Quick First Anniversary Reflections

[Fast Eddie B]

Today marks one year with our base model 2018 Clarity. I'll keep this brief, since I've been posting my impressions since day 1.

1) We've put a bit over 27,000 miles on the car in the year, a lot more than in a typical year for a given car where our mileage was spread over our Element, Ridgeline and Ford Flex. This included 3 trips to FL, one to D.C. and one to Indiana. Karen also made an Indiana trip in the Flex due to the possibility of snow on that trip (the Flex is AWD).

2) Zero mechanical problems, with the exception of a handful of head unit freezes requiring a reset, and periodic problems with HondaLink.

3) We track what we spend on fuel, but do not track our vehicles separately. The vast majority of our miles this past year were in the Clarity, with I guess maybe 60% to 70% in EV. Over the last 12 months we've spent $1,872.42 on gas. Over the prior 12 months we spent $4,019.39. Lots of variables, but still we seem to have saved roughly $2,200 in fuel over this 12 month period with no major changes in driving patterns. Of course electricity isn't free, but any impact to our utility bills has been pretty insignificant.

4) I criticized the Clarity's handling as a bit "floaty" for my tastes. I've gotten used to it and have revised my characterization to "compliant" or "supple". Still, if I could dial in another click or so of damping I would.

5) Only real disappointment is the paint quality, which seems "soft" and more prone to staining and etching than our other cars, including our 2005 Element and 2006 Ridgeline. Don't have high hopes for the paint's long term durability.

6) We spent the first 7 or 8 months just using the supplied charging cord @ 120V. During that time I can't think of more than a couple of times when faster charging would have been handy. Since making the adapters to utilize 240V I think we've utilized it a couple dozen times for mid-day "quick charges".

Like I said, brief summary - I'll add to it if anything worthwhile comes to mind. Overall, still loving the car.

 

[Mowcowbell]

Thanks for posting your 1 year review. I'm at 8 months with mine, I'll probably have around 8K miles at one year.

Other than the usual Hondalink outages, I haven't had any mechanical or electrical issues to report. I charge mine 90% of the time at home using the Honda OEM evse connected to a 240v adapter that I made. There have been a few times I'd like a quick turn-around charge, so I may pickup one of the $300 Level 2 - 32amp evse's off Amazon.

 

[Sandroad]

Good post! Always fun to hear longer term experiences. I wonder if anyone else put that many miles on in just one year!

 

[TomL]

Thanks for posting your 1 year review. I'm at 8 months with mine, I'll probably have around 8K miles at one year.

Other than the usual Hondalink outages, I haven't had any mechanical or electrical issues to report. I charge mine 90% of the time at home using the Honda OEM evse connected to a 240v adapter that I made. There have been a few times I'd like a quick turn-around charge, so I may pickup one of the $300 Level 2 - 32amp evse's off Amazon.

Same for me. I bought the Morec Level 2 EVSE on Amazon and it had a $30 coupon, so $269.99. It works great. Full charge in 2 Hrs 15 min.

 

[jdonalds]

Two weeks from tomorrow will mark two years for us. By that time we will have over 40,000 miles on the car. Aside from an initial couple of visits to the dealer to reset the system and install an update the car has mostly been free of issues. I did have to fix the rattle of the right A pillar as many others have as well.

This is the best car I've ever owned or driven. It is super quiet, smooth, comfortable, spacious, and efficient. I generally like the displays although response time could be better. It always puzzles me when people talk about the Clarity handling poorly because I still am often surprised at how well it handles curves and corners, staying flat with no perceptible body roll. I'm also taken aback when people complain about the sound system which certainly isn't top notch but it is pretty decent. These types of comments might scare potential buyers off but they should take test drive and see for themselves.

We had two Prius cars before the Clarity. I enjoyed the 50 mpg and they really are quite good cars. But I'll not go back to a hybrid again. At this point a PHEV is the right car for us. We drive for 6 to 8 weeks at a time without the gas engine ever coming on. Then for our common 300 mile round trips, or 1,100 mile round trips, we have no range anxiety or the need to charge. It's hard enough to ask my family to ride for 10 to 11 hours for a 550 mile trip. I couldn't ask them to wait for hours longer to charge a pure EV, not to mention searching around for an available, properly powered, charge station.

We do have a problem with the traction battery. Several months ago it suddenly dropped to 38-41 miles of EV range even through weather that produced 48-52 miles the year before. I went round-and-round with Honda but the problem hasn't dropped below a threshold that would cause Honda to take ownership of the problem. I'm actually hoping it will fail more so I can turn the problem over to Honda. This problem is rare for PHEV Clarity cars.

Every time I have to drive somewhere I'm thrilled that I get to drive the Clarity. I use every feature I can even on short trips. I'm always experimenting to see how well the car will follow the road by itself. I like to have the car follow the vehicle in front of me, even coming to a full stop when needed. The real disturbance comes when I have to drive our 4Runner.

Driving the 4Runner the first thing that annoys me is I have to hold my foot on the brake when stopped in traffic. No "Break Hold" - darn. Then when I'm on the freeway in Cruise Control I have to be aware that the 4Runner won't slow if the car in front of me slows - darn. Just backing out of the garage the V8 engine is running, sucking gas at the rate of 13mpg, and it never shuts off until I turn the ignition off. How annoying, and wasteful!

We have solar on our roof. It is a max 7.3KWh system that produces from 20-50kw per day depending on the angle of the sun and the cloud cover. Still we've only ever charged the Clarity at home, sometimes three or four times a day. With 40K miles on the car I'd guess that less than 8,000 of those miles have burned gas. For the most part the solar system has charged the car the rest of the time. Winter, of course, we do have to pay for some grid power. But about 6 months of the year the solar system can supply all of the needs of the house, and fully charge the Clarity. Today the electric meter shows 4502 KWh, about the same it read on April 27th. So we've paid $0 for grid power for almost 7 months. God is good.

 

[atlgwinnett]

I'm about 4 weeks from 2 years, and quite pleased with the purchase. My job moved from close to home to 37 miles away in midtown Atlanta. I bought the Clarity just before the new building opened. Most days in the warmer months I can make it between home to work on battery, charge at work and charge at home, and charge a third time in the evening. Occasionally I drive 200+ miles without leaving town. Living near Atlanta, I can't imagine buying a fully electric car with less than 400 mile range. The charging infrastructure in suburban and rural Georgia is pitiful; not a problem with the Clarity.

The Clarity has proven to be a great car to get from home to work, and I'll keep it for a long time if it proves to be reliable, but the next car I buy is to replace my 98 Chevy Astro. I want something that can hold 7 adults or a sheet of drywall. What I care about the most though, is safety. The Clarity has what I consider to be the minimum in safety equipment. It's missing blind spot monitoring/collision avoidance and a spare tire, both of which I consider safety deficiencies.

In Georgia, the PHEV Clarity also lets me use the HOV lane, which makes the drive to work less miserable, and the adaptive curse control takes away some of the stress while driving.

 

[TomL]

Today marks one year with our base model 2018 Clarity. I'll keep this brief, since I've been posting my impressions since day 1.

1) We've put a bit over 27,000 miles on the car in the year, a lot more than in a typical year for a given car where our mileage was spread over our Element, Ridgeline and Ford Flex. This included 3 trips to FL, one to D.C. and one to Indiana. Karen also made an Indiana trip in the Flex due to the possibility of snow on that trip (the Flex is AWD).

2) Zero mechanical problems, with the exception of a handful of head unit freezes requiring a reset, and periodic problems with HondaLink.

3) We track what we spend on fuel, but do not track our vehicles separately. The vast majority of our miles this past year were in the Clarity, with I guess maybe 60% to 70% in EV. Over the last 12 months we've spent $1,872.42 on gas. Over the prior 12 months we spent $4,019.39. Lots of variables, but still we seem to have saved roughly $2,200 in fuel over this 12 month period with no major changes in driving patterns. Of course electricity isn't free, but any impact to our utility bills has been pretty insignificant.

4) I criticized the Clarity's handling as a bit "floaty" for my tastes. I've gotten used to it and have revised my characterization to "compliant" or "supple". Still, if I could dial in another click or so of damping I would.

5) Only real disappointment is the paint quality, which seems "soft" and more prone to staining and etching than our other cars, including our 2005 Element and 2006 Ridgeline. Don't have high hopes for the paint's long term durability.

6) We spent the first 7 or 8 months just using the supplied charging cord @ 120V. During that time I can't think of more than a couple of times when faster charging would have been handy. Since making the adapters to utilize 240V I think we've utilized it a couple dozen times for mid-day "quick charges".

Like I said, brief summary - I'll add to it if anything worthwhile comes to mind. Overall, still loving the car.

I liked your reply. I would have found this very helpful if it was available when I was buying.

 

[TomL]

Two weeks from tomorrow will mark two years for us. By that time we will have over 40,000 miles on the car. Aside from an initial couple of visits to the dealer to reset the system and install an update the car has mostly been free of issues. I did have to fix the rattle of the right A pillar as many others have as well.

This is the best car I've ever owned or driven. It is super quiet, smooth, comfortable, spacious, and efficient. I generally like the displays although response time could be better. It always puzzles me when people talk about the Clarity handling poorly because I still am often surprised at how well it handles curves and corners, staying flat with no perceptible body roll. I'm also taken aback when people complain about the sound system which certainly isn't top notch but it is pretty decent. These types of comments might scare potential buyers off but they should take test drive and see for themselves.

We had two Prius cars before the Clarity. I enjoyed the 50 mpg and they really are quite good cars. But I'll not go back to a hybrid again. At this point a PHEV is the right car for us. We drive for 6 to 8 weeks at a time without the gas engine ever coming on. Then for our common 300 mile round trips, or 1,100 mile round trips, we have no range anxiety or the need to charge. It's hard enough to ask my family to ride for 10 to 11 hours for a 550 mile trip. I couldn't ask them to wait for hours longer to charge a pure EV, not to mention searching around for an available, properly powered, charge station.

We do have a problem with the traction battery. Several months ago it suddenly dropped to 38-41 miles of EV range even through weather that produced 48-52 miles the year before. I went round-and-round with Honda but the problem hasn't dropped below a threshold that would cause Honda to take ownership of the problem. I'm actually hoping it will fail more so I can turn the problem over to Honda. This problem is rare for PHEV Clarity cars.

Every time I have to drive somewhere I'm thrilled that I get to drive the Clarity. I use every feature I can even on short trips. I'm always experimenting to see how well the car will follow the road by itself. I like to have the car follow the vehicle in front of me, even coming to a full stop when needed. The real disturbance comes when I have to drive our 4Runner.

Driving the 4Runner the first thing that annoys me is I have to hold my foot on the brake when stopped in traffic. No "Break Hold" - darn. Then when I'm on the freeway in Cruise Control I have to be aware that the 4Runner won't slow if the car in front of me slows - darn. Just backing out of the garage the V8 engine is running, sucking gas at the rate of 13mpg, and it never shuts off until I turn the ignition off. How annoying, and wasteful!

We have solar on our roof. It is a max 7.3KWh system that produces from 20-50kw per day depending on the angle of the sun and the cloud cover. Still we've only ever charged the Clarity at home, sometimes three or four times a day. With 40K miles on the car I'd guess that less than 8,000 of those miles have burned gas. For the most part the solar system has charged the car the rest of the time. Winter, of course, we do have to pay for some grid power. But about 6 months of the year the solar system can supply all of the needs of the house, and fully charge the Clarity. Today the electric meter shows 4502 KWh, about the same it read on April 27th. So we've paid $0 for grid power for almost 7 months. God is good.

This thoughtful retrospective is very helpful to both current and prospective clarity owners. Thanks for sharing it. We also put a lot of miles on our Clarity, about 30,000/year.

 

[css28]

In Georgia, the PHEV Clarity also lets me use the HOV lane, which makes the drive to work less miserable, and the adaptive curse control takes away some of the stress while driving.

I adapt my curses without help from my car

 

[MPower]

I just returned from a trip to Kansas where I drove my previous car nor owned by my daughter, a 2012 Prius Plugin. I always thought it was a lovely car, but now it seemed so noisy. No wonder people are sensitive when ever the Clarity's engine gets loud. It is so unusual. I really noticed the difference last night when I drove the 136 miles home from the airport.

What a lovely car!

 

[Phil_Meyers]

I just returned from a trip to Kansas where I drove my previous car nor owned by my daughter, a 2012 Prius Plugin. I always thought it was a lovely car, but now it seemed so noisy. No wonder people are sensitive when ever the Clarity's engine gets loud. It is so unusual. I really noticed the difference last night when I drove the 136 miles home from the airport.

What a lovely car!

Just when it does the angry bees.

 

[Valente]

Its good to hear there a lot of folks out there who drive as much as I do in a year. My Clarity will be 2 years old in January 2020 and will probably hit 45,000 mi. I drive back and forth from Palm Springs to Los Angeles about 6-8 times/mo. So far, I've had only one problem. My A/C stopped putting out cold air a few months ago and even though I have an extended warranty they claimed A/C coolant isn't covered. I was hit with $300!! Bummer! I recently had my windshield replaced because of a foot long crack. The Safelite installer showed me there was a tiny rock hit in the very lower right corner that I never noticed. It was about the size of a dime. He said the crack could have been avoided if I inspected my windshield occasionally and had it repaired immediately. Now I inspect my windshield at least once a week. Lesson learned. Other than that, mostly zero problems. I hope to say the same when it reaches 100,000 mi.

 

[Fast Eddie B]

Thanks for that report.

To zero in on one thing, that extended warranty denial confirms my impression that the companies issuing them will exclude many items one would assume would be covered.

I’m closing in on 36,000 miles and this is the first time ever I’ve had some apprehension about going naked!*



*Except in recurring dreams, of course!

 

[Valente]

Yes!! When I purchased the extended warranty, I was told that it kicks in where the regular warranty ends...bumper to bumper coverage (except oil changes and tire rotation which is obvious.) But when I asked about the A/C problem 2 years later, they said A/C coolant is only covered for 24 months or 12,000 miles. I was never told this when I bought the car. But was told if it was a bad compressor it would be covered under the extended warranty. Of course, if it was a bad compressor I'm sure they would come up with some lame excuse to not have it covered. I really hate car dealers. All LIARS!!!