[Alison]

Hi there,

We just got our Clarity at the end of July, and I have become obsessed with all things electric, charging, regenerating, coasting, paddle-braking, where stations are, etc. Did 2800km without ever touching the gas, but had to break that (boo) with my first longer trip of 500km return (to Montreal to take our eldest back to McGill) so experienced the wonders of HV. Had plenty of electric stored/charged for driving around Montreal on EV only once we got there.

Oh, we live near the awesome community of Wakefield, QC, about 1/2 hour north of Ottawa. Our previous car (which I still miss a bit) was a CR-V...so weird to think that the Clarity is a bigger car. My husband drives an old Accord (he works at Ottawa Honda), and our 2 sons (18 and 20) share an old civic, and our youngest (16, daughter) is learning to drive with the Clarity. Yikes.

We got the full federal and provincial rebates ($5000 + $8000 respectively) and I am saving $240/mo (minimum) on gas. In fact, I have been putting away $60/week into my tax account as if I was still filling up the CR-V.

Have been reading lots on this forum, so looking forward to discussing tips on how to get the most out of the EV/HV combo! :grin:

 

[2002]

Hi there,

We just got our Clarity at the end of July, and I have become obsessed with all things electric, charging, regenerating, coasting, paddle-braking, where stations are, etc. Did 2800km without ever touching the gas, but had to break that (boo) with my first longer trip of 500km return (to Montreal to take our eldest back to McGill) so experienced the wonders of HV. Had plenty of electric stored/charged for driving around Montreal on EV only once we got there.

Oh, we live near the awesome community of Wakefield, QC, about 1/2 hour north of Ottawa. Our previous car (which I still miss a bit) was a CR-V...so weird to think that the Clarity is a bigger car. My husband drives an old Accord (he works at Ottawa Honda), and our 2 sons (18 and 20) share an old civic, and our youngest (16, daughter) is learning to drive with the Clarity. Yikes.

We got the full federal and provincial rebates ($5000 + $8000 respectively) and I am saving $240/mo (minimum) on gas. In fact, I have been putting away $60/week into my tax account as if I was still filling up the CR-V.

Have been reading lots on this forum, so looking forward to discussing tips on how to get the most out of the EV/HV combo! :grin:

Congratulations on your new car! Regarding EV/HV in one sense it doesn't really matter, some people don't even touch the HV button and let the car do its thing. The thing to remember is that HV is known as "charge sustaining mode" which means the gas engine will keep the battery charged to about the same level, just like a regular hybrid does (thus the name HV). Whereas EV mode is "charge depleting mode" and will use only the battery for power, except for hard acceleration.

What a lot of people do, actually I would say most people, is switch to HV mode when they get on the highway, this will preserve EV charge for later when they are back on surface streets. The reason for this is solely for personal preference. On surface streets you can often hear the engine whereas on the highway especially while driving at a steady speed you really can't hear it, so most prefer to use HV on the highway and EV on surface streets. Usually makes no difference in efficiency, again it's just personal preference.

You may know already when the weather gets colder your EV range will go down quite a bit, that is normal for all battery powered cars.

I am trying to keep track of production dates in Canada, the only one I have so far is VIN number ending 0805 manufactured 5/19. If you don't mine telling me what is your manufacture date (located on the door jamb) and last four digits of VIN.

 

[Rob43]

Alison,

Welcome to Clarity forum !

*********************

If you have a conveniently located 240v receptacle, you can use your 120v OE Honda EVSE unit to charge up your Clarity in about 5 1/2 hours.



Rob43

 

[4sallypat]

It's nice to see Canadians get their hands on the Clarity.

Most of the nation can't get any in the US, except for California....

 

[Alison]

Hi there,

I think last 4 #s of the VIN are 0835, and production date is 05 2019 as well...don't know if that helps. Our close friends just "signed on the dotted line" for a Clarity as well (both their cars have died and they decided to do the environment-saving thing) but they continue to wait for Clarity, which is unfortunate. There isn't one within quite a large radius...am not sure how it all works...when they ship, how many are back-ordered, or even if there is such a thing.

I have yet to see another Clarity anywhere, never mind just around our local village...haven't seen one in Ottawa or even Montreal (though I know there must be some)...but it's now a mission of mine to try and spot another one!

 

[Alison]

We don't have a convenient 240v outlet....we will be getting one installed for sure before winter. It's going to be interesting to see the drop in battery range, I know, but in the grand scheme of things we really can't complain. Car now has over 4300km on it, 3800 of which were achieved on pure electric. Am super happy with this car. Our middle son has now driven it to cegep (pre-university sort of college that exists in Quebec), where there is a charger installed that is free, as is the parking....very nice!

 

[mowcowbell]

Not trying to direct you elsewhere, but checkout the more heavily trafficked Clarity section of Inside EVS Forum.

https://www.insideevsforum.com/community/index.php?forums/clarity.53/