[aeinc]

Last two vehicles were Ford Fusion Hybrid & Energi. Really like them both. The reason for the switch is Ford's refusal to take responsibility for a > 40% drop in range in the Energi's battery.

So far the Clarity is OK. The purchasing experience at the dealership was one of the worst I have experienced. But that is another story.

If anyone from Honda is listening here are some things to add to the vehicle (as options if need be); (these were all available on my Fusion Energi)

1) More information regarding trips.
2) Better feedback regarding stopping and charging.
3) Make the voice command system understand English better and be able to resolve short cut commands. If I say "91.3 FM" it should assume audio-radio-FM-91.3 and not try and dial some random phone number.
4) Lumbar support.
5) True Blind spot indicators.
6) 2-3 gallon bigger gas tank.
7) Rain sensing wipers.
8) Lights under RV mirrors which illuminate when you approach with key.
9) OTA software upgrades (Not available on the Fusion)

Overall the Clarity seems like a well balanced vehicle, ride is comfortable, Electric range is good, interior space is good.

A couple of other items about dealers;

1) Require them to have at least one L2 charger. How can they service a vehicle they can't charge adequately?
2) Require they know something about the vehicles they sell.
3) Require them to, as part of the delivery process, (perhaps in the hours you are in finance) to perform all software upgrades, check and fill all fluids.
4) Require them to clean the exterior of their vehicle inventory at least monthly.

 

[4sallypat]

You will like that Honda prides itself on the HV battery pack - they have a minimum charge level replacement protocol in place for at least 8 years (10 years in CA).

As for your other issues - can't fault them for a first year car that was designed by Japanese engineers.
Maybe when they re-do the Clarity in a few years with a refreshed model they will make them in the US alongside their other models made in Alabama ???

For a $21K car (after rebates & incentives), can't complain that their base trim has: 18" premium alloy wheels, auto brake hold, LED lighting, seat heaters, Honda sense, and 60 miles per charge !

 

[mowcowbell]

aeinc, I know exactly what you are saying about Honda dealers and their woeful lack of knowledge about the Clarity. First dealer I visited pulled up a Clarity touring that had only 2 bars on the battery meter which means the car will only run in HV mode. I mentioned this to the salesman who said 'Oh, we can plug it in with the cord in the trunk and have it charged in a few minutes for the test drive'.... LOL. My test drive was more of a training class for the salesman as I knew way more about the car then he did. The second dealer just handed me the keys to a Clarity base and my wife and I took a test drive without a salesman.

This car had sat on their lot for 6 months, and looked like it hadn't seen a wash (other than rain) in that time period.

I truly hope this car sells well, as the sales lot filled with Pilots and CRV's tells me what they stock to sell. Sorry, but the world has enough SUV's.

 

[4sallypat]

Because I did the research ahead of time, I took the INITIATIVE to know more than the dealer staff.

So I took the Honda PDI checklist and ran it with my sales person who said he learned more from me than past trainings.

During my 3 hour downtime at the dealer waiting for F&I, I took the checklist and personally did the PDI.

Even drove the car to the service dept to charge.
The service tech asked why I (customer) was in the service dept and told him that I bought the car without a charge since there are no customer chargers available.
Service tech said he liked customers who know more about the car instead of having uneducated & uniformed people get angry at the service dept....

By the time I was finished with F&I, the car was fully charged, detailed, and verified with the sales person that the PDI was completed.

That's how you get satisfaction - do it yourself!

 

[aeinc]

I have about 355 miles on the car and except for the drive back to the dealer over 35 miles away for 2 hours of frustration, I haven't used any petrol. Well I did put it in sports mode once and floored it to see how it behaved.

I like the car, it is training me in its quirks regarding the user interface. I am still waiting for the dealer to send me the body plugs, which I suspect they never will send.

 

[Gunslingerheel]

Last two vehicles were Ford Fusion Hybrid & Energi. Really like them both. The reason for the switch is Ford's refusal to take responsibility for a > 40% drop in range in the Energi's battery.

So far the Clarity is OK. The purchasing experience at the dealership was one of the worst I have experienced. But that is another story.

If anyone from Honda is listening here are some things to add to the vehicle (as options if need be); (these were all available on my Fusion Energi)

1) More information regarding trips.
2) Better feedback regarding stopping and charging.
3) Make the voice command system understand English better and be able to resolve short cut commands. If I say "91.3 FM" it should assume audio-radio-FM-91.3 and not try and dial some random phone number.
4) Lumbar support.
5) True Blind spot indicators.
6) 2-3 gallon bigger gas tank.
7) Rain sensing wipers.
8) Lights under RV mirrors which illuminate when you approach with key.
9) OTA software upgrades (Not available on the Fusion)

Overall the Clarity seems like a well balanced vehicle, ride is comfortable, Electric range is good, interior space is good.

A couple of other items about dealers;

1) Require them to have at least one L2 charger. How can they service a vehicle they can't charge adequately?
2) Require they know something about the vehicles they sell.
3) Require them to, as part of the delivery process, (perhaps in the hours you are in finance) to perform all software upgrades, check and fill all fluids.
4) Require them to clean the exterior of their vehicle inventory at least monthly.

As a noob to the PHEV world may I ask a few questions so I can understand better? If so here we go.
1) What do you mean by more information regarding trips?
2) What do you mean by better information regarding stopping and charging?
3) What about the blind spot indicators?
Thanks

 

[Gunslingerheel]

aeinc, I know exactly what you are saying about Honda dealers and their woeful lack of knowledge about the Clarity. First dealer I visited pulled up a Clarity touring that had only 2 bars on the battery meter which means the car will only run in HV mode. I mentioned this to the salesman who said 'Oh, we can plug it in with the cord in the trunk and have it charged in a few minutes for the test drive'.... LOL. My test drive was more of a training class for the salesman as I knew way more about the car then he did. The second dealer just handed me the keys to a Clarity base and my wife and I took a test drive without a salesman.

This car had sat on their lot for 6 months, and looked like it hadn't seen a wash (other than rain) in that time period.

I truly hope this car sells well, as the sales lot filled with Pilots and CRV's tells me what they stock to sell. Sorry, but the world has enough SUV's.

That sounds like a really good deal opportunity though.

 

[aeinc]

As a noob to the PHEV world may I ask a few questions so I can understand better? If so here we go.
1) What do you mean by more information regarding trips?
2) What do you mean by better information regarding stopping and charging?
3) What about the blind spot indicators?
Thanks

1) In my Fusion, when I turned off the ignition, a display on the dash would tell me how many miles I traveled, how much gas I used, how many KWHs of electricity I used, how many KWHs of electricity was generated from braking, how many minutes I traveled. I could log in to the Ford Mobile app and see for the last month or so each trip and each charging session. For each trip it would tell me how many miles I traveled using electricity and how many KWHs used, the same for petrol. While driving it would show a bar chart of the last hour's fuel economy in 5 minute increments.

2) When I would come to a stop it would display what percentage of energy was recouped by regenerative braking. This would allow you to train yourself on how best to brake.

3) Blind spot indicators are lights in your outside rear view mirrors that let you know when a vehicle is in your blind spots on either side of the car. I check my rear view mirror when changing lanes before I put on my blinker and having a light in the mirror let's me know when it is not safe to change lanes.

I understand that the goal is to get normal folks to look at PHEVs as just another car (the design choice for the rear quarter panels on the Clarity doesn't help this) but at this point many people who are attracted to these cars seek them out. The type of people, IMO, who seek them out are somewhat geeks/nerds/technocrats, who like this stuff. These cars will not become mainstream until;

A) Non traditional design choices are abandoned. My wife loved the looks of my last two Ford Fusions (hybrid/PHEV) because they looked like "normal" cars.

B) The price of petrol at the pump reflects the real cost to society of its use, not the subsidized cost it is today.

Hopefully that answered your questions. This is based on my experience, obviously.

 

[aeinc]

It seems to me, a crossover/small SUV could easily be created from the Clarity PHEV platform.

Just extend the roof line back and put a lift gate in. Don't know aerodynamics, but it probably wouldn't drop the mileage by more than a few mpg.

Get rid of the funky rear wheel design while making the crossover, and we might buy it as a second vehicle to replace my wife's 9 YO Lexus.

 

[4sallypat]

Honda has announced the new Pilot is going to be offered in a PHEV like the Clarity.

 

[Gunslingerheel]

1) In my Fusion, when I turned off the ignition, a display on the dash would tell me how many miles I traveled, how much gas I used, how many KWHs of electricity I used, how many KWHs of electricity was generated from braking, how many minutes I traveled. I could log in to the Ford Mobile app and see for the last month or so each trip and each charging session. For each trip it would tell me how many miles I traveled using electricity and how many KWHs used, the same for petrol. While driving it would show a bar chart of the last hour's fuel economy in 5 minute increments.

2) When I would come to a stop it would display what percentage of energy was recouped by regenerative braking. This would allow you to train yourself on how best to brake.

3) Blind spot indicators are lights in your outside rear view mirrors that let you know when a vehicle is in your blind spots on either side of the car. I check my rear view mirror when changing lanes before I put on my blinker and having a light in the mirror let's me know when it is not safe to change lanes.

I understand that the goal is to get normal folks to look at PHEVs as just another car (the design choice for the rear quarter panels on the Clarity doesn't help this) but at this point many people who are attracted to these cars seek them out. The type of people, IMO, who seek them out are somewhat geeks/nerds/technocrats, who like this stuff. These cars will not become mainstream until;

A) Non traditional design choices are abandoned. My wife loved the looks of my last two Ford Fusions (hybrid/PHEV) because they looked like "normal" cars.

B) The price of petrol at the pump reflects the real cost to society of its use, not the subsidized cost it is today.

Hopefully that answered your questions. This is based on my experience, obviously.

It does. That is really a lot of information and I can see why it would be important. Hey Honda listen up. As to the last part I remember when Chrysler introduced the mini van Lee Iacoca was on a tv show. He was asked why the American car manufacturers would not build more fuel efficient cars. His answer was that gas prices are too volatile (they go up at times making the public want more efficient cars but then shortly they would come down and the public would abandon the idea) and overall they were too low. His idea was to tax gas to put it in the >$5 per gallon range and use the money to fix the roads and infrastructure. They could also return the money to the tax payers in other ways (yeah right). This way the public would buy more efficient cars and the manufacturers would know what to build. Did not make much sense then (1984 ish) but now it really does.