. It is a great car as long as you don't mind running the gas engine. In EV mode it doesn't have the power of Clarity. The X5 45e is a different story and has a much more usable range and the 6 cylinder engine feels great. It is great if you can afford it, but even that model did not have the immediacy of my BMW i3, even though it is a faster car. Driving a sporty BEV will spoil you somehow so even a very fast ICE car feels sluggish off the line. Overall I think Clarity drivetrain could be better than those two models if they use a 2.0L engine like Accord hybrid, the current drivetrain is adequate as long as you don't have to drive in high mountains (above 4000 ft).
 
I want to thank you for posting your experience with the Clarity along with the BMW. I am approaching the end of my factory warranty and have most recently lost 5 to 7 EV miles. Similar to your new Clarity EV range. I used to get 54 to 56 now I am around 45 to 49 at 34k. Knowing your 154k Clarity still has over 50 percent range is a comfort. I hope to keep this Clarity for that many mile also If I can hold back from purchasing the Mustang Mach E....lol.
StickWare said:
As many of you know, I’ve been driving Lyft with my Clarity for the past 2.5 yrs, 154K miles. I just purchased a BMW 530e, another Plug in Hybrid

please don’t criticize me for doing Lyft

I thought I would just write some things that I observed while comparing the vehicles

engine: My BMW actually has some balls when punching the accelerator. It really picks up and you hear the engine. You also feel it shift through all eight gears on the transmission. The Clarity is much quieter. It does pick up nicely but not nearly as quickly as the 530e

I really miss the right turn signal camera!!! No camera under mirror on BMW

EV Range: My Clarity used to get 48 miles , sometimes 53 when I got it. Now it’s more like 27-30. My BMW is advertised as 21 miles, but it seems I get 17-20. However the way it uses this is different than the Clarity

EV usage: With the Clarity, it defaults to EV mode if there is a charge and the engine remains off unless you go crazy. The 530 is totally different and I’m still figuring it out. It does have an EV mode, and the car runs at a much slower pace than Hybrid mode. It’s a drastic difference compared to Clarity using electric vs HV.
In Hybrid mode (which it has two. Normal Hybrid and Hybrid Eco Pro), it actually uses your battery EV when you are at slower RPMs. The display is shaded blue in this range and is wider the more battery power you have.
When I first got it, I drove in hybrid mode and it used all my battery power surprisingly.

The BMW has a “battery control” mode which you set at the percent you want your battery to be at, and it will charge to that point. It’s like HV Charge. It charges to 100% though

Gas Tank:

clarity 7 gallons. BMW 12 gallons

fuel consumption: I get about 36-42 mpg on my Clarity. The BMW IS advertised as 25mpg. I’ve been getting 28-30


I have the four wheel drive version on the BMW


Rear Camera ; The rear camera is good on the Clarity but much clearer on the BMW.

warnings : The BMW has much better warnings on what is around you when parking The clarity does a better job warning of vehicles in front of you.

paddles: The Clarity the paddles control regenerative braking. On the BMW, they manually change the transmission gear. So you can manually downshift with them.


cruise Control: the ACC on the Clarity, I feel is it’s best driving feature. The BMW just has normal cruise control but it’s a bit different
If you slightly tap up/down it will increase /decrease by 1mph like any car. However if you hit it good, it jumps to the nearest 5mph increment. This is handy when going from a 55mph zone to 45mph zone. Tap it twice and you lowered your speed by 10 mph

I talked about how I use cruise control to slow down. The BMW slows down much faster!! Both have brake lights on when you do this. I do this all the time.

engine compartment: I’ve changed the battery in my Clarity easily. I can’t even find the battery in my BMW. I’m nervous about repair costs.


Dashboard; I find the BMW has a better dashboard display. It always shows my EV range and total range. You can select various things In the window just like the Clarity


when I think of more I’ll write it.
( I had this whole post typed and it didn’t post and deleted most of it, so I had to retype)
Click to expand...

Sent from my SM-N986U using Inside EVs mobile app
 
insightman said:
Can you stretch the 530e's EPA 21-mile EV range to make your 32-mile trek? BMWs are fun cars but my grin would vanish when I heard the engine start burning that expensive premium gas. Some people on this forum remain unsatisfied with the Clarity PHEV's 47-mile EV range, but after nearly 4 years (and, shock, paying MSRP), I think the Clarity is an exceptional car and an unbeatable value.
Click to expand...

If I was that stingy there is no way I would have ever considered a BMW. The tradeoff between efficiency/comfort/driving enjoyment in my 530e is perfect for me. If anything I'd rather have it be more powerful/sporty than more efficient - I wish the 545e was available here.

It's also worth noting that EV mode is a lot less efficient during highway driving (80+ in Atlanta) so I'm happy to use the engine for what it does best. Premium gas is $2.80/gallon here, it cost me $30 to fill up yesterday after having driven 712 miles. In efficiency no other car in this class comes close, especially for the price I paid.
 
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Agzand said:
I was underwhelmed by the range and accelerator response however.
Click to expand...

BMW has different throttle maps for sport/comfort/eco pro, and they also apply in EV only mode. Did you try it in sport mode? It also changes the regenerative braking settings.
 
ajsawyer said:
BMW has different throttle maps for sport/comfort/eco pro, and they also apply in EV only mode. Did you try it in sport mode? It also changes the regenerative braking settings.
Click to expand...

The electric motor in 330e has around 100 hp (don't remember the exact figure). Clarity motor has 180 hp along with a bigger battery. So in EV mode Clarity performs better than 330e. Once the engine kicks in 330e is much more powerful.
 
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