Clarity Dave
Member
Some data and miscellaneous thoughts after a 4 week road trip in the US and Canada using our 2018 Clarity Base Model. Apologies in advance for the length...
A rough connect-the-dots of the route is Seattle - Edmonton - Winnipeg - Hot Springs (AR) - Emporia (KS) - Grand Junction (CO) - Salt Lake City - Seattle. With numerous additional explorations. We left on September 7 and arrived home on October 4.
The car performed great and is the best road car I've ever owned. ACC and LKAS aren't perfect, but they eased extended highway driving considerably. The 7 gallon gas tank was never a bother, because I like to stop at least every 2 hours anyway, so in fact we only reached the Low Fuel warning twice in the course of the trip. And I love Apple CarPlay (keep in mind, though, that our previous car was a 1998 Subaru Outback with a cassette deck).
BY THE NUMBERS
Distance: 6,510 miles
Gasoline used: 122 gallons
Estimated electrical energy used: 355 kWh
When the charger didn't tell us kWh delivered (and that was most of the time), I estimated kWh at each charge based on the percentage figures provided by HondaLink.
Distance divided by gas yields 53.4 mpg. Including the 355 kWh and using 3.3 kWh/mi (about equivalent to the EPA rated 110 MPGe) yields (6510 - 355 * 3.3) / 122 = 43.8 mpg. I'm guessing that we did better than 3.3 kWh/mi, so 43.8 mpg might also be a little high.
The guess-o-meter HV range had always been high ever after the software fix was applied, but after some 5,000 miles with HV on, it reads 303 miles with a full tank, which seems reasonable.
EV range was typically in the 50's, but dropped to the high 40's when parked outside near Winnipeg in near-freezing weather. After exhausting EV range on the way up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP, then coasting back down (hurray for regenerative braking, allowing me to smile at the "don't let your brakes overheat" signs), we hit a new record GOM EV high of 92.5 miles (then hit 90.0 miles after 12,000+' Independence Pass).
I used HV mode often, so I don't have actual EV only range figures, but my sense was that I was getting 50+ miles real EV range.
BITS AND PIECES
I used PlugShare to find L2 chargers but also used the 120V charger overnight when possible. We asked about outdoor outlets at motels and there often was one available, especially in block heater country. I looked for L2 chargers near where we could have lunch or dinner, sightsee or just stretch our legs for an hour. I used ChargePoint and FLO accounts when needed, but spent a grand total of one dollar (in a parking garage in Boulder) on electricity.
I'm typically the ECON type, but found SPORT mode with sticky full regen very handy driving curvy roads in the Ozarks and Rockies, and used normal mode with ACC most of the time.
We dropped in on a National Electric Drive Week event in Overland Park, KS, which was on our way and had no Claritys present. Enjoyed chatting with folks and looking at the custom EV jobs (and we got some free L2 kWhs).
A total of 5 times on consecutive rainy days crossing Alberta and Saskatchewan, ACC and CMBS shut off with this message: Some Driver Assist Systems Cannot Operate: Radar Obstructed. The first four times, I stopped the car and wiped off the Honda badge, behind which I *think* the radar resides, and the warning lights would go away after a while and ACC and CMBS would work again. The fifth time, I kept driving and it went away by itself in about the same time. I fairly quickly figured out that non-adaptive cruise control still worked fine when ACC was disabled, and whereas I don't prefer it (e.g. no speed setting shown) it was better than no cruise control (and with regen, better than ICE cruise control).
I've taken the Clarity on a few logging roads, but the steepest one yet was the road to the Whitaker Point trailhead in the Ozarks. I had my doubts here and there, and the traction control light went on a few times, but it made it up the steep dirt road just fine with the OEM LRR tires. Once these wear out, though, I'm getting all-weather tires.
I mentioned this in another thread so I'll just recap. Because we were putting on way more miles than we do at home, the Maintenance Minder rapidly went from some months to the next service to 11 days, and later that same day it popped up Service Due Now A01. I had the tires rotated and reset the '1' and it reverted to Service Due in 5 Weeks and now says Service Due in 12 days A012. I think I'll have them skip the tire rotation when I take it in as it has only been about 3,000 miles. It has now been 10,000 miles since the last oil change and the MM seems fine with that.
I decided that the best rationale for using HV mode on highways is that Engine Drive (aka "gear") mode must be the most efficient use of the ICE, or Honda wouldn't have included it. The second best rationale is I prefer not hearing the ICE run when I'm in stop-and-go traffic or tooling around town.
And that's all the notes I took. It was a fun trip, and a good way to get closer to 36,000 miles in the first 3 years, thus getting the most out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty.
A rough connect-the-dots of the route is Seattle - Edmonton - Winnipeg - Hot Springs (AR) - Emporia (KS) - Grand Junction (CO) - Salt Lake City - Seattle. With numerous additional explorations. We left on September 7 and arrived home on October 4.
The car performed great and is the best road car I've ever owned. ACC and LKAS aren't perfect, but they eased extended highway driving considerably. The 7 gallon gas tank was never a bother, because I like to stop at least every 2 hours anyway, so in fact we only reached the Low Fuel warning twice in the course of the trip. And I love Apple CarPlay (keep in mind, though, that our previous car was a 1998 Subaru Outback with a cassette deck).
BY THE NUMBERS
Distance: 6,510 miles
Gasoline used: 122 gallons
Estimated electrical energy used: 355 kWh
When the charger didn't tell us kWh delivered (and that was most of the time), I estimated kWh at each charge based on the percentage figures provided by HondaLink.
Distance divided by gas yields 53.4 mpg. Including the 355 kWh and using 3.3 kWh/mi (about equivalent to the EPA rated 110 MPGe) yields (6510 - 355 * 3.3) / 122 = 43.8 mpg. I'm guessing that we did better than 3.3 kWh/mi, so 43.8 mpg might also be a little high.
The guess-o-meter HV range had always been high ever after the software fix was applied, but after some 5,000 miles with HV on, it reads 303 miles with a full tank, which seems reasonable.
EV range was typically in the 50's, but dropped to the high 40's when parked outside near Winnipeg in near-freezing weather. After exhausting EV range on the way up Trail Ridge Road in Rocky Mountain NP, then coasting back down (hurray for regenerative braking, allowing me to smile at the "don't let your brakes overheat" signs), we hit a new record GOM EV high of 92.5 miles (then hit 90.0 miles after 12,000+' Independence Pass).
I used HV mode often, so I don't have actual EV only range figures, but my sense was that I was getting 50+ miles real EV range.
BITS AND PIECES
I used PlugShare to find L2 chargers but also used the 120V charger overnight when possible. We asked about outdoor outlets at motels and there often was one available, especially in block heater country. I looked for L2 chargers near where we could have lunch or dinner, sightsee or just stretch our legs for an hour. I used ChargePoint and FLO accounts when needed, but spent a grand total of one dollar (in a parking garage in Boulder) on electricity.
I'm typically the ECON type, but found SPORT mode with sticky full regen very handy driving curvy roads in the Ozarks and Rockies, and used normal mode with ACC most of the time.
We dropped in on a National Electric Drive Week event in Overland Park, KS, which was on our way and had no Claritys present. Enjoyed chatting with folks and looking at the custom EV jobs (and we got some free L2 kWhs).
A total of 5 times on consecutive rainy days crossing Alberta and Saskatchewan, ACC and CMBS shut off with this message: Some Driver Assist Systems Cannot Operate: Radar Obstructed. The first four times, I stopped the car and wiped off the Honda badge, behind which I *think* the radar resides, and the warning lights would go away after a while and ACC and CMBS would work again. The fifth time, I kept driving and it went away by itself in about the same time. I fairly quickly figured out that non-adaptive cruise control still worked fine when ACC was disabled, and whereas I don't prefer it (e.g. no speed setting shown) it was better than no cruise control (and with regen, better than ICE cruise control).
I've taken the Clarity on a few logging roads, but the steepest one yet was the road to the Whitaker Point trailhead in the Ozarks. I had my doubts here and there, and the traction control light went on a few times, but it made it up the steep dirt road just fine with the OEM LRR tires. Once these wear out, though, I'm getting all-weather tires.
I mentioned this in another thread so I'll just recap. Because we were putting on way more miles than we do at home, the Maintenance Minder rapidly went from some months to the next service to 11 days, and later that same day it popped up Service Due Now A01. I had the tires rotated and reset the '1' and it reverted to Service Due in 5 Weeks and now says Service Due in 12 days A012. I think I'll have them skip the tire rotation when I take it in as it has only been about 3,000 miles. It has now been 10,000 miles since the last oil change and the MM seems fine with that.
I decided that the best rationale for using HV mode on highways is that Engine Drive (aka "gear") mode must be the most efficient use of the ICE, or Honda wouldn't have included it. The second best rationale is I prefer not hearing the ICE run when I'm in stop-and-go traffic or tooling around town.
And that's all the notes I took. It was a fun trip, and a good way to get closer to 36,000 miles in the first 3 years, thus getting the most out of the bumper-to-bumper warranty.
