How much money is your Clarity saving you?

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Gas is now $3.10 in our neck of the woods. Based on that price and the cost per kwh ($0.10) to power the Clarity, we will be saving over $1141 in fuel costs per year compared to just driving our Outback in everyday use. That's also based on mostly winter driving. The difference is likely to increase with more moderate temps. Of course, that does not include the savings from the Clarity's better gasoline mileage during road trips but I can't predict those spur of the moment uses (saved $45.00 on our last road trip). If gas prices continue to rise, as they probably will, we'll save even more. It literally pays to own a Clarity. Naysayers might say we would have saved even more if we didn't buy the Clarity and kept just one car. True, and that was our previous strategy, but we needed a second car as our son needed to drive more. We didn't buy the Clarity to save the world. We bought the Clarity as the most economical way to have a luxurious ride. Only a fool wastes money when they don't have to.
 
In Canada, now the gas prices are souring very high. We are paying $1.38 per liter, which is over C $5.20 per gallon.
I need to fill up my fuel efficient corolla every forth day. Looking forward for a delivery of clarity in a month time.
 
It's going to cost me plenty until it's paid for in three years! LOL

Electricity is expensive around here; during super off-peak hours it's $0.22.kWh, year-round - and that changes like the weather. Even with solar energy, nothing's free. But at least we're making our own juice. eGov's eGallon tool shows that in CA, the price per eGallon is $1.71 while the price for regular unleaded is $3.49/gal - so electricity is about half the price of gas. Since I'm not driving as far as I used to on a daily basis anymore, it's easy to drive in EV mode for almost all travel.
 
I don't have a breakdown at hand for gas savings with the Clarity alone. Here's what I do know.

During the first quarter of 2017 we spent $375.27 on gas for our 2005 4Runner and 2015 Prius.
During the first quarter of 2018 we spent $51.03 on gas for our 2005 4Runner and Clarity.
This alone accounts for $324.24 savings in auto fuel alone for the quarter.

But...
We had solar installed at the end of 2017. With that we run the house and charge the Clarity.
Our electric bill for the first quarter of 2017 was $389.03.
Our electric bill for the first quarter of 2018 was $222.9.
This is another savings of $166.13

Total savings $490.37

This is a low estimate going forward. The solar system didn't come online until Jan 11. Also Jan and Feb were cloudy months. Finally a tweak was required on our new solar system as it was not working to full power due to a design situation. So second quarter results should be much better.

I'm thinking we will have a total of about $2,000 / year with the combination of the Clarity and roof solar.
 
My Clarity hasn't arrived yet, but based on my banking and credit card transaction history for the January 1 - April 30th time frame, I can't wait for the car to get here. I currently drive a 2006 Civic Hybrid, a car that has been relatively easy on gas for the ~12 years that I've had it. In the first four months of 2018, I spent $458.41 CAD in gas (not counting the fill-up that I'll need to do tomorrow!) - that time frame included some very cold months and the price of gas has definitely gone up significantly in that time. The vast majority of that driving could've been done within the electric range that the Clarity provides, even factoring in any loss due to cold weather - that driving was all commuting and errands.

tl;dr Looking forward to spending significantly less than $1500 CAD on gas this year. :)
 
jdonalds said:
I don't have a breakdown at hand for gas savings with the Clarity alone. Here's what I do know.

During the first quarter of 2017 we spent $375.27 on gas for our 2005 4Runner and 2015 Prius.
During the first quarter of 2018 we spent $51.03 on gas for our 2005 4Runner and Clarity.
This alone accounts for $324.24 savings in auto fuel alone for the quarter.

In Canada, the hydro is cheaper due to nuclear plant. Nighttime charge is around 6c per kwh. However dueto excess supply, they are not allowing to connect to grid. Also solar as controlled by license installer
But...
We had solar installed at the end of 2017. With that we run the house and charge the Clarity.
Our electric bill for the first quarter of 2017 was $389.03.
Our electric bill for the first quarter of 2018 was $222.9.
This is another savings of $166.13

Total savings $490.37

This is a low estimate going forward. The solar system didn't come online until Jan 11. Also Jan and Feb were cloudy months. Finally a tweak was required on our new solar system as it was not working to full power due to a design situation. So second quarter results should be much better.

I'm thinking we will have a total of about $2,000 / year with the combination of the Clarity and roof solar.
Click to expand...
 
Sorry for incomplete write up above.
n Canada, the hydro is cheaper due to nuclear plant. Nighttime charge is around 6c per kwh. However dueto excess supply, they are not allowing to connect to grid. Also solar as controlled by license installer and so with installation cost for 10kw install is upwards of 40000 ,so not working for us.Need to wait for tesla wall or some similar solution till price comes down
 
My calculation is easy and clear: today is exactly the 30th day since I drove my beloved Clarity out of the dealer lot. Odometer shows an approximate 1800km, and 0.6 Lit/100km. So my gas consumption is around 11 liter. When I drove the Clarity on gas, it was about 6.5L/100km in the city. I'd have consumed 117 liter of gas. $1.36 * (117-11) = $144 is my saving on gas. Oh don't forget to subtract the electricity bill, which mounts to about $1 per night of charging. I'd say I charged 25 night out of 30 this month. So the final saving is $144 -25 = 119 -> round it to about $120 CAD
 
BigBug , You are comparing based on 6.5L/100Km which is based on Clarity city driving. I have Toyota Corolla , which is 8 lit/100km combined fuel efficiency.
Based on that I would consume 144 liter of gas for 1800 km , so (144-11)* 1.36 = $ 180.88 saving for gas- $ 30/- for electricity with tax , so $ 151 per month of net saving.
 
The Clarity mostly saves money for my town driving. My minivan got 15 or 16 mpg average in town, the Clarity gets around 3.3 mi/kwh from the wall. The cost was roughly 16 cents a mile for the van and 3.6 cents per mile for the Clarity in town, and maybe 11 cents vs 5 cents per mile on the highway. Discounting maintenance.
 
bigbug said:
When I drove the Clarity on gas, it was about 6.5L/100km in the city.
Click to expand...

Is the hybrid mode on the Clarity that much in the city? I have a 2015 Accord Hybrid and get phenomenal mileage in town. My drive back and forth to work averages 4.3L/100km over a total 22km drive. I love the way it drives, its size, and really wish it had a larger battery and a plug. You think it is worthwhile getting the Clarity just to have the all electric commute?
 
Atul Thakkar said:
Sorry for incomplete write up above.
n Canada, the hydro is cheaper due to nuclear plant. Nighttime charge is around 6c per kwh. However dueto excess supply, they are not allowing to connect to grid. Also solar as controlled by license installer and so with installation cost for 10kw install is upwards of 40000 ,so not working for us.Need to wait for tesla wall or some similar solution till price comes down
Click to expand...
Isn't it interesting how solar is treated differently depending on the location. In our city we are not allowed to be off-grid. First they held us off for a year from installing solar because they said our neighborhood already had as much solar as the city could handle. Then they limited the size of our system.
 
Jdonalds, that’s insane. What communist dictator of a country are you living in? My state (KY) may be so backward that we don’t have incentives but they at least we don’t restrict private enterprise and private property.
 
So this is not a scientific comparison by any means but I just ran our gasoline and electricity numbers for Jan-April of 2017 and 2018. Keeping in mind that we just got the Clarity in late February I was pretty astounded.

2017 Gasoline $1,156.26, Electricity $383.80
2018 Gasoline $798.08, Electricity $431.72

I'll trade a $50 electricity increase for a $260 gasoline savings any day.

Note that my wife is driving the Clarity instead of the 2002 CRV on a 700 mile round trip every 2 to 3 weeks which is the reason for much of the savings. However we almost never use any Gas during the weeks between those trips.


geo
 
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My ChargePoint tracks the cost of electricity used. Last month I spent $60 on hydro ($50 at my home and $10 at the mall charger). I was spending about $240 on gas but now we drive the Clarity on weekends too - so I estimate I would have spent $300 on gas. Savings of $240 a month. $2880 annually if gas prices do not increase.

I drive 60-65 km (37-40 miles) a day. Very close to the max. Occasionally I park at the mall next door after lunch and top up at $1 hour for a 240v charger. And I used about 1 liter of gas too.
 
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