I wish the Clarity was more Voltish

[LAF]

So true!! Tim66 I agree about wanting more EV info for the Clarity. My boss has the Volt and is the reason I started looking at PHEV. I love my Clarity and would buy it again, but his MYChevy app gives him so much more info then our stupid HondaLink app. The menus in his Volt break down gas miles versus electric miles and so much more. I also wish Honda would have an unlock feature on the app (I locked my keys in the car (idiot)) and had to wait 3.5 hours for roadside assistance. My boss the next day asked why I didn't unlock the car with my app and I said I can't. Frustrating, but still love my Clarity.

I didn't think you can lock your keys in the car- if you try the car beeps. that is why there is no unlock in the app

 

[insightman]

in ECO or Sport mode you cannot avoid using the ICE if you go past the detent,

Note that the detent only works in ECON Mode. In NORMAL Mode and SPORT Mode, the ICE starts before the accelerator pedal reaches the click point. It might have been nice had the click point been adjustable for each mode, but at least the Clarity DOES give you a way to control ICE activation.

 

[fotomoto]

Chevrolet did a much better job of designing and implementing the the PHEV elements of their car than Honda did.

You should have added the qualifier "IMO" to this statement because without that it implies "fact, period" to many readers.

GM tried to go the range extender route (like the BMW i3) with a strong EV and weak ICE as generator but in reality needed the ICE to help with propulsion too. As a former Volt owner, I gladly take the only slightly softer EV attributes of the Clarity over all the cons of the Volt. YMMV

I was Told (sales guy, who supposedly owns a Volt himself) that ICE doesn't kick in until after you run out of battery. NOT something you choose?

You know how you can tell a salesdroid isn't telling you the whole truth? Their lips move.

After 3 months of driving, I saw 59.2 electric miles this morning, it will pass the 60 miles mark soon!

I just hit 64 miles estimated this week! Mainly urban driving.

I think the main difference on the Clarity is that the transition between regen and friction braking is so seamless on a Clarity, you can't detect it (at least I can't!).

Agreed. Easily the best feeling brakes of any PHEV, BEV, or HEV I've owned or driven.

Regen = efficiency is a wrong wrong concept.

Yup, just ask the hypermiler crowd who live for this stuff.

Except that there is no coasting in the Clarity

Coasting or better put, gliding, is positioning/feathering the pedal with there is no regen or propulsion happening and only air and rolling resistance are decreasing the vehicles speed. I assume this is when the Clarity's power meter display is at zero; need a scanguage or similar to verify. Prius displays are well known for showing this.

Why anyone things regenerative braking is not a good thing boggles my mind.

That's not what he said. Regen isn't great in ultimate terms of efficient driving. Again, just ask the hypermiler crowd.

However, logic tells us that any regen is better than no regen at all.

Nope. Gliding (zero power flow in/out) is better for efficiency. If you have to slow down more quickly, then regen is MUCH better than friction braking.

It might have been nice had the click point been adjustable for each mode, but at least the Clarity DOES give you a way to control ICE activation.

Yup. In terms of pedal travel, my C-Max Energi doesn't and in Auto or sometimes even in EV-only mode it can activate the ICE without warning. The detent is a smart feature and a good coaching aid.

 

[Tim66]

The heat is wasted, Tim. I will not extend this topic further, because it really does not affect any of our trust in this car.

No it wasn't wasted it was generated by work being done. That heat you say is wasted will be added to the entire universe of energy and be used in some fashion somewhere. Again, energy can't be destroyed. If there is no heat generated by normal friction while operating a vehicle then you aren't operating a vehicle you are sitting motionless in a non running machine. Even air conditioning must generate heat to function.

 

[JulianClarity]

No it wasn't wasted it was generated by work being done. That heat you say is wasted will be added to the entire universe of energy and be used in some fashion somewhere. Again, energy can't be destroyed. If there is no heat generated by normal friction while operating a vehicle then you aren't operating a vehicle you are sitting motionless in a non running machine. Even air conditioning must generate heat to function.

I meant the heat is wasted to the driver, since it can't be used and it could have been avoided.

 

[MPower]

So much for Car groups being the last bastion of freedom from political correctness.

Don't make Car groups the "last bastion of factual incorrectness". You may offend some of our active members who do not identify as "guys".

 

[Tim66]

Don't make Car groups the "last bastion of factual incorrectness". You may offend some of our active members who do not identify as "guys".

What do people in your factual universe call manhole covers? You can use "car people", "car guys and gals", "car carbon based life forms" or whatever. I will continue to use the term "car guys" in my futile attempt to tilt against the windmill called political correctness.

 

[MPower]

I will continue to use the term "car guys

You go, girl!

 

[KentuckyKen]

What do people in your factual universe call manhole covers? You can use "car people", "car guys and gals", "car carbon based life forms" or whatever. I will continue to use the term "car guys" in my futile attempt to tilt against the windmill called political correctness.

BTW, “carbon based life forms” discriminates against artificial intelligence. Shame on you, sir.

 

[Tim66]

You go, girl!

Don't you mean, "You go person?" I thought you social justice warriors aren't sexist.

 

[MPower]

Don't you mean, "You go person?" I thought you social justice warriors aren't sexist.

Just going with the "car guy" vibe.

 

[Tim66]

Just going with the "car guy" vibe.

Riiiight.

 

[Tim66]

*YES*!!!!!

I suggest you contact the Administrator immediately to determine why your ability to ignore threads had been removed. It very unfair that you are being forced to read posts that you do not like. Good luck.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

BTW, “carbon based life forms” discriminates against artificial intelligence. Shame on you, sir.

Yesterday I read a Twitter post that had selected lyrics from the song Woodstock:

We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden...

In spite of hearing the song a billion times, neither Karen nor I had ever made out that second line!

 

[Tim66]

Yesterday I read a Twitter post that had selected lyrics from the song Woodstock:

We are stardust, we are golden
We are billion year old carbon
And we got to get ourselves back to the garden...

In spite of hearing the song a billion times, neither Karen nor I had ever made out that second line!

Not germane to the topic but it's like Rocket Man. Ask people what is the next line after, "Oh no no no I'm a rocket man" and you'll be amazed by what you'll hear.

Tim

 

[ab13]

The Clarity is bigger than the Volt how would it require more space to put a Volt sized battery in the Clarity? Without knowing the weight of each vehicle's batteries the suspension and crash test comments are just speculation. Size doesn't always matter. My 5.0L Ford Ranger 6 cylinder engine has only 2 HP more than the Honda Civic SI 4 cylinder. The volt battery pack weighs 435 pounds but I couldn't find what the Clarity's battery pack weighs. Do you have that number?

The Clarity phev is about the same size as a Toyota Camry, but yet larger on the inside, passenger and cargo space. The Camry has 0 plug in EV miles versus the 47 on the Clarity. That means Honda squeezed 47 EV miles into the same space as a Camry sized vehicle. There is no "free" space without removing some feature, the Volt took away the 5th passenger space and cargo space.

Clarity PHEV, 4052 lbs
Camry hybrid, 3472 lbs
Accord hybrid, 3327 lbs
Sonata PHEV, 3781lbs, 28 EV miles
Fusion PHEV, 3986 lbs, 26 EV miles
Chevy Volt, 3543 lbs

Clarity has much greater range than competing size class vehicles Fusion and Sonata. The Accord hybrid is 700 lbs lighter than the Clarity even with about the same drive train, where the Clarity adds the large liquid cooled battery pack and onboard charger. However, the Clarity has a lot of aluminum parts to reduce weight. So the battery pack adds significant weight, but the space is the main issue. The Volt pack supports 149 HP output, but the current Clarity supports about 2/3 of 120 kW (based on looking at the Clarity EV specs), so a little over 107 hp. For it to support the 181 HP the EV motor can provide would mean almost a 70% increase in battery electrical current output.

In weight comparison to similar sized vehicles it isn't too much greater, but that weight requires much greater battery output to drive in all EV.

 

[Tim66]

So true!! Tim66 I agree about wanting more EV info for the Clarity. My boss has the Volt and is the reason I started looking at PHEV. I love my Clarity and would buy it again, but his MYChevy app gives him so much more info then our stupid HondaLink app. The menus in his Volt break down gas miles versus electric miles and so much more. I also wish Honda would have an unlock feature on the app (I locked my keys in the car (idiot)) and had to wait 3.5 hours for roadside assistance. My boss the next day asked why I didn't unlock the car with my app and I said I can't. Frustrating, but still love my Clarity.

Jennifer, the other feature I liked about the Volt was if you unplug the charging cable while the car is locked the alarm sounds.

 

[Robert_Alabama]

It's funny how different our likes/dislikes can be. I hated the alarm going off when unplugging if you forgot to unlock the car. It was probably the first thing I disabled on the settings. I didn't see the possible deterrent value as helpful enough to put up with the aggravation.

 

[Tim66]

It's funny how different our likes/dislikes can be. I hated the alarm going off when unplugging if you forgot to unlock the car. It was probably the first thing I disabled on the settings. I didn't see the possible deterrent value as helpful enough to put up with the aggravation.

The reason I liked it is that I park my car outside (I'm restoring two cars in the garage) and run the cable under the garage door. I like the idea that if some unauthorized person unhooked the car the alarm would sound. It didn't take me long to get in the habit of unlocking the car befor unhooking the cable. You are right, the alarm sound was very annoying. If the car was parked in the garage I would have disabled the alarm as well. BTW the garage door does not rest on the cable just in case anyone wondered. One advantage of the Clarity over the Volt is that with the highly visible plastic nameplate on the charge door it is easier to notice it is open. I don't know how many times I drove off with the charge door open on the Volt.

 

[The Gadgeteer]

It's funny how different our likes/dislikes can be. I hated the alarm going off when unplugging if you forgot to unlock the car. It was probably the first thing I disabled on the settings. I didn't see the possible deterrent value as helpful enough to put up with the aggravation.

What we are missing in our Clarities is vast ability to customize features. There are some but not nearly to the level of the Volt.