Is there a way to "force" EV mode?

8BF9B251-92A0-4CEC-9D1F-3B9EE9CA29FD.webp
I’ve actually had my first ´frozen in ICE’ behaviour yesterday with 75% charge. 4400km on the car.

Stuck in traffic, the meter stayed white until I was way past the traffic and only turned back to blue when I was close to home and I kept switching HV, sport, econ over a period of 25 minutes. Way longer than the normal engine cycle.

At very low speed I think the engine was off (it does show EV) but it would turn on when moving, engage the clutch, etc.

Maybe this was my first ICE maintenance cycle.
 
Maybe. I have had that happen to me once. It certainly isn't common behavior, but maybe necessary once in a while.
 
loomis2 said:
And you have all that ev range it is showing, too. My Clarity hasn't shown above 44 miles ev range yet but my engine rarely comes on. You are also showing only 200 miles hv. Did you get the hv range update already? If you haven't that would also be weird.
Click to expand...
The tank is not full. About half. I only put in about 3 gallons a couple of weeks ago.
 
Final word from Honda: Unless a dealer finds something wrong, they won't do anything to fix the ICE issue. I strongly encourage those who continue to have the ICE issue to file a case with Honda. You can do it from the app, or use this link: https://crrs.secure.force.com/service/hondaw2c

Or you can call 800 999 1009. The person I talked to was Iris and extension 87158. She told me that I was the ONLY person to report this issue.
 
I noticed recently the ICE will come on if you try to force too much Regen when the pack is close to full. I think the fix for this would be to allow the driver to select a max charge % of 90,95 or 100. The other fix would be lowering my he max charge on all cars but then they would have to lower the advertised range. I guess they could also moved the whole usable range down slightly to allow for extra top end capacity to handle down hill Regen right off the charger.
 
It is the inconsistency that is maddening. Some days ICE comes on when the car is first driven. Some days not. Always a full charge. Driving the same route. But, it makes you wonder why pure EV cars don't have an issue with too much regen? Where is the excess "juice" going? Unless EV cars are never charged completely full by design.
 
bobcubsfan said:
It is the inconsistency that is maddening. Some days ICE comes on when the car is first driven. Some days not. Always a full charge. Driving the same route. But, it makes you wonder why pure EV cars don't have an issue with too much regen? Where is the excess "juice" going? Unless EV cars are never charged completely full by design.
Click to expand...

Hi Bob and all, I know I'm late to this conversation, but I'm having the same issue of the ICE engine coming on "when it feels like it" even when I'm slowly going on a gradual downhill on a full battery. Did you ever get this figured out? I reported it to my Honda dealer and they just said they couldn't find anything wrong with the car. Do you think a software update could fix this issue? I own a 2018 Clarity.
 
One of the most perplexing things the Clarity does is start the engine if the battery is fully charged and you initiate regen braking. If you use up some power with the resistance heater or make sure you don't fully charge the battery by setting a timer, you can prevent that from happening.
 
bfd said:
EV only isn't an option in this car. It's a hybrid. The ICE is going to pop on and off. That's how hybrids work. With time and experience, though, many will learn how to maximize their time using battery power.
Click to expand...
The funny thing is, regular HEVs like Camry and Accord hybrids have dedicated EV buttons on the dash, even if it's only good for 2 miles.
 
This also happens to me once a while. I'm getting used to it. It would be great if it's more informative so we know why the car is doing this.
 
bobcubsfan said:
Can I join you on the soapbox? ICE came on again today just because "it felt like it."
Click to expand...
A couple weeks ago, my ICE also came on for no reason. That was the first time its just came on without me running out of battery or driving too fast. I always use EV and seldom use the ICE. Im sure it came on for maintenance or to burn some gas. I bought my clarity on 28 AUG and I have 4000 miles on it now. Ive put in 9 gallons of gas (it came with a full tank). I drove around my neighborhood for 5 minutes until it shut itself off. I wanted to let it go thru its process without interfering. It is weird how it sounds right? when the ICE runs....like a motorcycle
 
hamr4267 said:
A couple weeks ago, my ICE also came on for no reason. That was the first time its just came on without me running out of battery or driving too fast. I always use EV and seldom use the ICE. Im sure it came on for maintenance or to burn some gas.
Click to expand...
Unlike the Chevy Volt, the Clarity PHEV will not start up simply to use up old gasoline. Some forum members report using Stabil to keep the gas viable. Others use gas with no ethanol, hoping it will last longer without suffering any of the ill effects of age.

Did the blue arc on the Power/Charge Gauge turn white, regardless of the needle's position? That's what some members have reported when the Clarity fires up its engine for maintenance purposes.
 
insightman said:
Unlike the Chevy Volt, the Clarity PHEV will not start up simply to use up old gasoline. Some forum members report using Stabil to keep the gas viable. Others use gas with no ethanol, hoping it will last longer without suffering any of the ill effects of age.

Did the blue arc on the Power/Charge Gauge turn white, regardless of the needle's position? That's what some members have reported when the Clarity fires up its engine for maintenance purposes.
Click to expand...
Yes the arc changed and I heard the ICE kick on at the same time. It was 48 degrees or so and I had recently left my house, I had charged all night and battery was full. I was driving slow on flat surface streets, like 15 MPH taking my kids to the bus stop. It came on and I let it do its thing for less than 10 minutes then it shut off and all was back to normal
 
The other tell-tale sign that it’s the System Check ICE turn on is that the all white Power Meter will stay white even after the ICE turns off (at least until a restart). Also, very infrequently, the ICE has has done a start/stop/start/stop cycle on me as is mentioned in the manual. It’s just only done that once or twice in 2 years. All the rest were just a single start. Also I’ve noticed the run the ICE Immediately after a full charge and limited regen thing seems to happen a lot less frequently than when brand new.

And I don’t begrudge the occasional ICE run since it only happens to me about once every month or so. It’s keeping the engine healthy and ready to start with out any delay when called on. I am amazed at how quickly the ICE fires right up when called on. It only runs for 2-3 min ana doesn’t burn any appreciable gas over the course of a year. I haven’t even lost even one bar in about a year from my last HV run.
 
When the engine on our Clarity starts up in EV mode, sometimes is does not stop before we want to park the car. We just wait, while parked, until the engine stops (as it does in a few minutes after it is warmed up). There appears to be no reason to actually drive around.

LP
 
KentuckyKen said:
The other tell-tale sign that it’s the System Check ICE turn on is that the all white Power Meter will stay white even after the ICE turns off (at least until a restart). Also, very infrequently, the ICE has has done a start/stop/start/stop cycle on me as is mentioned in the manual. It’s just only done that once or twice in 2 years. All the rest were just a single start. Also I’ve noticed the run the ICE Immediately after a full charge and limited regen thing seems to happen a lot less frequently than when brand new.

And I don’t begrudge the occasional ICE run since it only happens to me about once every month or so. It’s keeping the engine healthy and ready to start with out any delay when called on. I am amazed at how quickly the ICE fires right up when called on. It only runs for 2-3 min ana doesn’t burn any appreciable gas over the course of a year. I haven’t even lost even one bar in about a year from my last HV run.
Click to expand...
I gas up once every ten days or so. This car is quickly picking up the miles (just like our other cars it replaced). Battery gets drained at least twice a day. We'll see how it holds up over time.
 
Above, I said that I just let the Clarity ICE finish its warm up cycle while parked if I am at my destination. Just like in HV mode, the ICE will stop when the vehicle is stopped if the ICE is warmed up. Our Clarity ICE's run different cycles and time than conventional ICE's. A short run after a cold start in any ICE is not so good as there is condensation in the exhaust part of the system before the warm up is completed. For a conventional ICE, these short runs after a cold start are a small proportion of the total run time. And, for a conventional ICE, the ICE will usually be started soon after a short run after a cold start so the condensation might not stay around a long time. For a Clarity run mostly in the EV mode, the ICE might not restart for quite a while (until the next systems check and run cycle at most). So, it is more important to let the warm up proceed to completion. For a Clarity used in mostly HV mode, as in Phil's case above, completing the warm up cycle may not be so important.

In this particular case, I trust that the Honda engineers know what they are doing and that the ICE is optimally programmed. For the very few times this occurs, I can afford to wait a few minutes while parked to let the ICE complete the warm up cycle.

LP
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top