Observations after 2 months ownership

[MPower]

"I feel like I got a full size, noisy hybrid, for a great price just over $20k"

you should get your car checked out- I have taken many long highway trips in HV in NE on cold weather for the past 12 months and the engine can not be heard at 70 or 80mph. The only time it is noisy is if I run out of EV and run HV on local roads and have to climb a hill.

"With temps in the 30s...occasional 40s and 20s in the area, the EV gauge display in the dash is useless

Mine correlates exactly with what I have left- even on the highway where the EV range in lower because EV power is more efficient at low speeds.

Agreed. Compared to my 2012 Plugin Prius or the Prius Prime i test drove before buying the Clarity, the Clarity is as quiet as the grave. Every once in awhile, I will be surprised by hearing the engine and then I realize it's because I an doing 35 miles an hour in HV instead of EV or the ICE is warming the battery on a cold drive.

 

[Danks]

Also agreed. The one we test drove was really quiet. We did not play any radio at all. We had to really listen to hear the ICE when it was running. This is at all speeds from 30-70 mph.

 

[David Towle]

Also agreed. The one we test drove was really quiet. We did not play any radio at all. We had to really listen to hear the ICE when it was running. This is at all speeds from 30-70 mph.

OK at least you heard it, to say you can't hear it at all as LAF does is off the mark.

 

[Danks]

OK at least you heard it, to say you can't hear it at all as LAF does is off the mark.

As I think about it, we were probably in HV Charge mode when we heard it. I don't remember hearing it any other time. So I expect it would be possible to drive quite a while without hearing it at all.

 

[4sallypat]

......... If my work was 15-30 miles away, and there were no road races involved, it would be nothing but a super-fancy golf cart experience... ideal for that..........

Same 2 months of driving the Clarity ^^^ this is our commute - mine is 15, hers is 30.

My wife wants to drive the Clarity for her commute and keeps bugging me because I do not have to use fuel, have a super quiet ride, no engine noise, and loves the tech + CarPlay + XM radio.....

My excuse: I tell her the single occupant HOV stickers have not arrived so it does not make sense to have her drive the Clarity.
My commute does not require freeway access so the stickers are a moot point for me....

After the HOV stickers arrive, they are going to be "lost in the mail" for awhile - I love driving the Clarity for my daily commute.....

 

[KentuckyKen]

Same 2 months of driving the Clarity ^^^ this is our commute - mine is 15, hers is 30.

My wife wants to drive the Clarity for her commute and keeps bugging me because I do not have to use fuel, have a super quiet ride, no engine noise, and loves the tech + CarPlay + XM radio.....

My excuse: I tell her the single occupant HOV stickers have not arrived so it does not make sense to have her drive the Clarity.
My commute does not require freeway access so the stickers are a moot point for me....

After the HOV stickers arrive, they are going to be "lost in the mail" for awhile - I love driving the Clarity for my daily commute.....

If your wife logs on the forum and reads this...we’ll miss you and take up a fund for a nice floral wreath. Bet she won’t bury you in the Clarity.

 

[The Gadgeteer]

Same 2 months of driving the Clarity ^^^ this is our commute - mine is 15, hers is 30.

My wife wants to drive the Clarity for her commute and keeps bugging me ...

What does she drive?

 

[4sallypat]

What does she drive?

She drives a BMW 528 for her daily driver.
The original plan was that I am to inherit her car because my commute is half hers and she was supposed to take the Clarity after the HOV stickers arrive.

But after driving the Clarity for 2 months, I think I want to continue driving the Clarity.....
Maybe we will have to trade in the BMW for a second Clarity ????

 

[KentuckyKen]

She drives a BMW 528 for her daily driver.
The original plan was that I am to inherit her car because my commute is half hers and she was supposed to take the Clarity after the HOV stickers arrive.

But after driving the Clarity for 2 months, I think I want to continue driving the Clarity.....
Maybe we will have to trade in the BMW for a second Clarity ????

Trade the BMW immediately for another Clarity or EV. It will be much cheaper than a divorce or funeral.

 

[Clarity 4 life]

I was a left lane cruiser (75-80+mph) prior and now I almost never crack 70mph.

I too live in central Jersey and I just posted the following under Angry Bees Thread.

I normally drive 55 - 100 mph on the I-95 110 miles round trip 4 times a week.
Just hit 9k miles since November 4, 2018.
That's 4 months exactly.
I would have more miles, but I was using up the miles left on my 2016 TT Roadster lease. The TT roadster was a very fun car to drive, but it too has angry bees under heavy acceleration.
Now as for the 2018 Clarity, as long as there is 30%-85% battery life, I don't hear the "angry bees" in HV mode.
Even at the maximum speed of 100 mph.

I Do hear them at heavy acceleration once in a while, at low speeds, but it is not much different then any other naturally aspirated 4 cylinder.

There is nothing wrong with the Honda Clarity and the angry bees.

Just needs a lot more sound and heat insulation. Which would add more weight and cost just like my 2013 MB S550.
FYI, the Clarity has less road and wind noise than a 6 year old S-Class.

Loving my Clarity.
I just have to get used to the fact that I'll never be able to go 125 mph.

 

[Clarity 4 life]

Can't pre-warm with standard plug

You can use the remote to precondition while plugged into 120v.
Or you can turn on Climate through the Hondalink app. But, you must click on Stop Charging first.
Then the charging will resume after Climate is On.

 

[Clarity 4 life]

She drives a BMW 528 for her daily driver.
The original plan was that I am to inherit her car because my commute is half hers and she was supposed to take the Clarity after the HOV stickers arrive.

But after driving the Clarity for 2 months, I think I want to continue driving the Clarity.....
Maybe we will have to trade in the BMW for a second Clarity ????

I gave up my 2013 MB S550 for the Clarity!!!

 

[Clarity 4 life]

Once the weather gets a bit nicer I'm going to get that outlet installed.

I have thought about installing a 240v, but decided against it.
The faster charging will degrade the battery more than slower 120v charging.

I have my climate set to turn on at 5AM.
Then I turn it on again at 5:45AM.
It's usually 74 degrees after I turn it on for the 3rd time if its 20 degrees outside at 6:20 AM.
I drive my 11 year old to school at 7 AM.
I don't mind spending pennies to make sure my son is nice and warm.

 

[4sallypat]

So far very happy with the 120V L1 charging.
I use a Duosida dual voltage portable charger and love it.
Since I charge daily, the battery only needs a 1/3 charge which means about 4 hours in the garage using L1.

The Duosida is amazing - it cuts down on the charge time by 25% as it pulls about 25% more current than the Honda OEM charger....

 

[Dante]

I have thought about installing a 240v, but decided against it.
The faster charging will degrade the battery more than slower 120v charging.

I have my climate set to turn on at 5AM.
Then I turn it on again at 5:45AM.
It's usually 74 degrees after I turn it on for the 3rd time if its 20 degrees outside at 6:20 AM.
I drive my 11 year old to school at 7 AM.
I don't mind spending pennies to make sure my son is nice and warm.

From what I've read (and I may have understood wrong so correction is welcomed), it is the amps that hurt more than the voltage. I think the 240v outlet with a reasonably tempered juice flow (say 16A or in the low 20s) would more than half the charge time without heating or hurting the battery.

 

[Dante]

So far very happy with the 120V L1 charging.
I use a Duosida dual voltage portable charger and love it.
Since I charge daily, the battery only needs a 1/3 charge which means about 4 hours in the garage using L1.

The Duosida is amazing - it cuts down on the charge time by 25% as it pulls about 25% more current than the Honda OEM charger....

wondering why don't you use the car a couple of days (not fully discharge but maybe 80-90%) and than fully charge every other day or so? I think batteries like it better that way...

 

[4sallypat]

wondering why don't you use the car a couple of days (not fully discharge but maybe 80-90%) and than fully charge every other day or so? I think batteries like it better that way...

I always top off where ever I am at because I never know if I have a trip to make that comes up....

Also I believe that fast charging batteries leads to quicker cell degradation.

My thinking:
L2:
Pumping in 240V x 16A = 3800 Watts seems like a lot of energy going into the battery quickly causing heating ??

L1:
120V x 10A = 1200 Watts seems to be less power / heat into the battery pack ???

 

[KentuckyKen]

While it’s true that at some point faster charging rates are harmful to a Li-ion battery, it’s of note that current Level 2 EVSEs don’t come close to being high enough to harm our batteries.
The Clarity can only take advantage of up to a 32 Amp EVSE. My 32 Amp ChargePoint only delivers 7.1 mostly and occasionally 7.2 kWs to the car’s Charger.
Some one more knowledgeable than me posted about the metric “C” which is kW charging rate divided by battery size in kW. I believe the sources he referenced indicated anything below 0.5 C was not damaging to the battery in any way.
So for my 32 Amp EVSE, it’s 7.1 kW/ 17 kW which is 0.42 C.
So I don’t think here is any advantage in charging with a Level 1 EVSE over a Level 2 since both are under 0.5 C in the Clarity.

Note that charging rates are a totally separate battery health/longevity issue than such concerns as temperature, charging to full 100% SOC, draining to very low (say under 15%) SOC, etc.