Bought Clarity over Model 3, Prime, Volt

So for personal reasons, I needed to start looking at another family vehicle. Previous ownership relevent to this: Gen 2&3 Prius, Gen1 Camry hybrid, Gen1 Volt, and C-Max Energi. I considered those listed in the subject line: Model 3 (standard range), Prime and Gen2 Volt plus the current Korean offerings which are not really available locally.

I really like my C-Max especially for the CUV form factor and the bang-4-buck it offered at the time in 2014 when I got it (pano roof, rain sensing wipers, power lift gate, leather interior, optional sound, pearl paint, etc) . But time moves on and Ford is in pause mode while formulating their next move (word is it's with Volkswagen). It's still a great car (76mpg lifetime), no issues, and will stay in the family.

The base SR Model 3 at 200 miles is way too short for Texas at interstate speeds and charger locations. The Prime is in short supply here in Texas thus dealers/gulf states Toyota aren't dealing on prices and, more importantly, it's not much of an upgrade from the Energi in terms of range. And..... the over the top styling doesn't appeal to me (apologies to prime owners). The Korean entrants aren't even on local lots so.... it quickly narrowed to the Clarity and Volt.

A major requirement for me were the newer driving aids; primarily ACC that I narrowly missed out on the 2013 Energi. On the Volt, it means getting a loaded premier level which is in the $40k region while the Clarity has it at only $32k. A quick test drive between the two and it was a slam dunk decision: Clarity!

On gas in HV mode, driving at 75mph at interstate speeds=my gen2 prius fuel economy (42ish). Dropping it below 70=my gen3 fuel economy (48ish). The car is both very quiet and smooth. Sport mode satisfies any longings for my former Volt when I want to "punch it". Brake hold mode means no pedal holding at stops. ACC and LKAS driving aids make long drives less taxing.

Filling up at the only public charger near me (another reason I didn't go for a BEV) but at least it was free!



After a long a very long drive around town today to use the battery from full to empty, this is the next estimated drive range:



So far, lifetime is 54mpg.

 

Yes combined but that's at 1,300 miles of which 1,100 was a gas road trip (one very small partial charge to demonstrate the procedure to family). So far I've only had two 100% EV trips totaling approx. 125 EV miles. Honda went mainstream on the info metrics and the displays are incredibly basic; no breakdowns of data, etc. Geeks will be disappointed.

On the trip, I got low 40's @ 75mph interstate and upper 40's @ 55-70mph on an ICE with less than 100 miles at the start. Low mileage reports in the upper 30's are from using HV charge mode to replenish the pack using the ICE while driving or just inefficient driving.

I've never used CR for car research. They dinged the C-Max hard too but the neg reports were due to the Ford Sync (thank you microsoft) and had nothing to do with reliability. My short time on the Honda boards leads me to think that the Clarity has attracted a lot of first time hybrid owners who simply don't understand the car and some have knee-jerk reactions to issues they don't understand with some extremists talking class-action lawsuits or recalls. Really? How about read the owners manual. Nah...

So, pretty much every non-toyota hybrid then. LOL Yeah, I think Honda learned some painful lessons on their previous designs. The Clarity triplets (BEV, PHEV, FCEV) are an all new ballgame. We'll see.


Fun fact: Every light on and in the car is an LED except the vanity mirror lights.