As noted, and as with all things related to mile-efficiency. the exact numbers will vary considerably depending on driving conditions and habits, but Honda's website is more or less accurate, you are reading the numbers correctly, and the estimated gas range is showing low for some reason. With a full tank it will generally be somewhere in the general vicinity of 300 miles, and that's generally the vicinity of what you'll get unless you really lead-foot it.
The most likely reason is that it just hasn't calibrated yet, or the most recent driving was horribly inefficient (for example, you just drove up a long hill at 80mph or something). It will probably start to make sense eventually, or at least be closer. In general, though, the range estimates aren't all that good in my experience--they bounce around a lot and tend to be high at least with my driving pattern.
If after you've driven for a while and filled up a couple of times you're still getting garbage numbers, take it to the dealer and see if they can figure out something. Alternately, pay attention to miles-between-fills, and calculate to make sure that you aren't genuinely getting terrible mileage for some reason, which would indicate a mechanical problem.
Just to note, there was a significant bug in the other direction in the original-release software that would cause the gasoline range to be calculated based on the total average miles driven, which if you drove primarily EV would result in the range shooting up to 1000 miles the first time you filled the tank. That was fixed in a software update eventually, though, and since your car is new it should already have that applied (plus it usually resulted in high range, not low).
fffffffBought a 2018 Touring PHEV a couple weeks ago and am loving it so far! Don't get to charge too often, but I do get free charging at Uni during semester.
Now, I just did a full tank and noticed the HV range was marked at 219 miles.
On Honda's website describing the range, it says:
Combined Gas-Electric Driving Range Rating: 340 miles
Maximum EV Mode Driving Range Rating: 47 miles
Does this imply that Gas-only would be 340-47=293mi?
If that is the case, why does my range only show 219 miles after a complete fillup? Am I reading the numbers wrong?
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Yes. Actual range always varies but when you charge just one extra time/or 1 less time in a given estimate thats about a 18 percent change in actual range either direction.
Second, my EV charge using a Level 2 Morec 32 amp EVSE, has consistently been 46-47 miles but today it was 53.8. That's a great number but is it also unreliable?
but over the past 200 miles it has risen to 370 and not changed. Is this a spuriously high estimate and do I need to get the software fix to reduce high estimates?
Easy to find out. Set a trip meter to zero, and track actual EV miles obtained vs the estimate. I find they’re fairly close, mainly depending on highway miles driven.
Yep, good news. I tend to do “mental math” almost every drive to see if I’m gradually “getting ahead” or “falling behind” the starting EV range estimate. Helps to see what techniques help and hurt EV range. And it’s a fun game!
And it is getting funner (not funnier?). My EV charge has increased for the third day in a row from 53.8 to 55.3 to 57.5. I will test this out by going further on EV mode as Fast Eddie B suggested.
With all these higher than the 47 miles per charge stated by Honda during the warm weather months, can we stop the complaints when we are in winter ?
The 47 number is an AVERAGE number of miles per charge - year round!
My summer months are averaging 60+ miles per charge while the winter months are averaging around 50 miles per charge....
But then my winter months are way warmer than the rest of the nation....
I just want to check. Driving 60.8 miles in HV mode (when the ICE helps out) isn't a big deal. Getting 60.8 miles in all EV (no ICE) travel is pretty good for a car rated at just 47 miles of EPA EV range.I followed up with a complete litmus test that Fast Eddie B suggested. My overnight HV charge was up to 58.3 and I drove until that charge was exhausted under ideal conditions in HV mode on surface roads going 40-60 mph. The trip miles went from 0 to 60.8, about 4% higher than the starting estimate. While I am 73 and normally have a taciturn demeanor, my wife thinks I am downright giddy over this marvelous new car. Kinda makes me want to thumb my nose and splutter a raspberry in the general direction of Volt owners.
@TomL , I agree with you that this car is superior to the Volt (and I own a first generation Volt and would say it was the best car I had ever owned prior to the Clarity). The Clarity blows away the first generation Volt. More EV range, better HV mpg, and the first generation Volt requires premium gasoline. For the Second generation Volt (most recent model), I believe the Clarity still has generally equal EV range, and slightly better mpg in HV, but at least the second generation Volt does burn regular gasoline. Add to that the size of the car and what I believe to be a nicer interior for the Clarity, and for me it is hard to even compare the two as equal alternatives. The Volt has better data available to the driver, but I'll reluctantly sacrifice that for all the other upsides. By the way, my father-in-law also is downright giddy over his Clarity too, and he is 86. He strongly considered buying a Volt a couple of years ago and is very happy he waited to buy the Clarity.While I am 73 and normally have a taciturn demeanor, my wife thinks I am downright giddy over this marvelous new car. Kinda makes me want to thumb my nose and splutter a raspberry in the general direction of Volt owners.
@TomL , I agree with you that this car is superior to the Volt (and I own a first generation Volt and would say it was the best car I had ever owned prior to the Clarity). The Clarity blows away the first generation Volt. More EV range, better HV mpg, and the first generation Volt requires premium gasoline. For the Second generation Volt (most recent model), I believe the Clarity still has generally equal EV range, and slightly better mpg in HV, but at least the second generation Volt does burn regular gasoline. Add to that the size of the car and what I believe to be a nicer interior for the Clarity, and for me it is hard to even compare the two as equal alternatives. The Volt has better data available to the driver, but I'll reluctantly sacrifice that for all the other upsides. By the way, my father-in-law also is downright giddy over his Clarity too, and he is 86. He strongly considered buying a Volt a couple of years ago and is very happy he waited to buy the Clarity.
You are correct. As i previously stated you will not get close to that estimate. The system is assuming an additional charge in the estimate. Actual range is about 280 miles hv + 53miles ev = 333. Thats about 37 miles short. So dont get yourself stranded relying on displayed range.I'm a new owner with 1000 miles on a Touring model bought June 2019 and am pretty confused about range estimates. I have two questions. First, I started out with HV estimates around 330, but over the past 200 miles it has risen to 370 and not changed. Is this a spuriously high estimate and do I need to get the software fix to reduce high estimates? Second, my EV charge using a Level 2 Morec 32 amp EVSE, has consistently been 46-47 miles but today it was 53.8. That's a great number but is it also unreliable?
I used to work in software management for a paint company and our software had a feature called "volume estimator" to help painters estimate the amount of paint needed for a particular job. The results I guess you could say were in the ballpark if you consider being out in left field good enough. We kept telling the software designers about minor changes in the logic that could be made that would make it much more accurate overall. They kept coming back with "It's just an estimate it can never be perfect" and they would list all of the variables that can affect it. We would tell them we are already familiar with all of that and we aren't talking about making it 100% accurate in every situation, but it is currently at about 60% accuracy and we know exactly why and what can be easily changed to get it up to at least 75% accurate. And with some slightly harder modifications (requiring updating data tables) it could get as high as 90% but we will be thrilled if you can at least make the minor changes to get it to 75% accurate. No matter what we said the answer was always the same "It's just an estimate it can never be perfect".
It is much more difficult to guess the internal structure of an entity just by observing its behavior than it is to actually create the structure that leads to that behavior.
Wouldn't it be fun if Honda provided an SDK (software developer's kit) that let us have a go at creating our own GOM algorithms? But I'm forgetting the Clarity's lack of a future.And now, in response to the dreaded guess-o-meter aka GOM