'Ill-Fated' Clarity ???

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MrFixit

MrFixit

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I just saw an article posted by Car & Driver about the 2024 Honda Prologue.
It's funny that in the article, he refers to the "Ill-Fated" Clarity Sedan...

I doubt many of us owners consider it to be "Ill-Fated" at all !!!

Here is a link to the full article...

I have attached a snip of the offensive paragraph below:



upload_2022-10-15_7-47-6.webp
 
I interpret that to mean killed off i.e. disco., but agree the wording could be better. It suffered as a result of lack of awareness and marketing IMO, the car itself fills a great niche as a higher EV mileage PHEV.
 
Perhaps he was referring to the Clarity BEV with a paltry 89 mile range. That's not good enough for a lot of commutes and forget about even a weekend getaway, let alone road trips. That Clarity was ill-fated from the start. The Clarity PHEV would have been a lot better if they didn't create a platform to also accommodate BEV and fuel cell versions. If Honda installed a 2.0 litre engine (which the huge engine bay could easily accommodate) and a bigger gas tank, the Clarity would have been a fuel efficient high performance touring sedan that can be driven like a BEV most of the time. Toyota did that with the RAV4 Prime (with an even larger 2.5 litre engine) and they sell like hotcakes.
 
I think the real issue is the five passenger sedan configuration. Seems that SUVs are taking over the world and overall sales of sedans have fallen dramatically over the last 10 years.

Add to that, an almost total lack of marketing as well as really poor dealer training all have contributed to the demise of what I feel is the best plug in hybrid ever made.

Much larger than the sub compact Prius type vehicles, it checked all the boxes for me with comfort,economy and none of the range anxieties of full electrics.

Just my two cents.


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JFon101231 said:
Agree on all counts. Either you were buying an SUV already or they had to try to convince you on the Clarity rather than an Accord...
Click to expand...

For me, I ended up with the Clarity over the Accord hybrid because it worked out cheaper with the tax credit.

That being said, I wish they had a Honda PHEV SUV. The Clarity is a very low car, and I have to be careful pulling in and out of my driveway or it scrapes. On top of that, with FWD and a 4,000lb curb weight, going up hill in the snow doesn't work well, I've had to back up my driveway in the snow before, which is certainly not convenient. If Honda doesn't have a AWD PHEV SUV in 6 years when I plan to replace the Clarity, I'll probably get the Rav4 Prime.
 
One thing not often mentioned (except above and rightly so), is that Clarity is actually 3 vehicles. BEV, PHEV and hydrogen. While I admire Honda's willingness to explore, I think the PHEV should of been the only one. It's muddy to have three cars with different power source/s or options all with the same name. Anyway, lots of folks never heard of Clarity. And in fact it was pure luck my local dealer had Clarity on the lot when I was looking. I had never heard of it, and saw no ads for it in my market. I had been searching for a Hyundai Sonata PHEV which was sold out when I was looking. Glad I got the Honda, but it was a bit random.

I think the Sonata PHEV also a good car, but its range (new) was less than 30 miles (want to say 25 can't remember), but it also turns on the gas engine every time one applies heat. If you live in Western Oregon, using heat is basically a requirement. Since my need for range is limited, Clarity works great for me, and all electric even in winter (for commute).
 
Dan Albrich said:
One thing not often mentioned (except above and rightly so), is that Clarity is actually 3 vehicles. BEV, PHEV and hydrogen. While I admire Honda's willingness to explore, I think the PHEV should of been the only one.
Click to expand...
I don't believe there would have been a Clarity Plug-In Hybrid if Honda had not spent gobs of money creating an electric motor-driven platform for their Power of Dreams Clarity Fuel Cell car. Being the world-leader in internal combustion engines, it was a piece of cake to add one of those to create a PHEV. Developing the software to control the hybrid was probably a lot more difficult than the mechanical parts. People here complain about the software, but it does an amazing job of moving the 2-ton car while achieving 42 mpg--and 47 miles of EV range is nothing to sneeze at.

Dan Albrich said:
It's muddy to have three cars with different power source/s or options all with the same name.
Click to expand...
Considering that most people have never heard of a Honda Clarity, there's not much muddification among the 3 versions. Honda never sold the Fuel Cell or Electric Claritys and they didn't do anything to promote sales of the PHEV. To me that proves the PHEV wasn't profitable.

I was hoping Honda's bean-counters would be overriden again so I could get a Honda e in the US, but that didn't happen, despite the many letters I sent to Torrance. I'm still grateful they sold me two gen-1 Insights for more than $20K less than it cost to make them.

I think Honda's bean-counters will make sure the mass-production, GM-built-in Mexico, Prologue will be a money-making endeavor. If profit wasn't a priority, Honda would have made the Prologue by itself. I wonder how much Sony is paying Honda to make the US-built 2026 Sony Honda Mobility car?
 
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JFon101231 said:
Agree on all counts. Either you were buying an SUV already or they had to try to convince you on the Clarity rather than an Accord...
Click to expand...

I created a spreadsheet of all options when were looking. No SUV in the list. The Clarity PHEV floated to the top easily. Didn't even consider the Accord.
 
Yeah. I find Clarity interesting. It's not same as Civic although resembles one. It has some higher end features like an Accord would or could have. I sort of think of Clarity as somewhere inbetween? Anyway, it's a very nice car and doesn't feel economy to me (despite not having moon/sun roof and some other options). The competitor for me at the time was Prius Prime which is also a nice car, but cabin space wasn't as good.
 
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