Please subscribe! I talk about the 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicle (PHEV) and give my impressions of it after spending an afternoon driving around.
I ended up purchasing this car after lots of research. It is the best car I have ever owned and I love the "spaceship" look. Just wish it had sunroof and better Entertainment system. But drives so nicely and comfy esp for long distance. Excellent mileage.
Nice review, to bad you did not get more time with it, I bought my Clarity mid-april and have no regrets, after 4900 km my average fuel use is 1.1 liters per 100 km, yes you read that right 1.1 liters per 100 km, I charge it on a 120 volt outlet daily, I also charge it when I can (while at a restaurant), the car is quiet, spacious and comfortable, I put it in HV on the highway when when I know battery will not get me to and from where I'm going otherwise I use it in electric mode.
gp2003gt Thanks for comments and subscribing! Yeah it's an excellent car, and I have more in-depth views coming, but was definitely limited in the time I had with the car. Happy that I actually got to spend some time with it though. I was very impressed. The average on my 2011 Chevrolet Volt is 1.9L/100 km after about 96,000 km of driving.
Oh yeah those are all great features for sure! The faster charging isn't that big of a deal for me as I charge mine overnight on 110. The thing that would keep me in the 2nd generation volt though is the all-electric performance. The Insight was totally usable, but you don't get that acceleration punch without combining the gas motor. The Clarity is definitely a much comfier car, with far more room.
A longer test drive should allow you try the sport mode, you can adjust the regeneration and it stays in that position if you wish, in that mode the acceleration without gas might be more along the lines of what you are looking for, the advantage for me in faster 240 volt charging is that I have more than enough to get to and from work, but within a couple of hours and I can drive another 80+ km in the evening.
Thanks for the review. We’re getting excited about our delivery date of mid July. Think we might have lost our charger rebate due to our Ontario newly elected Doug Ford. Question : can you switch from gas and electric mode to electric only while in motion? Btw - when you get the Clarity in White exterior and grey interior and with tinted windows it looks much sportier. We ordered ours based one we saw with that particular combination and it looked really sporty compared to the green or grey exterior paint colour and without tinted windows.
Janice Craig I'm sure you'll love the car! Yes you can switch between gas and battery mode on the fly, but if the motor is 'cold', it wil run the motor for a little while before turning off. And yeah, it's not looking very promising over there for EV incentives with that government you now have!
Good question! 100% I would take it over a 1st generation Volt, no questions asked. Sign me up. Second generation though it gets a bit fuzzier. The 1st & 2nd generation Volt have a big performance boost all-electric mode over the Clarity, but the additional range, comfort, and capacity would be enough to convince me to trade in my 1st gen over it. The 2nd gen Volt has a longer EV range though, and the good performance. If I had to make the decision right now for 2nd generation Volt or Clarity, I personally would still go with the 2nd gen Volt. But it would be a struggle for sure.
Hi, thanks for the review. I want a PHEV that has the smoothest ride over bumps and potholes, but also does great on everything else. What would you recommend? I also want ventilated seats! :)
Thanks for the questions! I can't really help on the ventilated seat front, but for smoothest ride I'd honestly probably recommend the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV. Next would be Volt, and then the Prius Prime or Clarity.
