Now at 82 Mile Range

Fast Eddie B said:
I read recently that it’s more fuel efficient to leave the windows up and use A/C as needed. Allegedly the aerodynamic drag from the open windows is more detrimental than the power needed to run the A/C.
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The "Myth Busters" TV show proved that's true for a gasmobile, or at least for the one they tested. I dunno if it's also true for an EV, but I wouldn't be surprised if it is.
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2002 said:
That seems to be one of the drawbacks of using ACC on the Clarity, it goes overboard with regen with very little coasting, it seems to be fighting too hard to exactly maintain the set speed, or maintain an exact to the foot distance between the car in front of you. Even if I have it set to maximum distance which gives you more breathing room, it still fights to maintain that exact distance. In most of these situations coasting would be adequate, but instead it uses regen almost exclusively.

I really prefer driving with ACC whenever possible, not only for convenience but I like the safety aspect, I find that it often notices before I do a slight reduction in speed in the car ahead of me, or cases where the car in front of me slows down during a one to two second period when I am looking at the Nav or radio. Those one to two seconds make a difference and I like that ACC starts slowing down immediately, I just wish it wasn't so aggressive with regen when it does so. I realize that with ACC turned off there is still CMBS, but that only activates when a collision is likely, whereas ACC is more proactive in maintaining a safe distance.
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Yeah, my Ford Fusion Hybrid had an "Econ Cruise Control" setting that was a LOT more forgiving when it came to speed adjustments, especially going up and down hills. That helped a ton with fuel economy. The Clarity does a good job if you're managing it, but the ACC is a little too aggressive for me.

Obviously a cruise control where you're able to fluctuate (temporarily) in a ~5MPH window isn't ideal for a lot of heavy traffic situations, but most of my driving is on traffic-light roads and would greatly benefit from that feature.
 
2002 said:
That seems to be one of the drawbacks of using ACC on the Clarity, it goes overboard with regen with very little coasting, it seems to be fighting too hard to exactly maintain the set speed, or maintain an exact to the foot distance between the car in front of you. Even if I have it set to maximum distance which gives you more breathing room, it still fights to maintain that exact distance. In most of these situations coasting would be adequate, but instead it uses regen almost exclusively.

I really prefer driving with ACC whenever possible, not only for convenience but I like the safety aspect, I find that it often notices before I do a slight reduction in speed in the car ahead of me, or cases where the car in front of me slows down during a one to two second period when I am looking at the Nav or radio. Those one to two seconds make a difference and I like that ACC starts slowing down immediately, I just wish it wasn't so aggressive with regen when it does so. I realize that with ACC turned off there is still CMBS, but that only activates when a collision is likely, whereas ACC is more proactive in maintaining a safe distance.
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Yeah the constant alternating between regen and accelerating is too much for me most of the time, I use it mainly when the road is uncrowded.There's not many times hills alone cause it to do more than about 1 bar of regen, that level is fine to me.
 
aaronj1159 said:
Yeah, my Ford Fusion Hybrid had an "Econ Cruise Control" setting that was a LOT more forgiving when it came to speed adjustments, especially going up and down hills. That helped a ton with fuel economy. The Clarity does a good job if you're managing it, but the ACC is a little too aggressive for me.

Obviously a cruise control where you're able to fluctuate (temporarily) in a ~5MPH window isn't ideal for a lot of heavy traffic situations, but most of my driving is on traffic-light roads and would greatly benefit from that feature.
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I probably should moderate my previous comment a bit in case I gave the wrong impression. I really like how ACC works which is why I use it whenever possible. The aggressiveness is not so bad that I can't stand it, or even find it annoying, I'm just saying it uses more regen than I would. This probably affects mpg a bit but not enough for me to not use it. I wish it had a setting like your Fusion did, but was that an ACC system or regular cruise? Regular cruise control systems used to be sloppy (I'm talking thirty years ago) but over the years they got quite refined. ACC is still in its relatively early stages.

I right away adapted to it as a "co-pilot" that is assisting, we both work together to maintain speed and distance. Each of us is capable of seeing something the other missed. I like LKAS for the same reason, it doesn't always notice when I am drifting to the edge of my lane, but I can say the same for myself and I appreciate that it is acting essentially as an extra pair of eyes on the road.
 
OK- Some more testing. I used up my electric range (estimated at 44 miles) in 42 actual miles. This about matches the experience I had in the winter. The EV range estimate is similar but optimistic compared to reality for my car and driving situation.

Edit- oh and I left windows up and used AC, but set for like 72 degrees so it doesn't work too hard. Temps have been about say 77 today.

BTW- I'm not complaining. Love the car. I do find it to be a bit of a mystery when I see things that others don't - like relatively low EV range, and I appreciate the comments/help.

-Dan
 
2002 said:
I probably should moderate my previous comment a bit in case I gave the wrong impression. I really like how ACC works which is why I use it whenever possible. The aggressiveness is not so bad that I can't stand it, or even find it annoying, I'm just saying it uses more regen than I would. This probably affects mpg a bit but not enough for me to not use it. I wish it had a setting like your Fusion did, but was that an ACC system or regular cruise? Regular cruise control systems used to be sloppy (I'm talking thirty years ago) but over the years they got quite refined. ACC is still in its relatively early stages.

I right away adapted to it as a "co-pilot" that is assisting, we both work together to maintain speed and distance. Each of us is capable of seeing something the other missed. I like LKAS for the same reason, it doesn't always notice when I am drifting to the edge of my lane, but I can say the same for myself and I appreciate that it is acting essentially as an extra pair of eyes on the road.
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I do like the ACC, but I will turn it off on hilly highways a lot of the time.

My Fusion was a regular cruise system. Ford did offer ACC in that car but I didn't get that option, so I'm not sure if that version had the eco setting as well. If the Clarity had an either or situation I'd certainly get use from both.
 
Dan Albrich said:
OK- Some more testing. I used up my electric range (estimated at 44 miles) in 42 actual miles.
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One game I play is to compare estimated vs actual EV range in real time. I do this by setting the trip meter to zero, and keeping EV/HV range on the display in front of me.

Let’s say I start with 50 EV miles. If I jump on the interstate, after 10 miles I may show 38 EV miles remaining, so I’m “falling behind”, as it were. But if I drive gently in “geriatric mode” on side streets, after 10 miles I may have 42 EV miles remaining, so in the same way I’m “getting ahead”. I find the immediate feedback gratifying.

My SOP for most drives is to use EV until 10 EV miles remain, then going to HV. In the above case of starting with 50 EV miles estimated, I’d love to have driven 44 miles at this point. Of course, once HV is enabled, the game’s over!
 
Dan Albrich said:
OK- Some more testing. I used up my electric range (estimated at 44 miles) in 42 actual miles. This about matches the experience I had in the winter. The EV range estimate is similar but optimistic compared to reality for my car and driving situation.

Edit- oh and I left windows up and used AC, but set for like 72 degrees so it doesn't work too hard. Temps have been about say 77 today.

BTW- I'm not complaining. Love the car. I do find it to be a bit of a mystery when I see things that others don't - like relatively low EV range, and I appreciate the comments/help.

-Dan
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In my experience, a huge factor in fuel efficiency is the fan speed. I now have the fan speed set to LOW all the time. Also, the EV range varies quite dramatically depending on the last few trips. So, if I happened to do a lot of coasting and slow speed driving in warm weather, the full-charge range increases significantly and then drops back down to the 40s after a few days of normal driving with some highway miles.
 
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Up to 55+ on the guess-o-meter here in Charlotte, NC with my last 200-300 miles being a 70/30 mix of city / hwy driving. This has included running AC at between 66-73 and fan on auto up to MAX so my Lyft passengers are comfortable.

Warmer weather has made a huge improvement from my winter range in the mid 30s.

That said, actual range from full bars to 2, on 2 recent trips went well into the 60s, all city streets while Lyft driving.

As always, YRMV (your range may vary).


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Very impressed with all of you guys’ discipline and getting that type of EV range. Am definitely going to try to sport mode but unfortunately most of my I commute is on interstates where driving less than 60-65 gets you a lot of hard stares, honks, or worse. Grew up where it’s rude not to travel with the traffic, or just a bit faster than the traffic, and just deal with the 47 miles I get consistently during the warmer months and 35 or so during the dead of winter. Cheers!

Am really hoping the Honda and others come out with a 20-30 kw battery ... but the more I think about it the more I think my next car is going to be a BEV.
 
DVoran said:
Very impressed with all of you guys’ discipline and getting that type of EV range. Am definitely going to try to sport mode but unfortunately most of my I commute is on interstates where driving less than 60-65 gets you a lot of hard stares, honks, or worse. Grew up where it’s rude not to travel with the traffic, or just a bit faster than the traffic, and just deal with the 47 miles I get consistently during the warmer months and 35 or so during the dead of winter. Cheers!

Am really hoping the Honda and others come out with a 20-30 kw battery ... but the more I think about it the more I think my next car is going to be a BEV.
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In my experience it has everything to do with the roads I’m on. I can’t go 60-65 either unless it’s a short run on the interstate. I drive more than 50 miles most days so getting on the highway for me means HV mode and 75 mph. Anything above 60 seems to drain the battery really fast.
 
So after 2 full weeks of ownership and driving my typical routine, I'm settling around 58-60 EV miles per full charge and then seeing, on average, 51 mpg running on "empty" battery hybrid drive. I drive about 350 miles per week and I'm getting maybe 175-200 of that on EV drive. These numbers both exceed my expectations. I know they'll come down substantially with colder weather, but so far I'm more than pleased.
 
David Towle said:
My EV range keeps climbing, from around 50 in the depths of winter to 82 now as the daily high temperatures are now in the seventies. Are others seeing the same? I'm wondering if it will keep going up with the temperature or will more AC use negate it.

BTW the AC seems really nice on this car, no noticeable cycling, seems like its a fully variable speed compressor since its electric motor driven that runs as slow as possible to meet the chilling needs.

And BTW yes I know I should clean the screen more.
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You are the lucky owner of Clarity whose battery hasn't been abused by the long trip from Japan or sitting uncharged at a dealer's lot.
Congratulations. Love the 82 miles EV range
 
I picked up my 2019 Clarity on Tuesday and I've only charged it a few times so far but my estimated electric range is way lower than what people are seeing here.

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Its not particularly cold here or anything. I think the first time I charged it it was at 41 miles so I guess its creeping up.

Does this seem normal to you guys?
 
jack. said:
I picked up my 2019 Clarity on Tuesday and I've only charged it a few times so far but my estimated electric range is way lower than what people are seeing here.

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Its not particularly cold here or anything. I think the first time I charged it it was at 41 miles so I guess its creeping up.

Does this seem normal to you guys?
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Completely normal. It needs more history of your driving style and conditions to be more accurate. After some more charge cycles it will become much more realistic. Just wait on it.

I recently had to disconnect the 12 v battery to install an air horn and trickle charger quick connect and that caused a hard reset that lost all my history. My EV estimate went down from low 60s to low 40s immediately and did not come back up till about 5 cycles of ~25 miles each. After 8 charge cycles, I’m back to mid 60s.
 
Also it's not just temperature that determines EV performance. I know in my Fusion Hybrid (just a hybrid so only partially transferable data here) I'd see my MPGs dip significantly on windy and/or rainy days. If for whatever reason your car doesn't have the LRR tires, that's a big drop-off in efficiency. And of course what kind of driving you're doing. These guys pretty much always do worse when you're talking about anything 60 or above.
 
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