Honda has cleverly released a new video which outlines the Clarity offers both more passenger volume and horsepower than the Chevy Volt. As GM announced they plan on discontinuing this model, Honda must be trying to appeal to those who were considering purchasing one.
Better than the Volt according to new ad
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As a former Volt and current Clarity owner I'd like to point out a few things about the two cars. The Volt is faster from a stop than the Clarity. The regenerative breaking is accomplished in all modes by just putting the car in low gear (it isn't really low gear but the real description of what is happening is too long). Pushing the accelerator to the floor does not activate the ICE when you are in EV mode with. You can use both in mountain mode. The Volt (new) has a little more EV range than the Clarity. The hatchback gives you better access to bulky items. The lane departure and collision warnings are made by sound only (don't know about the new Volt). The Volt has real tuning and volume knobs not touch screen controls.
The Clarity (Touring in my case) has more passenger space. It has more features that are excellent e.g. Adaptive cruise control and steering wheel shudder on lane departure for example. It has memory seats. I personally feel you get more features with the Honda than you do with the Volt for the money. I don't like the fact that the ICE activates when the accelerator is depressed after a certain point and that the RB is not always on (once activated) in Eco mode. I'm a little concerned with the complaints (31 so far) listed on the NHTSA web site. But I've had no problems so far. We are very happy with the car.
Tim
The Clarity (Touring in my case) has more passenger space. It has more features that are excellent e.g. Adaptive cruise control and steering wheel shudder on lane departure for example. It has memory seats. I personally feel you get more features with the Honda than you do with the Volt for the money. I don't like the fact that the ICE activates when the accelerator is depressed after a certain point and that the RB is not always on (once activated) in Eco mode. I'm a little concerned with the complaints (31 so far) listed on the NHTSA web site. But I've had no problems so far. We are very happy with the car.
Tim
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Video would not play for me, not sure why. I did go onto the NHTSA site and just one complaint showed up, it is below. The person indicated others experiencing "these similar error codes" but what you see below is all there was as of five minutes ago. Here is the link https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/CLARITY%2520ELECTRIC
NHTSA complaint;
WHILE PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY I RECEIVED A NUMBER OF ERROR MESSAGES WHEN I STARTED THE CAR. CAR IS NOW AT HONDA DEALER SINCE 4/5/2018. I WAS TOLD THE LARGE BATTERY NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND IT IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE THE CAR. DEALER UNABLE TO GIVE ME AN ETA ON THE BATTERY. MANY OTHER OWNERS ARE EXPERIENCING THESE SIMILAR ERROR CODES.
NHTSA complaint;
WHILE PARKED IN MY DRIVEWAY I RECEIVED A NUMBER OF ERROR MESSAGES WHEN I STARTED THE CAR. CAR IS NOW AT HONDA DEALER SINCE 4/5/2018. I WAS TOLD THE LARGE BATTERY NEEDS TO BE REPLACED AND IT IS NOT SAFE TO DRIVE THE CAR. DEALER UNABLE TO GIVE ME AN ETA ON THE BATTERY. MANY OTHER OWNERS ARE EXPERIENCING THESE SIMILAR ERROR CODES.
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Jim, here's where you'll find the 31 complaints https://www.nhtsa.gov/vehicle/2018/HONDA/CLARITY%2520PLUG-IN%2520HYBRID I think the difference is the site you posted is for the all electric car. I was referring to the car I own, a plug in hybrid.
Regards
Tim
Regards
Tim
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I've had my clarity now for 9 months. I bought my wife a Tesla model 3 long range all wheel drive-in May. I can honestly say I hate driving my clarity now. The Tesla is just a much better vehicle in every single aspect including 0 to 60 in 4.2 seconds. 310 miles of range. Took it on a 600 mile road trip...and it took 35 mins longer than the Honda...but with self driving, I was much much much more relaxed. I used to love the Clarity...but now I cant get rid of it fast enough for a 2nd tesla in the family.
Interesting. I'm going to justify my choice so I don't feel like I made the wrong one. In my family, with the state of EV charging in the US, I believe that I need one car with an ICE engine in the family. I have the Clarity for this. With only two EV cars I would never comfortably take a long trip without worrying about charging. You may have more than 2 cars in your family and then I would see your point.
The other big factor for me is that the Tesla is much more expensive than the Clarity. By about 10k isn't it?
Just on sticker price alone the 310 mile version is about 7K higher at $44,500, over 10K if you add in the difference in federal tax credit, several thousand more if you add in the discounts that many people get on Clarity.
Probably if I owned one I would hate my Clarity also, but ignorance is bliss I guess as I really enjoy it especially for the price. I was not expecting to drive anything close to electric for a few more years and I am glad that at least for 50 miles a day I now get to.
It's the only EV that makes sense for US driving patterns - because there are Superchargers EVERYWHERE so you can always get back from where you've gone! I think the Model Y is going to be an even bigger "game-changer" than the Model 3.
I thought I saw someone saying Tesla Model 3 interior was bad compared to the Clarity. I don't believe that. I went to a Tesla store and sat in one and it was really nice, although a bit cramped compared to the Clarity. I came from a 2015 Mini 2-door Hardtop, so the Clarity is huge for me. I had my 2019 Clarity Base for 2 months now, the super steep discount was the final motivation factor. I wish it had better automation (self-driving) feature. The basic infotainment system is like 20% finished product (junk), very sluggish and lagging like how Android phones did when they first came out. I started hearing rattles from both front A pillar, I'll have to take it off and add some foam in there.
After looking at a Tesla Model 3, we had second thoughts about the maximum distance and the price. Ended up with the Clarity and I love it! Just 2 weeks ago I took my first long distance drive (I've only been driving it locally on electric) and drove the car up to Ashland from Sacramento and it worked like a dream. Only needed to stop once in Redding for 3.5 gallons of gas and breezed on up in HV mode. My battery still had 3/4 charge. So easy!! We'll keep our eyes on Tesla as a possible next car, but this one fills the bill for us right now. When friends ask me about how it works, I tell them I have two driving modes -- Tesla mode (45 miles electric around town) and Prius mode (HV for distance). Love this car!
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From an EV perspective, the Volt (any model year) is a better car as it won't start the ICE until the batteries run out. The Clarity PHEV needs both the electric and gas motors under heavy load. My 2017 Volt can handle all loads on either EV or ICE alone.
From a creature comfort perspective, the Clarity PHEV is definitely better.
From the perspective of documenting vehicle operations and maintenance, the Volt wins hands down. GM tells you under what conditions the car will automatically turn on the ICE (there are a few), how often the car handles ICE engine and fuel maintenance, and gives you a printed service schedule. Honda hides all this stuff with the highly paternalistic attitude that says they think their vehicle owners are idiots. (I suspect this may actually be a Japanese cultural thing.) Honda even hid the service schedule from you behind that idiotic "Service Minder" system - you have no idea which service is coming next, which would be helpful in planning for a long trip.
From a creature comfort perspective, the Clarity PHEV is definitely better.
From the perspective of documenting vehicle operations and maintenance, the Volt wins hands down. GM tells you under what conditions the car will automatically turn on the ICE (there are a few), how often the car handles ICE engine and fuel maintenance, and gives you a printed service schedule. Honda hides all this stuff with the highly paternalistic attitude that says they think their vehicle owners are idiots. (I suspect this may actually be a Japanese cultural thing.) Honda even hid the service schedule from you behind that idiotic "Service Minder" system - you have no idea which service is coming next, which would be helpful in planning for a long trip.
Volt was designed to be a PHEV from the ground up.
Clarity was designed to be use FCX, PHEV and BEV powertrains, so not as efficiently packaged. The structure and layout required to accommodate the hydrogen tanks, fuel cell, etc greatly influenced the design of the vehicle
GM also used much more energy dense (in both Wh/kg and Wh/l) batteries that took up much less volume.
Do you think the hydrogen design may have affected the size of the battery on the BEV? Or was that mainly about weight.
The BEV was an afterthought design to gain ZEV credits. They shoehorned in 50% more of the same batteries used in the PHEV in place of the gas tank and part of the trunk space. The batteries are both physically large and heavy for the energy they can provide.
Any vehicle not designed from the ground up as a BEV will have a bunch of compromises when retrofitted, but some of the quirky structure of the Clarity is due to the hydrogen component requirements (the weird pass thru from the trunk is one).
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