Generally speaking, our Clarity's are electric cars with a gas engine to power a generator that charges the battery. At times the gas engine can run faster to generate more electricity without being connected directly to the drive train itself (like when accelerating hard or going up a grade). That said, at highway speeds with a light load it can seamlessly connect to the drive train at steady speeds. The only way you'll know it is a very small 'gear' icon indication you can see on the display showing the engine and electrical power distribution. It's white and just below the engine icon and small. Once I knew about it, it took me a few days to find it.
We have to get used to the differences of how our cars operate from what we've always driven. While it should 'feel' like past FWD cars, it may sound different from being very quite to the engine speed not running in sync with our foot on the pedal. It may seem more odd because the sound insulation is so good, the engine sound may break through the quite before the road noise does. Does that make it easier to understand?
I love how much lower my credit card bill is now that buying about 3 gallons of gas to top it off is a novelty:smile_big:. That tells me it's working correctly.
We have had our 2018 Clarity a few days shy of a month. All of a sudden the engine sounds like it is in overdrive when accelerating. It is the only way I know how to describe it. Is there an overdrive? I cannot find how to undo it if there is....please help 🙂
