Honda’s Best Kept Secret?

You new here? :p
lol
I can see how you'd think that. After >10 yrs and >11,000 posts, you would think I would be used to it.

But I"m not, and I still have hope that things might get better and people might grow up.
Now get off my lawn!
 
Why does everything have to degenerate to a ****ing contest?.
A pi$$ing contest about golf carts,...er...electric cars (which is what this thread started out with) is OK on an aviation forum, but one about bikes is somehow wrong?
 
Today marks one year with our base model 2018 Clarity. Time sure flies when you're having a good time.

1) We've put a bit over 27,000 miles on the car in the year, a lot more than in a typical year for a given car where our mileage was spread over our Element, Ridgeline and Ford Flex. This included 3 trips to FL, one to D.C. and one to Indiana. Karen also made an Indiana trip in the Flex due to the possibility of snow on that trip (the Flex is AWD).

2) Zero mechanical problems, with the exception of a handful of head unit freezes requiring a reset, and periodic problems with HondaLink.

3) We track what we spend on fuel, but do not track our vehicles separately. The vast majority of our miles this past year were in the Clarity, with I guess maybe 60% to 70% in EV. Over the last 12 months we've spent $1,872.42 on gas. Over the prior 12 months we spent $4,019.39. Lots of variables, but still we seem to have saved roughly $2,200 in fuel over this 12 month period with no major changes in driving habits. Of course electricity isn't free, but any impact to our utility bills has seemed pretty insignificant.

4) I criticized the Clarity's handling as a bit "floaty" for my tastes. I've gotten used to it and have revised my characterization to include maybe "compliant" or "supple". Still, if I could dial in another click or so of damping I would.

5) Only real disappointment is the paint quality, which seems "soft" and more prone to staining and etching than our other cars, including our 2005 Element and 2006 Ridgeline. Don't have high hopes for the paint's long term durability.

6) We spent the first 7 or 8 months just using the supplied charging cord @ 120V. During that time I can't think of more than a couple of times when faster charging would have been handy. Since making the adapters to utilize 240V with the same cord I think we've utilized it a couple dozen times for mid-day "quick charges".

7) The Clarity is not approved for towing, but I installed a 2" receiver to employ a bike carrier. Quality carriers from Yakima or Thule seemed awfully pricey, so I made some quick mods to a Harbor Freight carrier I already had. I've since modified it to carry a second bike when needed:

48943719042_ac4e233d65.jpg



Just a brief summary - I'll add to it if anything worthwhile comes to mind. Overall, still loving the car.
 
I see the “wink” icon, but that is pretty much a myth.

First, a lot of our electricity is hydro. Thank you FDR and the TVA!

Second, even burning coal for power is cleaner than internal combustion engines.

But, yes, that electricity has to come from somewhere - there’s no free lunch. But a large part of a hybrid’s efficiency comes from reclaiming power from the inertia of the vehicle via regenerative braking that would otherwise go into wearing down brake pads and rotors. And that almost is a free lunch!

All hydro accounted for about 7% of total energy production in 2018, according to the US EIA. Natural gas is the largest source of energy production in the US. Coal is quickly falling out of favor due to availability of natural gas, and because of the cost of EPA clean energy regulations :

https://www.eia.gov/tools/faqs/faq.php?id=427&t=3

Personally, I'm glad that energy production is evolving toward "clean energy". But, I won't be bragging about how much better my lithium powered toys are just yet: https://www.wired.co.uk/article/lithium-batteries-environment-impact
 
Back
Top