My terrible morning with the Clarity

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This does not sound like normal behavior to me. The car should have switched at two bars, not one. It should have had enough power gas only to go more than 15 mph uphill. Finally - it should not have bricked.

I daresay you have an warranty repair due you for the electric drive train, probably multiple components including the computer, since, IIRC, that warranty is for 10 years.
I believe that it did kick on at 2 bars, but I was going 75 or 80 with the ac on up a very steep hill. I think that it kicked on at 2 bars, quickly went down to 1 bar, then screamed like crazy, I cut off the ac, slowed down, put on the hazards; and hit ev charge. The hill continued to be in front of me, and I went through the last bar quickly.
 
It’s going to have to throw a code for any warranty work to begin.
I also was using the cruise control. It slams the gas when going uphill, if you are not at the cruise speed. This is probably why it killed the last bars. I had the LCC on 80 or so and it slammed the gas to get there going up the hill.
 
I commute daily 50 miles and completely deplete and charge the Traction battery twice a day every day.

I drive all EV miles until I'm left with about 5-10 miles on the GOM.

When you switch to HV mode, whatever the EV range is at the time of HV mode is engaged, that's what the computer will try to maintain.

So, if you engage at 15miles on the GOM, the computer will do everything it can to maintain that.

Anything over 70mph, it will really struggle to maintain that. the Traction motor is really out of its efficacy range when your above 65mph.

If this happens again, follow these steps to be safe:
1. Slow down to about 60-65mph and set cruise control
2. Enable HV Charge
3. Enable eco mode
4. Once you have 5+ miles on the GOM, disable charge mode and run HV

Worked every time (3-4 times) when I intentionally depleted the battery to find ways of overcoming the ANGRY BEE'S!
 
It's remembering, which stung me;). I've remembered 99.99% of the time:)

Like another poster said, I would never loan my car to anyone; for anything over over 30 miles , unless I could beat this entire button push time/when/how long/etc into their heat exhaustively:)

Id probably beat into their head to always hit hv when starting the car, no matter what.
 
I am so confused on everything being said on the Honda Clarity. It is a plug in hybrid. It does not require the battery charged... ever. With no battery charge, it will still drive as a normal gas hybrid car and while the power may be a bit less than on EV mode, it will still maintain freeway speeds with gas only. If it does not, SOMETHING IS LIKELY WRONG WITH THE ENGINE, FUEL PUMP OR ACCELERATOR PEDAL FAILURE. Also, using the engine to charge up the battery while driving is very inefficient and costs MORE to drive. Just drive the car in EV/hybrid normal mode and let the engine switch over to hybrid when the battery is depleted. Delaying battery use may give you a bit more pep up hills, but your overall economy will suffer accordingly. It has a 1.5l motor that while small, offers plenty of power for everyday driving. If you want more power up hills, conserve the battery until your climb begins.
 
Sorry man, if you just drive the car in ev mode and you depend on the car to switch to hv mode when the battery gets low- generally when you get to 2 bars; you will potentially be very disappointed with the performance.


As described in my original post, if this happens to occur at the base of a tall, sleep incline at free way speeds (with the AC on for good measure;) you can certainly blow through your 2 bars of EV to a single bar. Then, it doesn't take a whole lot on a steep incline to burn through that last ev bar.

Then the clarity becomes a loud engine reving sound maker with virtually no power whatsoever . I don't believe that my car has anything wrong with it. I just so happen to hit a corner case of a corner case.

I'm just trying to encourage people to make sure that they hit the ev button before 2 ev bars makes its appearance.

In certain corner cases, 2 bars of EV is simply not enough to power the clarity through to road less demanding, where it can both power the car and do some battery charging.

Just trying to help the community. And with some bad luck, this could result in an accident and possibly your death. IF you are trying to change lanes on the freeway at a high speed and lose most or all power, disaster could occur. Will this happen? The odds are probably super low; but I want people to at least be aware of this.

P
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