New Clarity owner and his dumb questions

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Alex800st said:
What is the use case for “hv charge” mode? Why would I want to come somewhere with almost full battery burning dead dinosaurs to charge it?
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Here's an excellent article about how to best take care of your traction battery ( https://batteryuniversity.com/learn/article/bu_1003a_battery_aging_in_an_electric_vehicle_ev ). This article provides advice and information about the unique characteristics of EV batteries. One surprise is that charging to a high state of charge should be avoided if the temperature is less than 50 degrees F. I knew that we can destroy the battery by charging if the battery temp is below freezing but I didn't know that cool temps can also be harmful. If possible, keep the state of charge around 50% (e.g., between 30% to 70% or 20% to 80% depending on your daily driving/charging), especially if the car is not being used for a while.

In HV charge mode, you can only charge to 58%. No doubt Honda limited to just above 50% to protect the battery.
 
Alex800st said:
Hi,
Just get my new Clarity Touring from the dealership (i am in Ontario, Canada).
Tons of stupid questions, but here is the first one - to install tux mats, do i need to keep or remove original fabric ones? I did remove, but then plastic pins that holds them sticking out too high. Please advise?
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I got these Tux Mats and removed the original mats. I found I did not have to use any pins because the Tux Mats fit securely just by "tucking" them in [is that a snicker in the background from a marketing wonk?]. The lip on the mats seems to kind of click into place.
 
KentuckyKen said:
Also, remember that it’s offered to us as a free service,
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The paid version offers a few more capabilities - but seems to be optimized for Honda's top-tier ICE vehicles. The prices listed are $89, $110 or $260 USD/year, depending upon the options selected and the ability of the individual model to access them.
 
PHEV Newbie said:
In HV charge mode, you can only charge to 58%. No doubt Honda limited to just above 50% to protect the battery.
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HV Charge is a DC/DC charge. It provides a very aggressive charge rate. Lithium batteries can accept much higher charge rates that LA batteries, up to a point. Many EV manufacturers cut off or reduce the charge rate at ~80%. Honda chose ~60%.

As for guidance on maintaining SOC at ~50% or some 80/20 or 70/30 rule, know this. Honda has programmed a BMS that only charges the batteries to ~90% of their maximum capacity. The minimum allowed SOC is ~15%. Despite what may be displayed by Hondalink or a charging App, 100% and 0% are not possible.

The BMS also uses temperature sensors to control charge rate and maximum SOC. Lithium can accept a charge to temps as low as 25F and can be discharged at even lower temps. The BMS will limit the charge rate and maximum SOC as temperatures dictate.
 
Hondalink all of sudden started to work (and not asking for any code anymore. Weird). Question - in the app I can click “start charge” and I want to start charge when my car plugged in the garage and it is 7 pm (cheapest rate). However I soon as I plug the car it start charging right away. How I can make it wait for hondalink command?
 
You should have a “Schedule Charge button” just to the right of the “Start Charge” button.
Use that to then enable a scheduled charge time that You specify along with ending when full or at a specified time. You can also set a time to be reminded to plug in. You can also set this in the car but I find it easier to use Honda Link to do this (at least until I installed my ChargePoint Level 2 EVSE which is even easier and gives more options).

PS: There are no dumb questions, just dumb answers (of which I have given my fair share of). Fortunately, the collective wisdom on this forum does an excellent job of correcting the occasional unintentional error. Of all the forums I have been on, this one routinely amazes me with the helpful insights and knowledge about our mysterious Claritys from the nicest people I have ever posted with. I think that the ratio of cheerful helpfulness to hurt feelings and flaming replies is the highest of any forum I’m aware of. @Domenick ,the Admin, rarely has to weed the Clarity garden. Take time to read through some threads and you’ll quickly know more than anyone at your dealership.
It’s been said that you should never stop learning in life and the best way to learn is to ask questions. So keep asking and I bet sooner than you realize, you will find ways to add to the collective wisdom which will be greatly appreciated since Honda sure ain’t helping.
 
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So if make a schedule to start at 7pm car will not start charging even when plugged until 7 pm? What if I need it to charge at work daytime?
 
When I need to on my ChargePoint, I just plug and unplug within a few seconds and it over rides the EVSE’s program.
I haven’t tried that with a schedule on the car system. You might try it and see if it works. Then post back and tell us. I’d be very interested to know if that works since the manual doesn’t mention it.

I think the easiest way with a schedule on the onboard system would be to plug in and use the Honda Link “Start Charging” button. That should work and preserve your schedule for when you want the delayed home charging for the better rate. But then HL needs to be working and both car and phone need to have a good AT&T cellular signal.
 
KentuckyKen said:
On Honda Link problems/usage, remember that it only works when BOTH the car and phone with the app have a sufficient cellular signal with an AT&T carrier.
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The phone doesn't have to be attached to AT&T, it just has to have a good enough signal on whatever carrier it uses to get to the Internet. If both ends of any connections were required to be on the same carrier, you would only be able to call folks using the same carrier you do. All cell traffic goes across the Internet between towers, servers etc.
 
Alex800st said:
So if make a schedule to start at 7pm car will not start charging even when plugged until 7 pm? What if I need it to charge at work daytime?
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iirc you can push the "electric plug/lightning bolt" button on the fob once to open the charge door, plug in, then press and hold that same button to override a scheduled charge.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.
 
Tek_Freek said:
iirc you can push the "electric plug/lightning bolt" button on the fob once to open the charge door, plug in, then press and hold that same button to override a scheduled charge.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.
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You are correct. I missed that. It’s verified on p 463 of the US manual under “What To Do When You Cannot Start Charging”.
Also didn’t notice until now that it says you can’t charge with the car “on”. Only if off or access.

And thanks, @rodeknyt , for dragging this old analogue dinosaur into the digital age.
 
Tek_Freek said:
iirc you can push the "electric plug/lightning bolt" button on the fob once to open the charge door, plug in, then press and hold that same button to override a scheduled charge.

Someone correct me if I am wrong.
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I use that method frequently to charge my Clarity during 'off scheduled times'. The car will emit a loud tone when charging begins.
 
insightman said:
The car wouldn't need inverters except to convert DC to AC.
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No, it wouldn’t. Thanks, I hadn’t seen that before. That’s why I asked.

Do you know the operating AC voltage of the motors?

Is it 240V, so maybe the generator is just providing electricity to the onboard charger as if it were plugged into an L2 charger?
 
You are most useful bunch of guys, thanks everybody.
BTW we do not have AT&T here in the great white nothingness, however hondalink somehow works. Still would love to know over which carrier and if it is a sim or esim or something else.
 
Landshark said:
No, it wouldn’t. Thanks, I hadn’t seen that before. That’s why I asked.

Do you know the operating AC voltage of the motors?

Is it 240V, so maybe the generator is just providing electricity to the onboard charger as if it were plugged into an L2 charger?
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This post speculates (based on the Clarity Fuel Cell) that the motor drive voltage is between 330V and 500V.
 
Was just freezing my butt jumping around charging clarity.
Turns out if
- there is No schedule, I plug the car - it will start charging No matter what. Button on remote will not stop it.
- there is a schedule, i can force-start charging by remote, or by hondalink app (very unreliable).
 
insightman said:
This post speculates (based on the Clarity Fuel Cell) that the motor drive voltage is between 330V and 500V.
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Yes, I read that post. There appeared to be a great deal of speculation going on about the car at that time. It also mentioned the nominal HV battery voltage being 311V and a fully charged battery voltage being ~350V. To the best of my knowledge the HV battery is DC.

Is ~311VDC from the HV battery being inverted to ~311VAC to provide 121hp to the traction motor?

Is the generator directly providing ~311VAC to add an additional 60hp to the traction motor?

If so, what voltage is the ~311VAC from the generator being converted to in order to charge the HV battery when in HV Charge mode?

The nominal voltage (311) is considered to be a 70% SOC. Is it converted back to ~311VDC? To 240VAC for L2 charging?

I’ve seen HV charge bring the battery gauge up from 2 bars to 10 bars in 30 minutes of freeway driving. That seems to be a charge rate beyond the capabilities of an L2 charger.

I’d love to know the answers to those questions rather than have a link to an 18 month old thread where everyone was guessing about how things work.
 
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