Clarity Electric Discontinued
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
I am really sorry to hear that. I know the range was limited but there were a lot of people that it fit their driving needs especially as a second car, or if they can charge at work, etc.. My understanding is Honda only produced a limited number each month and they were always snapped up quickly. Of course that was likely because of the heavy subsidies via a very low lease price, there is no way Honda made money and most likely lost quite a bit of money on each one.
Hopefully they will allow current leaseholders to renew for another three years if they want to.
Well one silver lining is maybe they will have to sell more PHEV Clarity in California to replace the CARB credits. Although I'm guessing they have to sell three PHEV or something like that to equal a BEV? I realize the calculation is more complicated than that.
On the one hand this could be seen as not boding well for the Clarity PHEV for 2021, but on the other hand they did decide to continue it in 2020 while cancelling the EV. Maybe the PHEV fits more into their current strategy for the U.S. which favors hybrids over BEV.
The Fuel Cell credits freely "travel" to all Section 177 Regions and States without the discount applied to other ZEV credits, so it is likely that they will be relying on the FC to provide the required ZEV credits.
The PHEV only provides TZEV credits, and TZEV credit are limited and they can't generate all the needed credits from PHEV's.
2020 MY requirements are 9.5% (up from 7.0% in 2019). That means they need 95 credits for every 1000 vehicles sold.
TZEV credits are limited to 3.5%, 6% must come from ZEV vehicles
The Clarity gets the following credits:
PHEV earns 1 TZEV credit
BEV earns 1.5 ZEV credits
FCV earns 4 ZEV credits that travel freely
I doubt that the Fuel cell will go away or Honda will have to purchase ZEV credits on the open market (Tesla always has plenty to sell)
More details on credits, calculation formulas, etc:
https://www3.epa.gov/region9/CA-Air-SIP/California%20Code%20of%20Regulations/Title%2013,%20Division%203,%20Chapter%201,%20Article%202,%20Section%201962.2%20effective%207%20Aug%202012.pdf
Joined
·
662 Posts
The entire "credit" system is a failure - air quality in California's cities has deteriorated over the past decade (under Obama and Trump). This says that despite CARB's credit system, California residents are not flocking to fuel efficient (less fuel => lower emissions) and EVs. The culprit is actually low oil prices, which make ICE more economical because no one is paying for their vehicle emissions. If California really wants to promote EVs and clean up the air they could actually make it more expensive to operate gas & diesel vehicles by taxing the emissions from them. Since we know how much carbon each gallon of gas and diesel contains we can set a price for the emissions and add it at the pump. This will drive the purchase of more efficient, some ICE, some EV, vehicles in the state. We saw this back in 2012/2013 when gas prices nationwide were $4 or more a gallon - big SUVs had zero resale value and dealerships couldn't sell them even with huge discounts, but smaller, fuel efficient cars couldn't be kept on their lots.
Joined
·
90 Posts
"
There will be no more Clarity Electrics moving forward"
To quote Art from Christmas Family Vacation, "It was an ugly car anyway."
There will be no more Clarity Electrics moving forward"
To quote Art from Christmas Family Vacation, "It was an ugly car anyway."
It's always sad to see an EV or PHEV get discontinued, but honestly, the Clarity EV was not a standout product. In key ways (namely, the amount of range for the price) it wasn't competitive with other EVs.
The Clarity PHEV is the highest-volume car to have the Clarity name, clearly the most successful (as it's used outside of California), and for many people, the most practical and desirable car of the series. I'm actually in favor of Honda funneling more sales into the PHEV. I'd love to see more of them on the road.
The Clarity PHEV is the highest-volume car to have the Clarity name, clearly the most successful (as it's used outside of California), and for many people, the most practical and desirable car of the series. I'm actually in favor of Honda funneling more sales into the PHEV. I'd love to see more of them on the road.
1 - 8 of 8 Posts
