[dwheat17]

Hi Everyone,

I thought I'd repost this because I didn't get any responses. Maybe it was because of the typo in the title of the original thread ;-)

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

====================

I plan take a 5 hour road trip next week. (That is, drive 5 hours from point A to point B.) My plan is to be in HV mode the entire way. I will be climbing up some long hills.

Assuming I start with a full charge, should I expect the EV range to continuously decrease?

Also, I may need to use sport mode to pass a truck or two, does sport mode work if I do not have any EV range left?

Finally, assuming I need EV range to use sport mode, should I use HV Charging mode to keep the battery at a level where I can use sport mode?

Thank you.

 

[brccd]

road trip

I have a clarity I bought in Sept 2019

Took a trip from NY to new Hampshire 2 weeks ago....

Tried playing around with this a bit...

Assuming I start with a full charge, should I expect the EV range to continuously decrease?


In HV mode on the highway worked best, and driving highway speeds, did not use batteries and averages about 48 MPG...if traffic...slowed, 30 mph, the ev mode would kick in on and off...in slower jammed traffic stop and go...ev mode kicked in mostly...

Also, I may need to use sport mode to pass a truck or two, does sport mode work if I do not have any EV range left?

I don't think you will need sport mode to pass a truck...really there is enough power to accelerate...

Finally, assuming I need EV range to use sport mode, should I use HV Charging mode to keep the battery at a level where I can use sport mode?

You can use the charge mode if the batter gets low to save it for sport mode setting...i have not tried sport mode with a low used battery..not sure how it will work!

 

[BillM]

I have had my Clarity for just three months now and have driven only about 1500 miles, so I think the following observations are correct and useful, but if not, I hope someone will correct me.

1. ECON mode, normal mode, and SPORT mode, with a few exceptions noted below, are merely different maps of the position of the accelerator pedal to the amount of power requested. The same amount of press of the accelerator results in smaller, medium, and larger accelerations, respectively. Any one of these modes are independently compatible with your choice of EV or HV. (Secondary issues: SPORT mode retains the stage of paddle deceleration under more instances than in the other two modes. ECON mode more slowly reacts to increased climate control commands or seat heating.) .

2. HV mode, as do most hybrid operations, tries to optimize and maintain maximum possible charge in the high voltage battery consistent with gas economy from the engine. It uses a variety of options: making use of direct connection from the engine to the wheels via gearing, or indirect connection through the electric motor, and under certain conditions with having the engine supply charge to the high voltage battery, etc.

I found the best way for me to get used to the way the Clarity operates is by driving with the Energy flow screen displayed on the audio/information screen.

 

[fuelscience]

I have a clarity I bought in Sept 2019

Did you get the model with the flux capacitor and the time machine? :grin::wink:

 

[dwheat17]

Thank you all for your feedback. Here is my experience.

I drove in HV mode the entire way with a few sport mode exceptions. HV mode did keep the EV Range consistent around 40 miles. Going up long hills the car sounded like it was laboring and had high RPMs. In this situation putting it into Sport mode did not make much of a difference. Of course when on level ground and normal RPMs sport mode gives a big boost.

The Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC) was awesome. If you haven’t tried it, do so. It is not your father’s cruise control.

I also used the Lane Keeping Assist System (LKAS). It is a nice feature. As I was playing with it, it did tell me to put my hands back on the steering wheel.

After all was said and done I got 69.4 mpg. I was shocked as I was in HV mode the entire time minus a few instances of Sport mode. I was expecting 40 MPG, but I guess in HV mode it does use battery but regenerates it.