Let’s get the HV range problem fixed!!!! Here’s how and a poll to track it

[Hi.Ho.Silver]

I topped off my tank yesterday with 1.8 gallons for the first time since mid-March. During this time I had driven about 600 EV miles. After the fill-up my HV range is an only slightly unrealistic 305 miles. I had expected to see a crazy number based on the experience of others.

 

[Viking79]

It will get up there, don't worry

Their method is okay, but it their averaging filter needs to quickly reset when driving on gas to be accurate of current conditions.

The trick they have is to accurately estimate range with current conditions vs range when you take it on a highway trip. The latter is more important so they should err on making how many miles you can go between filling your tank in town less important to range on burning gas. My i3 is much better at estimating, and corrects much more rapidly, but it doesn't tell me how many miles between gas fill ups I can expect to get for my daily commute like the Clarity does.

For example, if I turn into a headwind the i3 will update after just a few miles to a reasonable value. Sometimes it will drop 3 miles every 2 miles for a few miles, but overall reflects range much more accurately.

 

[AnthonyW]

I have had my Clarity for 4 weeks now and have not noticed a problem. When I first got the car the HV range was 362 miles. It currently shows 292. Granted I have only put gas in there twice and only about a quarter tank. Are you guys having issues whenever you put gas in the car, regardless of amount or only after you are refilling a large amount.

 

[KentuckyKen]

I have had my Clarity for 4 weeks now and have not noticed a problem. When I first got the car the HV range was 362 miles. It currently shows 292. Granted I have only put gas in there twice and only about a quarter tank. Are you guys having issues whenever you put gas in the car, regardless of amount or only after you are refilling a large amount.

It seems to show up after first fill up. If you do a lot of HV miles vs. EV miles it will come down for a while. But as soon as you intersperse more EV miles with the HV miles (and add gas), it will go up again. Several who drive primarily EV are in the 1,000 mile HV club. I’ve only put 2 gal (one single time) in mine since purchase 1,600 miles ago and my HV range is over 500. The more gas you put in the higher it will go (unless you’re doing all or almost all HV). It’s like magic. Fill it up all the way and you’ll see.
My WAG is that it’s calculating by total miles (HV and EV) and not solely by HV miles like it should.

 

[Dave Ferrell]

OK, as everyone who has put any gas in the tank knows, the HV range estimate is totally bogus. Just put the first 2 gal in after driving all my first 400 miles in EV and now HV range is 550.
Judging by the posts here, this is a systemic problem on all our PHEV Claritys and is not fixable by our dealerships. So we need to motivate Honda to fix this.
I think the best way to do this is for as many people as possible to open tickets with Honda on this issue.
So to make that easy, here is the link. It only takes a few minutes and hopefully will light a fire under Honda.

https://crrs.secure.force.com/service/hondaownerw2c

Thanks, and please take the time to do this. I did and got a reply the next day. So it can make a difference.

Thanks for the link. I have submitted and got a case #. We shall see.

 

[brentac]

I've noticed this issue as well, but today was a new one for me. I filled up the tank after driving over 1000 miles (personal record for me, I drive a lot for work)

After getting gas I happened to to notice what it said my HV range was and thought I would share... 1000. Somehow I don't think that's accurate lol

 

[loomis2]

What's funny is it goes to 1000, which is 4 digits long, but I haven't seen it go above an even 1000, so why not just stop at 999 and skip the fourth digit? That seems like extra effort to put into a number that is completely broken anyway.

 

[dstrauss]

I keep telling you folks - it's the trip odometer that counts - 40 miles EV and 250 HV and you'll never run dry...those are on the conservative side, but easily attainable in almost all driving conditions. I have changed my tune a bit, however, on moderate distance (100 mile +/-) drives if I have a destination charger - I use about 1.5 gallons of gas for 100 miles - not bad

 

[ab13]

This vehicle will be released in Japan in the next few months, probably about the same time the Insight is out in the US. So one would think they will fix it by then.

 

[LegoZ]

So I got a call from a Honda Case Manager and he didn't have the information in front of him and will call me back next Tuesday, but stated he thinks this is how it is supposed to work and no fix is needed. I expressed that if this is the case the information was useless and the range indicator is not working as expected or like any other Honda. He replied well this is electric and gas... America Honda needs to listen to their customers and quit wasting time arguing... give me 2 options then, one to work in this way, one to work in a way that makes sense to the people who drive the car...

 

[KentuckyKen]

LegoZ, that is incredible. I can’t belive he could even say that with a straight face. You don’t have to be an engineer or a rocket scientist to know that a car reporting you can drive another 1,000 miles cannot possibly be normal or acceptable.

 

[LegoZ]

Yeah I am beyond frustrated with Honda at this time.

 

[vicw]

It sounds like their argument must be that as long as you continue to charge regularly, and only use the ICE once a month or so, you probably can actually expect to drive 999 miles on that tank of gas. In some perverted and parallel universe, that logic makes sense.

 

[PJJ]

Hi Guys.. I just purchased my Honda Clarity PHEV yesterday. When Dealer gave me, it has 2 bars on Battery indicator as they had not charged it. The Fuel Guage was 100% as they filled up the gas before giving it to me. I came back home driving in HV mode which I guess reduced my Fueld gauage to about 70% and also added around 4 bars to the battery indicator on the left. So today while I was driving in town, I realized after around 10 miles of driving that Fuel indicator is again 100% . How is that possible ? Is that a defect. Although the Range shown in center is continously declining indicating that I am consuming fuel. Did any else encounter this with Fuel Guage on the right side on display that bars automatically increased ?

 

[Mowcowbell]

Hello, just passed 2 weeks ownership of my Clarity. I have seen my HV range change slightly from one trip to the next, even though I'm in EV mode the entire time. My HV range is currently showing 363 miles which is probably a slight exaggeration of what I would really see if I set out on a highway trip. I'll stick with resetting the trip meter on each trip until I see that Honda has a software update that works.

 

[fotomoto]

So today while I was driving in town, I realized after around 10 miles of driving that Fuel indicator is again 100% . How is that possible ?

Were you on an incline by chance? Did it change later in the drive or at the next start up?

 

[fotomoto]

I'll stick with resetting the trip meter on each trip until I see that Honda has a software update that works.

FYI, in case you haven't seen it there's a choice in the settings menu for Tripmeters to reset automatically upon each fill up. I have B set for that and keeping A for lifetime.

 

[PJJ]

Were you on an incline by chance? Did it change later in the drive or at the next start up?

I did not pay much attention, I somehow believe that it changed in the drive itself

 

[TJ999]

OK, as everyone who has put any gas in the tank knows, the HV range estimate is totally bogus. Just put the first 2 gal in after driving all my first 400 miles in EV and now HV range is 550.
Judging by the posts here, this is a systemic problem on all our PHEV Claritys and is not fixable by our dealerships. So we need to motivate Honda to fix this.
I think the best way to do this is for as many people as possible to open tickets with Honda on this issue.
So to make that easy, here is the link. It only takes a few minutes and hopefully will light a fire under Honda.

https://crrs.secure.force.com/service/hondaownerw2c

Thanks, and please take the time to do this. I did and got a reply the next day. So it can make a difference.

Thanks for the link and did open a case..
I bought clarify plug in considering my driving which is 20 miles each way and i charge it at work but instead of using battery it is using gas 30% of the time despite of battery is fully charged...
New to the clarity so any information would help..

 

[KentuckyKen]

Thanks for the link and did open a case..
I bought clarify plug in considering my driving which is 20 miles each way and i charge it at work but instead of using battery it is using gas 30% of the time despite of battery is fully charged...
New to the clarity so any information would help..

I would suggest you try doing a hard reset by disconnecting the negative terminal of the 12 Volt battery for one minute. This has helped at least one person who was experiencing unusual behavior in his Clarity (the car, not him!).
It may clear some bad data out or take care of what I call an “electronic hiccup”. You will lose the accuracy of the HV and EV range estimates until you make a couple of drive/charge cycles but will not lose menu settings or radio presets. You may have to perform a tire pressure sensor recalibration but that’s just an easy menu choice. You will also get a lot of warning/trouble indicators upon restart but they are harmless and will go away quickly.
If you try this, please post back and let us know if it worked or not so we can add this to the collective wisdom. And if you take it to true dealer, let us know what they do as well.
Best wishes on getting your Clarity to perform as it should.