I have had my Clarity for 2 weeks. I charge it each night and noticed when the charge is complete I may have different E.V. amounts. It has ranged from 47 to 58 miles. Can someone explain why it charges to different levels? Is it based on outside temperature past driving history,etc?
Charging
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Wow, if your charging on a standard 110v circuit and it was truly depleted that's an indication it detected a reason to shut off early. If you're using a Level II then it's about right. Most nights when I plug mine in, it's around 1/2 depleted and that usually takes about 1hr 10m, and that's in line with the specs. My charger is a Level II and the car is set by the phone app to start at 11PM. Here in GA using electricity from GA Power, the rates go well down to almost nothing at 11PM. The time of charging is controlled by one of the car's computers telling it when to accept current from the charge portal and when to shut it off. Ask me if I miss my $60+ gas bills :grin:.
This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite cars I've owned over time. I'm 74 now and have owned north of 200 cars new & used lifetime. My garage wall has 3 rows of tags from cars I've owned just since the mid 1980's. Most of those tag's saw service over one year and the personal ones on more than one car. The gamut has run from VW's including one Karman Gia to M/B's, BMW's, Porsche's, one Pantera, Honda's, and a few American models.
This is rapidly becoming one of my favorite cars I've owned over time. I'm 74 now and have owned north of 200 cars new & used lifetime. My garage wall has 3 rows of tags from cars I've owned just since the mid 1980's. Most of those tag's saw service over one year and the personal ones on more than one car. The gamut has run from VW's including one Karman Gia to M/B's, BMW's, Porsche's, one Pantera, Honda's, and a few American models.
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What kind of Level II charger do you use, if I may?
Thanks,
Thanks,
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I used this one as it was available both as a direct connection to the panel or with a plug for a receptacle. I chose the latter as it gave me the option to leave it when I move again or take it if the new owner has no use for it. I have no plans to move but for just a few dollars it gave me that option. I can fully control it with the Honda phone app as to when it cuts on etc. Here on GA Power, the rate goes down in spades after 11PM so I just plug my car in when returning home for the day and the car is set to 'receive' the juice at 11PM. It's also one of the highest rated. You can get it from Home Depot online, Amazon, Lowes or just about any online store. It's also a 50 amp that Honda recommends. And one more thing, it's rated to use outside and the cord is long enough for most cases.
BTW, it's always best to use an electrical contractor that will also apply to your city for a permit for you. That will also keep your insurance company happy.
BTW, it's always best to use an electrical contractor that will also apply to your city for a permit for you. That will also keep your insurance company happy.
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Thanks a bunch.
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Is the weather cooler? Won't get as much EV miles when weather is cooler. Gas mileage won't be quite as good either. Slightly different reasons. Batteries don't work as well in cooler weather (think how temperature affects chemical reactions). And gas does not vaporize as well in cooler weather.
Good question. We've had our Clarity for 2 months. When we first bought it we had to drive freeway miles at high speeds and it charged to 43. Then, after my wife drove it just to and from work in town on electric for a week or so, it gradually increased almost daily until it got to 52. Now that night temps have cooled to the 30 degree range it's gone back down to 42. I'm curious what it will charge to when it gets below zero. Knowing that it will have a reduced charge in the winter is one of the reasons I went with the Clarity rather than the Prius Prime -- I was concerned the Prime -- rated at a 24 mile charge -- would barely have 15 in the middle of winter.
it is important to remember that the miles is an ESTIMATE. So, it's not as if it "charges to 42" or "charges to 52" or whatever - It charges to the full capacity of the batteries, and the EV miles estimate on that full charge varies from time to time. The estimate is dependent on the recent history that the car has experienced. For example, when you drive at high speed on the highway all the time, that takes more watt-hours per mile driven, so the future looking estimate will go down accordingly. Again, as the ambient temperature decreases, and you use the heater, or the ambient increases a lot, and you use AC a lot, all these things draw on the battery while in EV mode. These all get factored into the estimate. Hope that makes sense!
-Kal.
-Kal.
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It's based on averaging out your past driving. Even if you take the exact same route a dozen times in a row, you'll have different readings with all of the variables. For instance outside temps, whether or not you're running lights and wipers, how often you have set at a traffic light and how long (the car is still using the batteries), how hard you accelerate, there are just too many variables for it to be exactly the same every day. I've also had good days even driving 65 with cruise on the highway about 20 miles each way I got figures around 60 and other days barely over 40. There is no guarantee it will be 47 every day.
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Hi, I have some newbie questions. I'm about to purchase a 2018 Clarity. I've test driven two of them and have done lots of home work. The only things I don't think i have nailed down are questions about charging. If there's a sticky somewhere on the forum that answers theses, please direct me there.
1) I didn't see a charger in the trunk of either car, so, should I assume the dealer doesn't have it and that I need to buy one?
2) I checked Honda's website to price one and it's not listed. there are no Clarity accessories listed at all on Honda's website. If the car doesn't come with the OEM charger cable, how do I get one, and how much do they cost?
3) I have a friend who owns a Tesla Model 3. He says the battery isn't supposed to be repeatedly charged to 100% because it reduces battery life. Tesla recommends charging only to 80%. Does this apply to the Clarity as well?
3a) If I'm charging it in my garage overnight, how to I manage that?
4) I only have a 110volt outlet in the garage. It's an older house with a few issues (overhead light fixtures that flicker or only have one working bulb), so I'm a little concerned about the wiring and I plan to have an electrician come out and inspect/repair any issues that might pose a fire hazard with nightly charging of an electric vehicle. Is this a valid concern, or should I just buy the car, plug it in and not worry about it?
1) I didn't see a charger in the trunk of either car, so, should I assume the dealer doesn't have it and that I need to buy one?
2) I checked Honda's website to price one and it's not listed. there are no Clarity accessories listed at all on Honda's website. If the car doesn't come with the OEM charger cable, how do I get one, and how much do they cost?
3) I have a friend who owns a Tesla Model 3. He says the battery isn't supposed to be repeatedly charged to 100% because it reduces battery life. Tesla recommends charging only to 80%. Does this apply to the Clarity as well?
3a) If I'm charging it in my garage overnight, how to I manage that?
4) I only have a 110volt outlet in the garage. It's an older house with a few issues (overhead light fixtures that flicker or only have one working bulb), so I'm a little concerned about the wiring and I plan to have an electrician come out and inspect/repair any issues that might pose a fire hazard with nightly charging of an electric vehicle. Is this a valid concern, or should I just buy the car, plug it in and not worry about it?
The Clarity when purchased new came with a 12 amp level 1 (i.e. 120 V) charger . There is a small storage compartment in the trunk near the bumper, covered by a carpeted panel, and possibly a plastic floormat on top of that. Look in that compartment and hopefully that is where they have stored the charger. If it's not there, then you need to ask the dealer about it, I would word the question exactly like this, "Where is the charger that originally came with the car?" If they say it's not included then you need to let them know that this reduces the value of the car as it will have to be replaced.
If you do wind up having to purchase a charger, you don't need the original Honda OEM you can go online and get any J1772 EVSE (commonly called a charger although technically that's a misnomer, but it's an acceptable term to use instead of EVSE). Since you just plan to plug into 120V then you can get the cheapest 12 amp J1772 charger that you can find. J1772 is the standard level 1 EVSE for all EV's except Tesla.
As for plugging into a regular 120V wall outlet, that is perfectly fine. You can get a full charge from a 120V outlet in about 12 hours. But it is smart that you are having an electrician check things out, especially for older wiring. Plan on replacing the 120V outlet that you will be using to charge since it's likely old and it is relatively inexpensive to replace an outlet. The rest of the electrical system hopefully will be good enough as is. The two important questions that you want to find out from the electrician is:
1. How many amps is the circuit that you will be plugging into. Most likely it is 15 amp, which is why you will most likely be limited to a 12 amp EVSE. There is a chance however that it is a 20 amp circuit, in which case you could use a 16 amp EVSE which will charge slightly faster.
2. What else is on the circuit? Ideally it's a dedicated circuit, i.e. nothing else is on that circuit. More likely however there will be other outlets on the same circuit. A 15 amp circuit can safely handle up to 12 amps continuous power, a 20 amp circuit can handle 16 amps. In either case you will be pretty much maxing out the circuit when you are charging, so it's important to make sure that nothing else on that circuit is being used at the same time that you are charging, or you risk overloading the circuit.
Note that checking the number of amps is something you can do yourself by simply looking at the circuit breaker, although that assumes the correct size circuit breaker was originally installed (or later replaced). It doesn't hurt to have the electrician confirm this, but you can check now yourself just so you have an idea what to expect.
Also it's pretty simple to figure out what else is on the outlet, it's just tedious. But it's actually something everyone should do anyway which is to make a circuit map of their house, rather than just relying on what is written on the panel as that is not detailed enough. To make a circuit map, first identify all outlets, switches and light fixtures in the house (include attic, basement, garage and outdoor outlets) and then draw this out on paper, (i.e. make a map).
Then turn on all lights in the house (and outdoors), then while one person turns off each circuit breaker one at a time, the other person notes on the map which lights that each circuit breaker controls. For outlets you just need to plug a lamp or an electric radio into the outlet. The resulting circuit map is very helpful to have, and it will likely surprise you as one circuit can mix two different rooms that you wouldn't expect.
1. How many amps is the circuit that you will be plugging into. Most likely it is 15 amp, which is why you will most likely be limited to a 12 amp EVSE. There is a chance however that it is a 20 amp circuit, in which case you could use a 16 amp EVSE which will charge slightly faster.
2. What else is on the circuit? Ideally it's a dedicated circuit, i.e. nothing else is on that circuit. More likely however there will be other outlets on the same circuit. A 15 amp circuit can safely handle up to 12 amps continuous power, a 20 amp circuit can handle 16 amps. In either case you will be pretty much maxing out the circuit when you are charging, so it's important to make sure that nothing else on that circuit is being used at the same time that you are charging, or you risk overloading the circuit.
Note that checking the number of amps is something you can do yourself by simply looking at the circuit breaker, although that assumes the correct size circuit breaker was originally installed (or later replaced). It doesn't hurt to have the electrician confirm this, but you can check now yourself just so you have an idea what to expect.
Also it's pretty simple to figure out what else is on the outlet, it's just tedious. But it's actually something everyone should do anyway which is to make a circuit map of their house, rather than just relying on what is written on the panel as that is not detailed enough. To make a circuit map, first identify all outlets, switches and light fixtures in the house (include attic, basement, garage and outdoor outlets) and then draw this out on paper, (i.e. make a map).
Then turn on all lights in the house (and outdoors), then while one person turns off each circuit breaker one at a time, the other person notes on the map which lights that each circuit breaker controls. For outlets you just need to plug a lamp or an electric radio into the outlet. The resulting circuit map is very helpful to have, and it will likely surprise you as one circuit can mix two different rooms that you wouldn't expect.
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Great info. THANKS!
I'd recommend that one purchases the least expensive EVSE that has UL approval, at a minimum. There are a lot of garbage Chinese EVSEs out there that would just love to burn down a house.
In addition to replacing the 5-15R duplex outlet with a good quality commercial grade one (that has screw-down terminations off of a pigtail in the j-box), I'd replace the breaker feeding the circuit with a new one, too. Breakers do wear out.
I’m not sticking up for Chinese EVSEs or anything but it is basically just a glorified contactor. The worst that would likely happen is the contacts would go bad and start developing resistance to current. It could overheat and burn up. If it were in a metal box or sitting on a concrete floor the consequences would likely be minimal.
Agreed, I was thinking more about features, there are EVSE's with displays that show amps and charge times, and some that will let you change the amps, on up to wireless data trackers and power management. Most Clarity owners will get by fine without those features. Of course there are some people who like tracking and monitoring things but that seems to be a pretty small percentage. But yes avoid anything with questionable quality.
Good idea on replacing the circuit breaker also, the electrician will have a minimum charge for coming out for the inspection, having them replace the outlet and breaker while they are out there shouldn't add that much more, at least compared to having them come out separately to do those items. Probably would be good to mention this before they come out so they won't have to make a parts trip at extra cost, even though I would imagine that many electricians will have some basic parts on hand.
Also to further explain the importance of paying attention to what's on the circuit and not just relying on the circuit breaker, if using for example a 12 amp EVSE on a 15 amp circuit, technically the circuit is already at its max because it is in continuous use. However the panel has no way of knowing it is continuous so it will allow adding another 3 amps of power without tripping the breaker, which some people might take as an indication that everything is fine. Probably would get away with it but especially with older wiring it's better to avoid that.
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