How to change back into EV mode

[chironi]

I'm a new Clarity owner, and still learning the car. I do most of my driving in the "blue band" of EV mode, but occasionally I'll push it into ICE mode when merging into traffic. I noticed that the car will then stay in ICE mode even if I'm coasting on the highway, or slow back done to a stop. I think it'll eventually switch back, but I'm not sure when.

When does the car decide to switch back to EV mode after ICE mode? Is there a way I can switch it back into EV mode myself? The only way I've found is to actually turn it off and back on again.

I'm not using sport, HV, or econ mode. Just the default mode from startup.

 

[jorgie393]

Experience is that once ICE is engaged, it will run until engine warms up (a few minutes). A reasonable design choice, since the use of ICE once might herald more use soon, and why keep racing a cold engine? EV will resume if ICE no longer needed at that point.

This was annoying at first, but I’m at peace with it now.

If you want to minimize chance of engaging ICE, you will need tonkeep it in ECON mode and/or train your accelerator foot.

 

[Sandroad]

Use Econ mode. That will increase the time the car runs as an EV. There is no user-selectable EV mode.

 

[PHEV Newbie]

I've noticed that when I go to HV mode, the ICE will of course fire up but if I took my foot off the accelerator, the ICE shuts off even if it was only on for a few seconds. In HV mode, the car assumes that the ICE will cycle on and off so it doesn't think it needs to stay on for a few minutes in the beginning. Perhaps, if it really annoys you, you can switch to HV mode for a minute or so and then switch it back to ECON. The ICE might switch off (or stay on if it really must warm up for a while).

 

[Roadrunner7431]

Think of the HV button as you telling the car's computer to hold the charge of the high voltage battery where it is. Of course the only way the car's computer can due this is to engage the ICE and use it as a generator. The long press of the HV button tells the computer to keep raising the charge to 58% as much as it can. In terms of when the ICE kicks in to give more power there are three "modes", Econ, Sport and the default Normal. The click point of the accelerator varies for each of these modes. Most sales staff and most youtube videos are ignorant of these operations. Frankly most owners don't even think about it while driving since the engineering is so seamless and so sophisticated.

 

[jdonalds]

I've found that Econ mode and not pushing the accelerator pedal past the detent is the equivalent of EV mode. I'm rarely in a hurry so we drive for weeks at a time without the gas engine coming on even once. We just passed 15,000 miles on the car.

On those rare times (perhaps once every 1,000 miles or so) the engine does turn on I've found selecting HV, just for a few seconds, then turning HV off while making sure Econ is on, will shut the engine of in less than two minutes.

The only times we've had the engine turn on around town (not out of town when we purposely select HV) is either when I push the accelerator past the detent, or when I play with Sport mode. Every time I've tried Sort mode I'm disappointed because the engine comes on much to easily.

 

[insightman]

In terms of when the ICE kicks in to give more power there are three "modes", Econ, Sport and the default Normal. The click point of the accelerator varies for each of these modes.

Actually, the click point is mechanically fixed at a certain point in the travel of the accelerator. It separates EV and ICE in only ECON Mode. In the other two modes, it is just an awkward interruption in the pedal's travel. Here's the diagram from the Owners Manual showing how the click point is meaningful only in ECON Mode:

I believe that if Honda couldn't vary the click point appropriately, it would be better to somehow disable the click in non-ECON Modes.

 

[neal adkins]

Another option you can try is to use sport mode for added pep when merging into traffic. It usually works good for me and the ice doesn't come on if i don't get aggressive with the pedal.

 

[amy2421]

I use Econ mode to try to prevent the ICE from coming on when I'm merging. I have found that if it does come on, it stays on for a few minutes then goes off. I recently had the ICE engage in normal city driving and I believe this was because it hadn't run in a while (which I learned it will do periodically from reading this forum.)

 

[su_A_ve]

I always drive with ECON on, but the couple of times that ICE has come on had been when flooring it. Just yesterday, someone did a Jersey slide in front of me, causing me to brake hard, but being in a middle lane, I pushed hard to get back to normal speed. And ICE had kicked in (didn't notice the pedal). When this happens, I noticed EV mode took about 5 minutes to come back. Maybe since I never use HV, it did it's self check?.

 

[KentuckyKen]

I always drive with ECON on, but the couple of times that ICE has come on had been when flooring it. Just yesterday, someone did a Jersey slide in front of me, causing me to brake hard, but being in a middle lane, I pushed hard to get back to normal speed. And ICE had kicked in (didn't notice the pedal). When this happens, I noticed EV mode took about 5 minutes to come back. Maybe since I never use HV, it did it's self check?.

Whenever the ICE starts it stays on until it reaches operating temp in order to protect the engine and exhaust system from things like condensation. This takes longer in winter temps than summer temps. But once warmed up and in HV mode it will start and stop frequently and even stay on for shorter periods as he algorithm switches between power flows for the optimum economy/power.

 

[Randy Stegbauer]

since the use of ICE once might herald more use soon

Most sales staff and most youtube videos are ignorant of these operations.

This is the first car that I've bought that I'll need to learn to *OPERATE*. Other cars were insert key, put in gear, press gas or brake pedal.

So I think you're right, salesmen won't have a chance to know these fine points. My salesman didn't know where the built-in key from the FOB was used or that there were no Mud Guards installed on my car. :-(

 

[leehinde]

As a semi-geek, I dove in when the car was new and tried to 'manage' the driving thing. But these days I pretty much do that. Get in, punch a button and drive away.

 

[bfd]

This is the first car that I've bought that I'll need to learn to *OPERATE*. Other cars were insert key, put in gear, press gas or brake pedal.(

Not sure why Clarity is any different. Perhaps the number of options? But if one simply gets in and drives this vehicle, there's no need for an operator to do anything else to operate the vehicle correctly - or even efficiently. I must not get what you mean here.

 

[jdonalds]

As a semi-geek, I dove in when the car was new and tried to 'manage' the driving thing. But these days I pretty much do that. Get in, punch a button and drive away.

Same here. We have the car in Econ (thank goodness Honda leaves that alone) and just get in, push the start button and drive.

Only once every six weeks or so, when we take an out-of-town trip, do we push HV while on highways.

 

[Randy Stegbauer]

Not sure why Clarity is any different. Perhaps the number of options? But if one simply gets in and drives this vehicle, there's no need for an operator to do anything else to operate the vehicle correctly - or even efficiently. I must not get what you mean here.

I'm talking about Econ vs HV as well as all the safety features that I'm not familiar with like ACC and Low Speed Follow and the different lane departure warnings.

I'm sure that I'll get used to all of them and probably begin to ignore the differences and nuances of when and for how long the engine runs.

 

[2020]

This is a very weird system. Other than this forum there is no great place to really find out how these modes work. Dealers are pretty much worthless. If I get the above points correctly: engage HV mode under highway driving the ICE kicks in to charge the battery (no problem), when I switch back to EV mode the ICE may still be running for a prolonged period of time (problem). So if I have 10 miles of EV charge left, why should I be forced to use gas when I don't necessarily need it. Also the point that once you engage the ICE it stays on for awhile to get the engine warmed up doesn't make sense. What if I have to pass someone in a hurry and I engage the ICE, then you certainly have a high chance of damaging the engine since it is not warmed up. If Honda was worried about damaging the engine when cold, they should force it on for a few minutes upon start up to get it warmed up.

 

[Randy Stegbauer]

This is a very weird system. Other than this forum there is no great place to really find out how these modes work. Dealers are pretty much worthless. If I get the above points correctly: engage HV mode under highway driving the ICE kicks in to charge the battery (no problem), when I switch back to EV mode the ICE may still be running for a prolonged period of time (problem). So if I have 10 miles of EV charge left, why should I be forced to use gas when I don't necessarily need it. Also the point that once you engage the ICE it stays on for awhile to get the engine warmed up doesn't make sense. What if I have to pass someone in a hurry and I engage the ICE, then you certainly have a high chance of damaging the engine since it is not warmed up. If Honda was worried about damaging the engine when cold, they should force it on for a few minutes upon start up to get it warmed up.

Yes, it seems that this is the best Clarity forum.

I wonder what will happen when it's below freezing? Will the ICE need to run *every* time to warm up just in case it's needed. I guess I'll find out in a few months.

 

[Carro con enchufe]

This is a very weird system. Other than this forum there is no great place to really find out how these modes work. Dealers are pretty much worthless. If I get the above points correctly: engage HV mode under highway driving the ICE kicks in to charge the battery (no problem), when I switch back to EV mode the ICE may still be running for a prolonged period of time (problem). So if I have 10 miles of EV charge left, why should I be forced to use gas when I don't necessarily need it. Also the point that once you engage the ICE it stays on for awhile to get the engine warmed up doesn't make sense. What if I have to pass someone in a hurry and I engage the ICE, then you certainly have a high chance of damaging the engine since it is not warmed up. If Honda was worried about damaging the engine when cold, they should force it on for a few minutes upon start up to get it warmed up.

Once the engine is warmed up, it will turn off immediately once no longer needed. For example, after running for a while in HV, if you turn off HV with 10 EV miles to go, the ICE should turn off in seconds if not immediately

 

[insightman]

when I switch back to EV mode

There's no way to switch to EV mode. ECON Mode is the best way to stay in EV drive mode, but, as you noted, the engine can continue to run (or start to run) after you switch to ECON Mode.

I wonder what will happen when it's below freezing?

The engine doesn't pre-warm itself in cold weather. It works just like it does in warm weather. If you go into the white zone on the Power/Charge Gauge or use up the available battery charge, the engine will start. If you're using the electric heater when the engine starts, it will turn off when the engine is warmed up and the engine will then heat the water that warms the cabin.