Official Honda Clarity FCEV/BEV/PHEV thread

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That is actually a very attractive price.
Good for Honda! Long time coming

My arithmetic says they are using 75% of the pack. Toyota is more conservative with their plug-in, using about 64%.
I'd hate to see Honda repeat their mistakes in hybrids and dial in accelerated battery degradation. What kind of cooling does this pack have ?

Addendum: A google search found water cooled pack. DOUBLE good for them!

I"m firmly in the Tesla BEV camp these days, but I can imagine this car being a solid choice for many people.
 
Honda’s version of a Volt.

Curious what the gas economy and heating system will look like in the real world
 
That's a good starting point price.
The Touring trim and adding a rear deck spoiler option makes the car look much better. (Assume the spoiler will be available from the EV version)

GRA said:
Via IEVS:
Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid Priced From $33,400, 47 Miles Range
https://insideevs.com/honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-priced-from-33400/

That's MSRP, plus $890 dest. 17 kWh pack. Nationwide availability, unlike the BEV/FCEV. 5 seats, but no shots of trunk space yet.
 
Per the article, heated front seats are standard. No mention of heated steering wheel or rear seats, although they might come with one of the option packages. Compared to a Volt, for $95 more ($80 MSRP + $15 dest.) you lose 6 miles AER but gain a fifth seat and Honda's reputation for reliability, which I'm sure many people will consider an acceptable trade. OTOH, it still suffers in the looks department, and it's a sedan rather than a hatchback which decreases its utility/flexibility a bit.

I haven't found a full test drive from any of the auto mags yet, but here's a short review from ABG comparing the EV and PHEV from back in June. They do say that the trunk provides usable space without any battery hump, but no dimensions or photos.

My opinion, as long as you can put up with the looks and (probably) the less sporty handling (it's a considerably heavier car), for the average buyer this one will win out over the Volt.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Honda's reputation in the area of hybrids is nothing to get excited over
,
While true, what proportion of the general public do you think is aware of and will make that distinction?

and with no heated steering wheel I'm not interested. It's also pretty ugly.
As for the steering wheel, while I understand your personal requirement for same, I don't see that as a major issue for the general public. Most of them will just use heat as they would in any ICE, and let the engine kick on if necessary. The more normally they can treat a PHEV, the more acceptable it's likely to be to the mainstream. That is the major advantage of HEVs, as you don't have to behave any differently (but can if you choose). A PHEV requires people to recognize they'll need to make one change in their behavior (plugging in) to benefit, but no more. We have no disagreement on the looks, though! :lol:
 
I see little point in offering 47 miles of autonomy in a PHEV that won't let you drive it comfortably as an EV in Winter. I assume it also lacks a heatpump. Is there even an electric cabin heater like the Volt's? Even Toyota eventually got the message on this, and the Prime, with half the range, would still be the better Winter EV.
 
My first winter with our Prius Prime is coming up, and I'm curious to see how fuel efficiency sorts out. My tentative plans for for different length trips:

SHORT: pre-heat at home, then drive and heat with EV
LONG: moderate pre-heat at home, then drive in HV and heat the cabin with ICE until I reach EV range from destination. Minimal cabin heating while in EV.

These strategies are applicable to any plug-in hybrid.
 
LeftieBiker said:
I see little point in offering 47 miles of autonomy in a PHEV that won't let you drive it comfortably as an EV in Winter. I assume it also lacks a heatpump. Is there even an electric cabin heater like the Volt's? Even Toyota eventually got the message on this, and the Prime, with half the range, would still be the better Winter EV.
All depends how far you need to drive ,doesn't it? Back when GM was introducing the Volt, they provided DoT info that said that 35 miles AER covered the routine driving needs of 75% of U.S. drivers, and 40 miles covered 78%, so what % of the public is going to be using the ICE for their routine needs on a regular basis? Preheat and drive the car anywhere within that range, using the heater as you please. If you need more AER to run the heater, either buy a different car or just accept the small gas use, whichever works for you.

As far as the heater, one source I found says only the Clarity BEV adds a heat pump, but all Claritys have resistive heating. I don't know if that's accurate.
 
Preheat and drive the car anywhere within that range, using the heater as you please. If you need more AER to run the heater, either buy a different car or just accept the small gas use, whichever works for you.

Preheating and then driving with no heat works fine for Rugged EV Individualists, but for the wider public it's a Fail. If there is a resistance heater than the car should be ok for most, with much lower Winter autonomy. As for the choices you offer, I choose "buy a different car."
 
GRA said:
LeftieBiker said:
I see little point in offering 47 miles of autonomy in a PHEV that won't let you drive it comfortably as an EV in Winter. I assume it also lacks a heatpump. Is there even an electric cabin heater like the Volt's? Even Toyota eventually got the message on this, and the Prime, with half the range, would still be the better Winter EV.
All depends how far you need to drive ,doesn't it? Back when GM was introducing the Volt, they provided DoT info that said that 35 miles AER covered the routine driving needs of 75% of U.S. drivers, and 40 miles covered 78%, so what % of the public is going to be using the ICE for their routine needs on a regular basis? Preheat and drive the car anywhere within that range, using the heater as you please. If you need more AER to run the heater, either buy a different car or just accept the small gas use, whichever works for you.

As far as the heater, one source I found says only the Clarity BEV adds a heat pump, but all Claritys have resistive heating. I don't know if that's accurate.

This is the part that drive me nuts. People would rather buy a different car (one that ONLY burns gas) than accept a little bit of gas being burned in a PHEV. The truth is, the PHEV will save you much more gas (and gas money!) over a year even if you can't make your commute in EV mode in the depth of winter.
 
It apparently drives you nuts for no good reason. What is hard to understand about someone not wanting to run an ICE for 10 minutes to drive 20 miles? Why are you assuming that people will be buying a HEV instead of a PHEV because of this? I think you should reexamine your assumptions here.
 
LeftieBiker said:
It apparently drives you nuts for no good reason. What is hard to understand about someone not wanting to run an ICE for 10 minutes to drive 20 miles? Why are you assuming that people will be buying a HEV instead of a PHEV because of this? I think you should reexamine your assumptions here.

It's not about not wanting to run an ICE for 10 minutes of a 30 minute drive. It's about deciding to instead run one for 30 minutes for a 30 minute drive because they cannot get to 0 minutes.

Perhaps I did not articulate my frustration clearly. When I say "people", I mean "some people", not "all people". I'm not making assumptions, I am listening to what people say. I personally know a handful of people who have done exactly what I described.
 
LeftieBiker said:
Preheat and drive the car anywhere within that range, using the heater as you please. If you need more AER to run the heater, either buy a different car or just accept the small gas use, whichever works for you.

Preheating and then driving with no heat works fine for Rugged EV Individualists, but for the wider public it's a Fail.
Of course, which is why I said use the heater as you please.

LeftieBiker said:
If there is a resistance heater than the car should be ok for most, with much lower Winter autonomy. As for the choices you offer, I choose "buy a different car."
And more power to you. Each individual can decide what works for them.
 
GetOffYourGas said:
LeftieBiker said:
It apparently drives you nuts for no good reason. What is hard to understand about someone not wanting to run an ICE for 10 minutes to drive 20 miles? Why are you assuming that people will be buying a HEV instead of a PHEV because of this? I think you should reexamine your assumptions here.

It's not about not wanting to run an ICE for 10 minutes of a 30 minute drive. It's about deciding to instead run one for 30 minutes for a 30 minute drive because they cannot get to 0 minutes.

Perhaps I did not articulate my frustration clearly. When I say "people", I mean "some people", not "all people". I'm not making assumptions, I am listening to what people say. I personally know a handful of people who have done exactly what I described.

Do you know of anyone who has bought a HEV instead of a PHEV for this reason? Because I've never heard of it happening. People who want an EV mode that badly don't throw it away altogether from exasperation. I think that this is either a strawman argument of some sort, or more likely someone told you this as a rationalization for not buying a PHEV but didn't really mean it.
 
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