My 25,000 miles Clarity review

[Tek_Freek]

Excellent write up.

I agree that a larger fuel tank would be an improvement. Perhaps 10 gallons. I wouldn’t trade 3 additional gallons for less EV range. The 20ish mile range of many other PHEV’s was a non-starter for us.

I also wonder why some believe that more acceleration/power is necessary to get oneself out of a bind or somehow makes thing safer. It is probably what got you into a pickle in the first place. Remember what you are driving and give the brakes a try the next time you’re in a tight spot.

3 gallons of gas weighs around 18 pounds. Have you calculated the difference in EV mileage between driving alone and driving with another person in the car? I'd take a 15 gallon tank and only fill it past 1/2 when traveling on long trips. Seven gallons is plenty in town. That extra 300 plus miles on trips would be amazing. Sometimes it's better to lose a little EV range in favor of usability. Keep in mind that extra 8 gallons of gas (48 lbs) weighs less than a lot of children.

 

[2002]

3 gallons of gas weighs around 18 pounds. Have you calculated the difference in EV mileage between driving alone and driving with another person in the car? I'd take a 15 gallon tank and only fill it past 1/2 when traveling on long trips. Seven gallons is plenty in town. That extra 300 plus miles on trips would be amazing. Sometimes it's better to lose a little EV range in favor of usability. Keep in mind that extra 8 gallons of gas (48 lbs) weighs less than a lot of children.

It's less likely that Honda installed a seven gallon tank just to save weight, more likely the issue was space. Fuel tanks need to go in a part of the car that is structural safe during a collision, and that space seems to have been taken up for the most part by the battery, not leaving room for a full size gas tank. It's possible that to increase fuel tank size would have meant reducing the size of the battery and thus EV range, and also would reduce the amount of the federal tax credit because 17 kWh is the exact amount that qualifies for $7,500.

 

[Tek_Freek]

I agree. I'm not trying to redesign the car. I'm just pointing out that if there was space for it the weight would have little effect on range.

 

[Mowcowbell]

It's less likely that Honda installed a seven gallon tank just to save weight, more likely the issue was space. Fuel tanks need to go in a part of the car that is structural safe during a collision, and that space seems to have been taken up for the most part by the battery, not leaving room for a full size gas tank. It's possible that to increase fuel tank size would have meant reducing the size of the battery and thus EV range, and also would reduce the amount of the federal tax credit because 17 kWh is the exact amount that qualifies for $7,500.

Add to the original design of the Clarity was a hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, which accounts for the extra bracing in the trunk pass-thru that keeps that opening smaller than normal. That might also have limited the size of the fuel tank in the PHEV.

Me, I'm totally happy with a 7 gallon tank. I'm usually lugging that 7 gallons around for weeks at a time without using it at all. 300 miles is way more road time than my bladder can last!

 

[2002]

I agree. I'm not trying to redesign the car. I'm just pointing out that if there was space for it the weight would have little effect on range.

I agree, at least from our point of view. But from a car makers viewpoint every pound is something they look at because they are trying to hit their EPA numbers. So I think weight can be part of the equation when determining the size of the fuel tank, but they are also aware that people expect a certain amount of range between fill ups, so normally they will make sure to provide that even if it adds weight to the car. But in this case I suspect they couldn't find a way without making serious compromises in other areas. They probably knew that it would mean some people wouldn't buy the car because of it, just like I'm sure they knew the Clarity Electric range of 89 miles would not be enough for many people. But they also knew that for many people it would be fine.

 

[ralfalfa]

Craze1cars, add me to the list of people who liked your narrative very much, and are "just like you" in many ways. which leads me to two comments if the readers thinking-of-buying-a-Clarity are paying attention.....

- I'm really glad you talked about your family driving habits as a part of your evaluation; I think most readers of this site understand that while cars are just tools, the modern American has to interact with them so much that they also become part of the family, influencing what we do and how we do it on a daily basis. My family has almost the same mix of vehicles as yours; a pickup (Tundra) , a mazda (ours a small SUV) and a Clarity. But we drive about half the total miles that you do annually and daily (our Clarity is 15 months old, 12,500 miles). The result is, the small gas tank has no impact on us. We don't do 750 mile trips; we do a few 500 mile trips but would never do it without pulling over every few hours, fuel needs or not. We drive the car on average 40 miles per day, so except in the coldest days of winter or occasional longer trips very little gas is used; I'd estimate a full tank lasts us 4 months on average.

- That difference in driving miles also affects the economics. Regardless of whether you're in it as an eco-warrior or geeking out over the drive-train, there's a real sweet spot for folks who drive a Clarity bit less. For a big part of the last decade I drove that tundra to work, the 35 mile round trip costing about 10$ a day in gas. In contrast, my calculated fuel costs for the month of August 2019 was slightly more than $8 total (based on kwh and not filling the tank at all). We can see the real difference in our bank balance, it's $100 a week and several thousand dollars a year.

 

[Tek_Freek]

When I had my consulting business I was driving vehicles with lousy mileage all over the city and state pretty much every day. Gasoline cost was one of the major factors in raising my rates. Now I would probably get all my local driving done on battery alone. It would have been nice to have had a Clarity then.

 

[Landshark]

I agree. I'm not trying to redesign the car. I'm just pointing out that if there was space for it the weight would have little effect on range.

Yes. I’m not concerned in the least about how 18lbs of fuel would affect EV range in a 4000lb car. I’m glad that Honda chose to install a 17kwh battery rather than a 9kwh battery that Ford put in the Fusion.

Using precious space for a larger battery rather than fuel, most likely adds more weight to the vehicle. Permanent weight that is not in flux like fuel in a tank.

Perhaps I should have said that I wouldn’t trade 3 additional gallons of fuel for a smaller battery and therefore less EV range.

 

[Tek_Freek]

Neither would I.

 

[insightman]

Sometimes it's better to lose a little EV range in favor of usability.

There are plenty of other plug-in hybrids for people who are not willing to sacrifice "usability" for 47 miles of EV range.

 

[Tek_Freek]

Well, excuse me!

 

[MrFixit]

ACC is a bit more herky/jerky than I want it to be. It brakes a bit too abruptly and overreacts, and even in Sport it’s a bit slow to start accelerating.

I agree completely with this.

As drivers, we look well-beyond just the car in front of us, and we can often see a slowdown coming well before the ACC does. As such, it is sometimes disconcerting for me to just allow the ACC to do it's thing (I set the ACC for the longest following distance, not the shortest like @craze1cars does).

Also with 'heavy' traffic, it is quite common for cars to zip in and out of your following space. This causes the ACC to sometimes react differently than I would. There is always an element of stress whenever the car does something differently than you would (similar to when you are a passenger with a more aggressive driver). It is good to have these features as a safety backup in case the driver zones out, but I tend to not use the ACC when the traffic is heavy. Nice for the open road (but not much different than the old cruise control in that case).

 

[BeMurda]

Very few people like to drive more than 250 miles without a 5 minute stretch and pee break. And as long as one person in the car wants to stop, usually everyone stops. So the probability of stopping is high.

 

[Landshark]

There are plenty of other plug-in hybrids for people who are not willing to sacrifice "usability" for 47 miles of EV range.

Would you expand on this for us?

What currently in production PHEV’s are available with 47 or more miles of EV range?

What is the Clarity PHEV lacking in “usability”?

 

[Tek_Freek]

The usability quote was from me. I believe the responder either misunderstood what I meant or just plain overreacted.

My post:

"3 gallons of gas weighs around 18 pounds. Have you calculated the difference in EV mileage between driving alone and driving with another person in the car? I'd take a 15 gallon tank and only fill it past 1/2 when traveling on long trips. Seven gallons is plenty in town. That extra 300 plus miles on trips would be amazing. Sometimes it's better to lose a little EV range in favor of usability. Keep in mind that extra 8 gallons of gas (48 lbs) weighs less than a lot of children."

The point I was making (or trying to) is that taking a car like the Clarity and finding a way to add a larger gas tank while keeping the same battery would lower the expected EV distance by such a small amount as to be indistinguishable. No different (as I stated and seemed to have been overlooked) than putting a child in the back seat and less so than adding an adult in the passenger seat. The usability comes in the form of over 300 more miles in range from the extra gasoline.

Had I known the reaction would have been so drastic I never would have posted.

 

[insightman]

Well, excuse me!

I apologize for harshing you out. I should have listed the obvious alternatives that have greater total range, such as the 640-mile total range of the Prius Prime. I enjoy your posts and do not mean to be a negative poster.

 

[Tek_Freek]

I won't lie; You freaked out a bit. It was not a response I expected from you. To be honest I think I could have written it better so everyone understood what I meant.

Accepted.

 

[ClarityBill]

So... How do you aim the headlights? Is there a screw like a 'normal' car?

 

[Tek_Freek]

I won't lie; You freaked out a bit. It was not a response I expected from you. To be honest I think I could have written it better so everyone understood what I meant.

Accepted.

LOL! I just noticed I wrote that incorrectly.

It was supposed to say you freaked me out a bit. Sorry about sending the wrong message. Rough day yesterday. I probably should not have been posting.

 

[TomL]

In many ways you and I are alike craze1cars. I also am not a tree hugger, don't care much about the way a car looks. I'm more a practical guy. It was the technology of the drive train that was most interesting to me, and I wanted to step up from a hybrid to a PHEV so we could make better use of our house solar system to charge the car.

On the other hand there are ways we are different. Our Clarity usage differs from yours. We drive about 60-70 miles per day average in two to three trips. We charge between trips. Both of us are retired so always return home after short trips. We take 300 mile round trips about every six weeks, and one or two 1,100 mile trips each year. So the vast majority of our time driving is local. The engine never starts for six weeks at a time.

You had much to say about the small gas tank. It doesn't bother me at all. On our once or twice a year 1,100 mile trips we used to stop for pee breaks at rest stops, then gas stations when needed. With the Clarity we simply have substituted gas stations for freeway rest stops. Same number of stops and gassing the Clarity is very quick as it usually only needs about 5 gallons. I say this for the sake of others who may be reading this. For some the small gas tank is an issue. For others not so much.

The other thing I noticed was your four buttons each time you get into the car on road trips. Pretty much the same for me except I have also the habit of using Break Hold. For short trips around town it's just hit Start, then Break Hold (love that feature).

Thanks for the long story.

Same for me