My terrible morning with the Clarity

[Geor99]

I've owned the Clarity since 2018 and I know better, but today I screwed up royally.

I begin my 38 mile commute on a full battery. Everyday, I go 20 miles and then switch to hybrid driving. Well, today for the first time, I forgot to hit the hv button and terror followed.

I'm driving along as normal going 75 on the San Diego freeway, when I heard the gas engine kick in with a roar, while my power plummeted. I look at the battery strength and I see 1 bar. It almost never has gone below 2.

I quickly click HV Charge to try and get some more battery and power. I slow to 40mph and put on my hazards. Of course, a steep freeway hill is approaching. I barely make it over the hill with the engine roaring and going only 15mph. The 1 bar from earlier is now gone- zero bars.

I barely make it to the side of the freeway with cars racing past me. It took 20 minutes of idle charging to get to 3 miles of ev. I then made it to work.

The car was bricked. Don't forget to hit that hv button, guys. With some really crappy luck, it could be your last mistake!!!!

I can't fathom how there is no way to prevent this from happening if you forget to hit the button, besides driving in HV always. Maybe I need to always start in HV and end ev. I'd have to forget twice to lose power - initially to start the trip and again after 30 miles or so.

 

[insightman]

Don't forget to hit that HV button, guys. With some really crappy luck, it could be your last mistake!!!!

I tape this over my D button to remind me to press HV after stopping. Perhaps you could tape it on your steering wheel hub to remind you to press HV at the appropriate time during your drive.

 

[Geor99]

It would be awesome if you could program it to come on at 3 bars without needing to remember to hit the damn button!!!!

 

[Geor99]

It was a terrifying experience on the freeway with people driving crazy fast and not having any power up a hill. Terrible experience. My heart rate was as redlined as the gas engine!!!

Hopefully I have more bars of heart life Left

 

[Dan Albrich]

First off, I'd just like to say I'm sorry to hear this happened. I totally get how bad this is (and can be). It's to the point where I am unlikely to lend my car to someone who isn't "initiated." My Clarity hasn't lost power yet, but I think what you get is that last 10% buffer and then bingo, you hit no power. I suspected this earlier on, but there's now too many reports from reliable reporters to dismiss this.

What's happened for me as my car aged is EV range has gone down generally. But this also means the buffer is now smaller. So that warning time, aka "angry bees" seems to go to true zero almost immediately. When the car was new, I could push it for a few miles past 0 if I was already close to my home charger. I never do that now.