Good-bye to another Honda EV

2914 Views 10 Replies 7 Participants Last post by DucRider, Dec 25, 2021

DucRider

Discussion Starter · Dec 16, 2021

Returning the Clarity Electric in the next couple of days. Extended the lease in Oct, but found her replacement quicker than we thought we might (Polestar 2).
Just over 3 years with the Clarity, and just under 5 years with the Fit EV. About 8 years with a blue Honda EV in the garage comes to an end.
Dropped a note to a contact at Honda in the "alternative fuels" division letting him know that we wanted to look at another Honda as our next EV, but...… nothing to see.
His response was they have some things in the works, etc. etc. Even laggards Toyota/Lexus have seen the inevitability and revealed 15 BEV models with a promise of 30 in the next 8 years (by 2030).

He said "Honda isn't going anywhere". That could be taken two ways, but remarkably similar to the attitude of Kodak with the advent of digital cameras. They are still around, but primarily just in name.

The list of 2022 plug in cars from Honda:

In 2023, they will have:

In 2024:
A rebadged GM SUV is in the works.

This does indeed back up the "not going anywhere" statement.

Save

Reactions: 3

1 - 11 of 11 Posts

4sallypat

· #2 · Dec 16, 2021

Congrats on the Polestar!

Was bummed that after 3 years, Honda did not come out with a new PHEV or EV or FCV....

We leased the Clarity PHEV and at the end of the lease, we bought her out to keep her for a long time.

I am looking for a pure EV vehicle, and currently on the reservation list for the Ford F150 Lightning.

Can say for certain that the Honda Clarity certainly whet our appetite for EV vehicles..

Save

Reactions: 2

obermd

· #3 · Dec 16, 2021

I haven't gotten the emails and letters from Honda dealerships asking to trade my Clarity yet, but GM dealers seem to send them to me almost weekly for my Volt. I won't trade either (outright own the Clarity and six 0% interest payment left on the Volt). I leased one car - one time. Never again.

I've actually politely told more than one car salesman that until he can offer me a decent EV that I'm not interested. This includes a Honda saleslady while I was getting an oil change. I test drove the Bolt while my Volt was having it's second free GM oil change - couldn't stand the driving dynamics.

Congrats on the Polestar. Report back after you've driven it for a while and give us a review, please.

Save

Reactions: 1

2002

· #4 · Dec 16, 2021

Polestar should be nice, and no more range anxiety! I read that Polestar is now doing software updates like Tesla does to add features and even improve drivability, that's pretty cool.

Save

Reactions: 1

EV Nerd

· #5 · Dec 16, 2021

obermd said:
I haven't gotten the emails and letters from Honda dealerships asking to trade my Clarity yet, but GM dealers seem to send them to me almost weekly for my Volt. I won't trade either (outright own the Clarity and six 0% interest payment left on the Volt). I leased one car - one time. Never again.

I've actually politely told more than one car salesman that until he can offer me a decent EV that I'm not interested. This includes a Honda saleslady while I was getting an oil change. I test drove the Bolt while my Volt was having it's second free GM oil change - couldn't stand the driving dynamics.

Congrats on the Polestar. Report back after you've driven it for a while and give us a review, please.

The Bolt salesperson did you a disservice. There are a few variables in the Bolt, to allow one to tailor it better to their driving style and/or conditions. Driving in "L" can seem a bit abrupt, until one gets skilled at one-pedal-driving. Then it's truly wondrous. We've been driving EVs for over twenty years, and the Bolt finally checks all the boxes we've been demanding during that time. It's by far the best EV we've ever owned/driven. We bought a new Bolt Premier in 2017, and when it was recalled, we sold it back to GM, and bought a new '21. We also bought an '11 Volt, and recently gave that to our son, before buying our '21 Clarity PHEV Touring. (Would have bought another Volt, had GM not stopped making them.)

Save

obermd

· #6 · Dec 17, 2021

EV Nerd said:
The Bolt salesperson did you a disservice. There are a few variables in the Bolt, to allow one to tailor it better to their driving style and/or conditions. Driving in "L" can seem a bit abrupt, until one gets skilled at one-pedal-driving. Then it's truly wondrous. We've been driving EVs for over twenty years, and the Bolt finally checks all the boxes we've been demanding during that time. It's by far the best EV we've ever owned/driven. We bought a new Bolt Premier in 2017, and when it was recalled, we sold it back to GM, and bought a new '21. We also bought an '11 Volt, and recently gave that to our son, before buying our '21 Clarity PHEV Touring. (Would have bought another Volt, had GM not stopped making them.)

I tested it in both D and L. It wasn't just the drive train but all sorts of little things like steering and overall comfort.

Save

EV Nerd

· #7 · Dec 17, 2021

obermd said:
I tested it in both D and L. It wasn't just the drive train but all sorts of little things like steering and overall comfort.

I agree that the Clarity was far more comfortable...for me. My wife prefers the Bolt. We are radically different sizes/shapes.

Save

Reactions: 1

orchid

· #8 · Dec 23, 2021

I know this is NOT the right place to share your review of the Polestar 2, but please tell us how the Polestar 2 compares to driving the Clarity EV (minus the range anxiety). I just started my 5th year (lease extension) with my white orchid Clarity EV. I'm not ready to part ways with my Clarity EV, until I have to.

Have fun with your new EV!

Save

DucRider

Discussion Starter · #9 · Dec 23, 2021

Polestar 2 is a completely different style of car in both body style (fastback) and ride/handling. Polestar's roots are the performance/racing arm of Volvo. Ride is sporty (even without the performance pack) vs the floaty nature of the Clarity. I have the dual motor AWD version with the optional 20" wheels (the default 19s come with summer tires vs AS on the 20s). Very solid feeling car. Stomp it in wet or dry and no wheel spin - well controlled application of the 400+ HP.
Head unit is native Android Automotive. Limited apps from the Play store, but Google maps and assistant are well integrated. "Hey Google, take me to Seattle" will plot the route. If too far it will show charging along the way and how long each stop will need to be. Free EA charging for 2 years. "Hey Google, turn on the heated steering wheel" works as does "Set the passenger temp to 72 and the driver to 70" also works.
Polestar contracts out test drives and if you are within certain geographic areas they will bring a car to you (work, home, start of a twisty road, etc). The experience is worth it even f you are not in the market.
Fit and finish is what people should get from a higher end EV. Interior is Swedish minimalist without being as stark as Tesla. Much can be done with buttons/knobs as well as the center screen (and there is a 12" drivers display behind the wheel).
Optional semi-automatic tow ball folds out at the push of a button, and retract to completely hidden when not in use (2000 lbs tow rating). Too many cool features to list, and definitely not a budget vehicle (the Single motor version gets closer if you leave off the cool/fun stuff). After our remote test drive, my wife said "I'm not a car person, but that's the nicest car I've ever driven".

See less See more

Save

Reactions: 3

First Honda

· #10 · Dec 25, 2021

Not my business, but these cars are hot items nowadays. You could buy the Clarity out of lease and flip it for a clean $5000 fairly easily, even $6000 for a 36/12k lease.
I just bought mine out of lease, I was over mile as well. I can put the winnings towards the new car once I find something.

Good luck with the Polestar, you are a trailblazer for the EV community

Save

DucRider

Discussion Starter · #11 · Dec 25, 2021

First Honda said:
Not my business, but these cars are hot items nowadays. You could buy the Clarity out of lease and flip it for a clean $5000 fairly easily, even $6000 for a 36/12k lease.
I just bought mine out of lease, I was over mile as well. I can put the winnings towards the new car once I find something.

Good luck with the Polestar, you are a trailblazer for the EV community

Clarity Electric was never for sale - no option to purchase at lease end.
With the Fit EV, they lowered to monthly payment if you extended after the 3 years. They didn't do that on the Clarity and the $199/mo for an 89 mile EV wasn't nearly attractive as it was 3 years ago. Our other EV is an Ioniq we leased at $132/mo. 170 miles of range plus a real head unit and lots of feature missing from the Honda like blind spot monitoring, cross traffic alert, etc.

Save

1 - 11 of 11 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.

Top Contributors this Month