[HiHoStevo]

Hi Folks...



I have had 4 Toyota Hybrids and 2 Chevy Volts. I have been considering moving up to the Clarity for its additional interior roominess and comfort.


I am curious how most of you are doing with your Clairty?



Mr. Cummings in Florida is getting pretty spectacular mileage on his battery... how many miles are the rest of you folks averaging on the battery power alone? (flat terrain like Mr Cummings... or do you have hills to navigate)


What about after the battery is exhausted... have you figured out how many miles per gallon of fuel you are getting... just off of the Internal Combustion Engine?


Thank all of you in advance that are willing to help me compare the Clarity to the vehicles I have experience with!!!

 

[dwheat17]

Hi Folks...



I have had 4 Toyota Hybrids and 2 Chevy Volts. I have been considering moving up to the Clarity for its additional interior roominess and comfort.


I am curious how most of you are doing with your Clairty?



Mr. Cummings in Florida is getting pretty spectacular mileage on his battery... how many miles are the rest of you folks averaging on the battery power alone? (flat terrain like Mr Cummings... or do you have hills to navigate)


What about after the battery is exhausted... have you figured out how many miles per gallon of fuel you are getting... just off of the Internal Combustion Engine?


Thank all of you in advance that are willing to help me compare the Clarity to the vehicles I have experience with!!!

When I did my first trip to Vegas from LA, I started with full battery came back with 3/4 battery. Never charged the entire weekend. Drove the entire time in HV and got 69 milesto the gallon. That means that I used 1/4 of my EV charge with those two tanks of gas. The regenerative braking must have helped a lot to get me from the advertised 40 mpg to the real 60 mpg.

 

[4sallypat]

Yes!
The Clarity if amazing if you consciously make the effort to use the paddles and coast as much as you can!

 

[HiHoStevo]

Ok... obviously there are some operational considerations that I am not familiar with on the Clarity.


In the Volt world you can select: Normal, Sport, Mountain, and Hold.

In normal the computer decides when to do what... it will normally burn the battery down to zero and then start using the gas engine (ICE).

Sport mode just makes the gas pedal a bit zippy...

Mountain Mode reserves 20% of battery power to assist if you are climbing a long or steep hill.. other than that it burns the battery until it hits 20% and then fires up the ICE.

Hold mode will "hold" whatever amount of battery power you have until you select another mode, so you will be running only on ICE.

Most folks use normal around town and if they are going to run a long trip they switch to hold mode as they get onto the freeway, and then switch back to Normal when they are off the freeway at their destination.

A bit long-winded about stuff you guys really do not care about..., but how do these operational modes that I am familiar with compare to the operating modes on the Clarity?


Thank you

 

[dwheat17]

Ok... obviously there are some operational considerations that I am not familiar with on the Clarity.


In the Volt world you can select: Normal, Sport, Mountain, and Hold.

In normal the computer decides when to do what... it will normally burn the battery down to zero and then start using the gas engine (ICE).

Sport mode just makes the gas pedal a bit zippy...

Mountain Mode reserves 20% of battery power to assist if you are climbing a long or steep hill.. other than that it burns the battery until it hits 20% and then fires up the ICE.

Hold mode will "hold" whatever amount of battery power you have until you select another mode, so you will be running only on ICE.

Most folks use normal around town and if they are going to run a long trip they switch to hold mode as they get onto the freeway, and then switch back to Normal when they are off the freeway at their destination.

A bit long-winded about stuff you guys really do not care about..., but how do these operational modes that I am familiar with compare to the operating modes on the Clarity?


Thank you

I believe Volt Normal = Clarity HV

 

[The Gadgeteer]

The Clarity has 3 driving modes and 3 Hybrid Modes. These can be mixed and match for a total of 9 combinations!

Driving modes:
Eco: Eco mode button pressed, the Clarity favors EV mode with a reduced chance of activating the engine. Favors EV driving.
Sport: Sport mode button pressed, Clarity gives sporty driving with a greater likelihood of activating the engine. Favors spirited driving. Defaults to normal mode after car is shut off.
Normal mode: Neither button pressed driving mode is normal.

Hybrid modes:
HV: HV button pressed is Hold current charge mode
HV Charge: long press of HV button, battery is charged to 57.7%
Normal hybrid vehicle mode: no buttons pressed and default start up mode.


Volt normal = Clarity normal. No HV, No HV Charge, No Sport, No Evo

Volt Hold = Clarity HV

Volt Mountain mode is very similar to Clarity HV Charge mode bit different in that it charges to 57.7% and holds it there.

 

[mowcowbell]

Probably the biggest different between the two power trains while in EV mode is that the Clarity has a 'click point' on the accelerator pedal that if pressed past the click, will engage the ICE. The Volt will remain in EV mode, even if the pedal is floored.

 

[[email protected]]

Volt - Clarity Differences

Stevo,

I have been through 6 years of Volt ownership (Gen 1 & Gen 2), I have kept a list of differences. I have had the Clarity since Nov 2018. The list of Pros were deal breakers for my wife.

Pro:
5-seats (that fit adults)
Garage door opener
Power/Memory seats
Rear seat A/C vents
Dual zone A/C

Cons:
Different to drive in EV only
Regen button not as strong (deceleration)
No Wi-Fi hotspot
No emergency cell phone
No heated steering wheel
No blind spot radar (just a cool passenger camera) - nothing on the driver's side
No passenger seat height adjustment
Can't remote start from Alexa
The range loss is significant (for me)
Lack of tech reporting
Push button charge door
Rear camera useless in the rain

Surprising Omissions:
No front parking warning
No rear door sensors for unlocking
No rear traffic notification

Coolness:
Rear down vision camera for parking
The ride is plush

 

[jsymon]

Clarity - Volt discussion

Interesting that the things you list as Clarity pros have no value to me except possibly the extra rear seat leg room although I wouldn't want to sit through a long trip in the Clarity middle seat either. For me the pros are all the bells and whistles that are standard on the Clarity.



I'm waffling between buying another Volt and buying a Clarity. Now leaning Volt and need to do it this week before the rebate is cut in half.


Volt never adds gas engine to boost the motor for fast acceleration but it doesn't need it. Even at highway speeds in normal mode the oomph is plenty for all purposes except racing that Corvette. Will definitely squeak the tires. Until I floored the Clarity and got the engine boost I was a little disappointed when needing to accelerate on the expressway.



The thing that does piss me off about the Volt is how they pushed important options up to the Premier. Paying an extra $5k for adaptive cruise is hardly justifiable but now that the Premier also has double rate charging I'm waffling on that as well. That will refill the (summertime) 60 miles in 2.3 hours on my home 240 charger.



Even though you're not supposed to, I've heard it said that you can take your hands off the wheel with the Clarity's lane maintenance. Does it weave back and forth from stripe to stripe or do a reasonable job of holding the center? I've heard that in the Volt (Premier only) it is really just to catch you napping or face down in the control center.


I like all the display items on the Volt that tell me electric miles & kw hours used and gas miles & gallons used on the trip. It zeros them when it gets fully charged.


All a bit moot at this point since 2019 is the last Volt year. Dang.



Bolt? No thanks. Automakers talk about range paranoia as though it's just a beginner's foolishness but tell me about how I'm going to do that trip from Raleigh to Philadelphia. Even if I am able to identify charging locations somewhere near my route that's going to be a long lunch. Also assumes nobody already using them while watching that 3 hour feature film in the 12 plex. Even if you can follow a string of fast charging spots (DC fast charging is an optional extra) you only get 90 miles added during that 30 minute lunch stop.


Please, someone give us a plug in hybrid with 100 mile range.

 

[Kg350]

Yeah, I'm coming from a 2017 Prius Prime, and am considering a Honda Clarity for the 5 seater and bigger EV that also has ICE.

Not sure if I should do the jump, but its looking likely.

I read somewhere that Clarity can stay in full EV even if you floor it? Someone above said once you go pass the click it turns on ICE, which would be a bit annoying. My Prius Prime right now can stay in full EV.

Does anyone know if I can sell my Prius Prime after I have claimed the 2018 Tax Credit this year? Would I have to give the tax credit I got $4,502 back to IRS? I know the CVRP rebate, you have to give the difference back depending how long you've had the car for, which in my case is a year. I currently have 16k miles already, a bigger battery would make my commute perfect.

 

[DucRider]

Please, someone give us a plug in hybrid with 100 mile range.

This is very likely never going to happen. Adding enough battery to the Volt/Clarity would make them 2 passenger cars.

While battery tech is progressing and may allow lighter/smaller/cheaper batteries, charging technology and infrastructure is progressing even more rapidly.


Stopping to charge for 10-15 minutes every 3 hours would not be a hardship for most drivers (yes, someone will chime in that they routinely drive 400 miles without stopping, but they are likely fudging the truth and are still in the minority).

That 10-15 minutes will also improve as vehicles are produced/shipped that can utilize the 350kW charge rate the new DCFC installs are capable of.

The added expense/weight/complexity of carrying both ICE and electric drive trains limits their practicality for light duty vehicles.

 

[Holly]

I found this article on the test driving the Clarity and as an new owner of a Clarity, I found it very helpful. Maybe this can also help you decide if you'd like to buy one. It's pretty much on target... Here you go! https://cleantechnica.com/2019/04/0...le-personalities-cleantechnica-review-part-1/