How powerful is the air conditioner?

[JCA]

For those who've had a Clarity over the summer in a hot climate, how well did you find the air conditioning worked? Not asking about the mileage hit (although that's interesting to know too), but the comfort level on a hot day.

I'm in the Central Valley of CA, and it gets hot (afternoons in the high 90s/low 100s are typical in the summer) albeit never particularly humid. I currently drive a 2007 Civic and find the AC kind of anemic -- it's kind-of-okay while moving, and noticeably too warm when in slow/stopped traffic. Have had it serviced, charge checked, etc, with no change, that just seems to be the way it is.

By comparison, my 1995 Neon and 1990 Taurus had *great* AC systems, cold and fast no matter the temperature outside. I like virtually everything else about the Civic (my first Honda) and am very intrigued by the Clarity as it fits my commute pattern perfectly, but promise myself every summer day that my next car will cool better!

 

[jdonalds]

We live in Redding, same weather as yours. The air conditioner works great and draws much less power than the heater. It takes less than a minute to start blowing cold air.

 

[amy2421]

I found the same thing, the A/C is very strong and starts cooling very quickly. I was surprised. My previous car had air conditioned front seats which I expected I would miss, but the A/C is so powerful on my Clarity that I didn't really notice that I missed the cooled seats very much.

 

[KentuckyKen]

I’ve only used it in temps of up to 95 F and I have ceramic IR reflecting tint.
However I found it to be very powerful and quicker than other cars to start blowing cold air. I have never had to run the fan past the 3 rd speed setting other than the first minute of start up.
It’s very impressive and I found it doesn’t make that big a reduction in EV range when set to 72 F.

 

[Nemesis]

Last July, I drove my Clarity from Boston to Atlanta Georgia and as I got further south, the temperatures were in the 90s and by the time i got to the Georgia line, it was low 100's. We were stuck in slow traffic on 85 south and I remember my girls were under blankets complaining it was to cold in the car. I was not on the lowest setting and in Econ mode. Yup, air condition works great in the Clarity.

 

[Johnhaydev]

I live in the Palm Springs area. Temp are often over 100 or even 110 during the summer. Usually dry heat. Even on Econ mode, a/c very quickly cools the car. Much more effective than my Lincoln MKZ hybrid.

 

[bpratt]

I made a couple of measurements on how much energy the AC and heater use in my clarity. I parked in direct sun on a 95 degree day and left the car turned on. I then measured how much of the EV mileage was used by the AC. I found the mileage would drop about 1 mile every 20 minutes or 3 miles for every 1 hour of use. Doing the same test on a 27 degree day this winter, I found the mileage would drop about 1 mile every 5 minutes or 12 miles for every 1 hour of use.

 

[LegoZ]

Yeah heat kills range for sure... I really wish Honda would have gave us the heat pump they put in the Clarity electric.

I’ve never had a problem with the AC, some things I do when parked outside though in north Texas:
Put reflective windshield screen on the OUTSIDE held with the wipers and by closing it in the doors. This keeps the windshield infinitely cooler and helps keep the camera system cool. I use the notch for the mirror to let sun hit the sensor on the dash for the climate system.
If you are out and charging for sure precondition the car, especially if you are in a session based EVSE.
I’ve never had any problem with the ac keeping up, I think not having a super hot engine and radiator really helps the system to have lesss work to do.
Thanks bpratt for the observations.

 

[KentuckyKen]

I made a couple of measurements on how much energy the AC and heater use in my clarity. I parked in direct sun on a 95 degree day and left the car turned on. I then measured how much of the EV mileage was used by the AC. I found the mileage would drop about 1 mile every 20 minutes or 3 miles for every 1 hour of use. Doing the same test on a 27 degree day this winter, I found the mileage would drop about 1 mile every 5 minutes or 12 miles for every 1 hour of use.

Thanks @bpratt, that’s exactly the metric I’ve been looking for. Now I know the heater has about 4 times the battery drain and range reduction of the AC. Since I suffer from an untreated and unmedicated form of ICE Anxiety, this is very welcome info to have.