2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid Review – First Drive

Honda has rolled out its newest salvo in the effort to wean drivers off gasoline.

In a three-pronged approach, a team simultaneously deploys multiple solutions to solve a particular problem. We see this tactic at work when your humble author tries to assemble furniture or harried parents attempt to get their toddler to eat dinner.

Rather than placing all their eggs in one particular alternative-fuel basket, Honda has decided to pursue a cadre of options: a plug-in hybrid, a battery-powered all-electric, and a hydrogen fuel cell car. So confident are they in their gambit, the company has developed a car that can be equipped with either of these three powertrains.

The machine you see here is the Honda Clarity.

Knowing the country’s infrastructure for hydrogen is anemic, and all-electric cars can induce severe bouts of range anxiety, Honda expects the plug-in hybrid version of the Clarity to be king of its three-person family, selling the bulk of its 75,000 unit forecast over the next four years.

The Clarity Plug-In Hybrid utilizes Honda’s two-motor hybrid technology, consisting of a 1.5-liter DOHC Atkinson-cycle inline-four gasoline powered engine coupled to a starter/generator motor. This engine is paired with a 181-horsepower AC synchronous traction motor and a 17-kilowatt hour (kWh) lithium-ion battery pack. Total system output is in the neighborhood of 212 horsepower.

Around the hills of California’s Napa Valley, we found the Clarity Plug-In Hybrid relied heavily on its electric motor, using its gasoline engine to occasionally provide extra power or to generate electricity. According to Honda, the car can travel 47 miles on the battery alone without consuming a drop of premium unleaded.

The Clarity Plug-In is designed to operate in one of three driving modes, depending on the driving situation. Switching between them requires no intervention or decision-making from the driver, with the car moving seamlessly from one mode to another based on the demands of my right foot.

In EV Drive mode, the Clarity operates like an all-electric vehicle – the engine is off and is decoupled from the drivetrain to reduce friction. Motive power comes from the 181-horsepower traction motor, which draws electricity from the lithium-ion battery pack. We covered about 20 miles in this mode, mostly on flat and smooth California roadway.

The second mode, Hybrid Drive, allows the Clarity to function as a series hybrid. Like EV Drive mode, motive power comes from the electric traction motor. The gasoline engine is now coupled to the drivetrain and it, along with a generator motor, produce electricity which is sent directly to the traction motor or stored in the battery pack, depending on the driving situation and the battery’s state of charge.

Engine Drive mode is typically engaged when cruising at medium to high speeds. Here, the Clarity functions as a parallel hybrid. A lock-up clutch connects the engine (always linked to the generator motor) and the traction motor to send power directly from the engine to the front wheels, bypassing the battery altogether when the driver calls for maximum power from the engine room, such as when we pointed the Clarity along Napa’s twisty Sage Valley Road.

“Hustle” and “hybrid” are rarely spoken in the same sentence but Honda engineers went through great pains to ensure the Clarity doesn’t roll over and play dead when presented with a few corners. Its aluminum rear subframe houses a five-link suspension which, in conjunction with a low slung battery pack mounted under the cabin floor, give the Clarity an acceptable handling profile. It is certainly no MX-5 – nor is it even an Accord – but it is more than adequate for the intended demographic who likely will not be taking the Clarity to an autocross or along the Tail of the Dragon. Rather, its solid feel is meant to impart an atmosphere of a premium-market car.

Part of this verve can be attributed to the gearheads Honda tapped to join the Clarity team. At dinner, I spoke at length with one of the engineers from Japan. An affable and knowledgeable man, he excitedly told me about the enjoyment he gets from wrenching on his beloved HondaBeat with his young son. Clearly, these people are car nuts … and the Clarity is better off for it.

Inside, customers will not find any spaceship-inspired designs or weirdo switchgear (*ahem Prius ahem*). This is on purpose, as the design team was intent on making the Clarity feel like a normal car. It’s tough enough to get some customers to consider an alternative fuel car, I was told; acclimating to an interior taken straight from the starship Enterprise only makes that task even tougher.

The sole interior feature that will raise eyebrows is a strange “porthole” in the rear parcel shelf, providing an unmitigated view into the trunk. Why? Well, since the Clarity body-in-white is intended to accept three different forms of propulsion (plug-in hybrid, all-electric battery, & hydrogen), it had to be designed so the fuel sources for each mode of power would fit. Hydrogen takes up a lot of space, explaining the tall trunk lid and slightly abbreviated rear window.

Here’s where Honda designers ran into a problem. In accommodating a hydrogen fuel cell, the trunklid design was so tall it effectively scuppered rearward visibility, hiding all the tractor trailersand constabulary on your six. To solve this, the team installed a window with a defroster grid on the billboard-high vertical portion of the trunklid (as seen on the Prius) and paired it with a pane of glass on the parcel shelf behind the rear seats so a driver can see objects directly astern. It is an ingenious solution to a problem that never should have existed in the first place.

Odd windows notwithstanding, the rest of the interior is standard Honda fare, with a reconfigurable digital screen dead ahead of the driver displaying a speedometer, flanked by gauges measuring battery and fuel levels. There is plenty of space for front seat passengers and sufficient leg room in the rear passenger compartment for this 6’6” author. Those of non-NBA height will not have a problem.

Sadly, the Clarity infotainment system is of the old Honda variety, the one with a capacitive-touch slider for radio volume that everyone hated. Yes, Virginia, there is a physical volume up/down button on the steering wheel but that only placates the driver and is utterly useless for the front seat passenger. Hopefully, Honda will make a running change and fit the excellent unit found in the 2018 Honda Accord.

Standing in a sunny parking lot, Kiyoshi Shimizu, Development Leader of the Clarity Series, patiently listened to my questions and explained – through a translator – why they made certain design decisions, such as including an air ionizer in the fuel cell car. Shimizu-san explained they are trying to make a car that’s good for the environment and good for humans. There’s that multi-pronged approach again.

Honda is predicting previous and current PHEV owners trading out of a Volt or Prius Prime will make up the bulk of Clarity ownership. They also think the car will snag a few Fusion Energi and Optima PHEV owners in its net as well. What they don’t want to happen is a potential Accord customer flipping to a Clarity, given that both cars are roughly the same size and whose MSRPs overlap at the upper end of the Accord scale. When I suggested this flip, the Honda exec to whom I was speaking visibly twitched like a freshly caught codfish.

From wherever the customers appear, they will have a choice of two Clarity Plug-In Hybrids. The standard car is priced at $33,400, while the Touring trim shows a sticker of $36,600. Both models come equipped with the Honda Sensing suite of safety nannies, along with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. The high-zoot trim adds navigation, leather seats and steering wheel, power front seats, and suede material on the dash. Smart customers should save their pennies and get the standard model.

The Clarity will certainly face competition from the Chevrolet Volt, priced at $34,095. The larger and more comparably-sized Fusion Energi SE starts at $31,305 but the Ford makes less power from its drivetrain and comparable safety equipment requires a $1320 Driver Assist Package and a $1190 Active Braking System. Ford does, however, have nearly $7000 on the hood of leased 2018 Fusion Energi sedans right now. It pays to shop around.

With a three-car lineup, I think the Clarity family will take its place Honda in the same manner that the Prius name has tuned into a de facto sub-brand at Toyota. To use a hockey analogy, the Clarity is the team’s star captain acting as the face of Honda’s environmental efforts while the rest of the line does the grunt work and pays the bills.

Honda’s near-term growth is hybrids, said Jim Burrell, Assistant VP of Connected and Environmental Business Development. In conversation, he mentioned hybrid powertrains in cars and light trucks, with the latter term hinting a hybrid CR-V is on the way.

Long term, though, Honda is still betting big on fuel cell vehicles. It was emphasized that no single tech (hydrogen, electric, or hybrid) is enough to solve the CO2 problem, an explanation helping to that’s why they’re justifying plowing ahead with hydrogen. A true three-pronged approach, then.

The Clarity Plug-In Hybrid is manufactured in Honda’s Saitama factory in the Sayama prefecture, Japan. It is on sale now in all 50 states.

2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid Car – Yet another Hybrid from Toyota

Toyota is going to add yet another hybrid car in its lineup that has already full with lots of them. After Camry, Avalon, Highlander, Prius c, Prius, Prius v, Prius Plug-in the auto maker is going to add launch 2016 Toyota RAV4 Hybrid which is going to be unveiled at 2015 New York Auto Show. If you are not satisfied with the numerous selections of hybrid cars from this Japanese carmaker then you could wait a bit and you could buy Rav4.

Bigger Highlander hybrid was launched in 2006 but electrified version of RAV4 was missed till date but no more. Further details about the car would come to light after its debut at New York Auto Show next week. It is very likely that powertrain would be borrowed from Lexus NX. NX hybrid carries CVT automatic transmission with 4-cylinder 2.5ltr engine. The engine teams up with 2 electric motors and a hydride battery (nickel-metal).

The power output of the car is 194hp for both front and all wheel drive. The all wheel drive is going to have an extra electric motor that is going to drive its rear wheels.

It is more likely that the hybrid system for this car would not be as efficient as Prius so a careful handling of the car might be required to save fuel while driving. RAV4 Hybrid does not has real threat from competitions but would have to face stiff competition from small crossovers which are fuel efficient and buyers might not be very interested to pay extra for just riding some extra miles.

RAV4 was redesigned in 2012 so it would be interesting to see if any external changes happen for the hybrid version. Toyota is going to launch hybrid version for all its cars one by one.

The hybrid cars are great for the environment and Toyota is doing a great job in bringing harmony between machine and nature. But with the advancement of technology for electric cars, only time will tell if these hybrid cars would be hot in future.

First Hybrid Electric Airplane Takes Flight

Researchers from the University of Cambridge have successfully tested the world’s first aircraft powered by both an electric motor and a gasoline engine. Paul Robertson of the Cambridge Department of Engineering says, until quite recently the batteries needed for a hybrid electric airplane were simply too heavy for the job. But newer batteries are substantially lighter, which has allowed research on hybrid powertrains for airplanes to take off, so to speak.

Using a lightweight single seat Czech airplane called the Song, Robertson and his team have replaced the plane’s normal conventional gasoline engine with a smaller four-cylinder gas engine and an electric motor. When full power is required for takeoff, both work together. But when cruising altitude is reached, the electric motor is shut down and the gas engine throttled back for maximum range. The hybrid electric plane is capable of flying much further than it could before it was modified, and much, much further than the few pure electric planes that have taken flight.

The new smaller engine can also be used to recharge the battery in flight so the electric motor can be used again to facilitate a takeoff later in the trip. Think of it as a flying Prius. As researchers continue to improve battery performance and reduce weight, the application of hybrid electric power to airplanes will likely expand to include larger aircraft soon.

Source: Gas2

2016 Chevy Volt Makeover Could Help Double Sales

It’s been nearly four full years since the Chevy Volt and Nissan LEAF first went on sale, and last year they sold about 23,000 and 22,600 units, respectively. That’s enough sales to make them America’s most popular plug-in cars, though the upcoming 2016 Chevy Volt could help double sales of the plug-in hybrid, if history is any indicator.

Over at Green Car Reports, John Voelcker lays out his prediction for the big jump in Volt sales, and it all goes back to the year 2000. That’s when the Toyota Prius was first introduced to the U.S. market, and like the Leaf and Volt, sales took awhile to gain momentum. Sales hovered around 25,000 units until the 2004 model hit dealerships; that’s when sales promptly doubled, and the cult of the Prius began to take shape.

But why? Well for one, the Prius increased in size, and thus usefulness, going from a compact to a mid-size liftback model with the 2004 changeover. Toyota also upped the fuel economy and lowered the drag coefficient, making the Prius the most efficient car you could buy by a wide margin just as gas prices spiked upwards. California drove Prius sales, and eventually the rest of the country caught on, rocketing Toyota’s hybrid into the national lexicon.

These improvements all stemmed from listening to customer suggestions, which is exactly what GM is doing with the 2016 Chevy Volt. The next-gen Nissan LEAF is also due to debut next year with customer-suggested improvements, including a larger battery pack option, which could throw the doors wide open to the market of plug-in cars. The Volt may benefit more from its refresh than the LEAF because it has more in common with conventional cars, but with more than a quarter-million plug-in cars on America’s roads, we may have already reached the tipping point for an electrified future.

Plug-in car sales are actually accelerating at a rate faster than hybrids, and the 2016 Volt could end up moving 50,000 units or more during its first year on sale. Meanwhile sales of the Prius have been hit hard, as buyers either wait for the debut of the next-gen 60 MPG Prius, or buy one of the many competitive vehicles now offered for sale.

2010 was the year where plug-in cars made a triumphant return to the automotive world. Is 2015 the year they go mainstream?

Hyundai Plug-In Hybrid Planned For Next Year

Hyundai and its corporate cousin Kia are planning to launch a pair of plug-in hybrid cars according to the Korean Car Blog, fueling rumors that a new Prius fighter is coming from the brand. Is it finally happening?
The evidence is flimsy, but it’s there according to the KBC, which quotes Hyundai R&D vice chairman Yang Woong-Chul as saying;

“We will roll out a plug-in hybrid model of Sonata and K5 next year. Since we will use locally made engines, inverters and batteries, we expect them to have strong price competitiveness.”

So far though that’s all we’ve got aside from a few other scattered mentions of a potential plug-in hybrid. Back in 2009 the Hyundai Blue-Will concept was the company’s first entry into the hybrid car market, and in 2010 came the Sonata Hybrid (for the 2011 model year). Since then though the only other electrified vehicle has been the Kia Soul EV, a car with limited availability and appeal at the moment.

A plug-in hybrid, however, is both cheaper and more versatile than your run-of-the-mill EV, and Hyundai/Kia already struck a battery deal with fellow South Korean company SK Innovation. While Hyundai is late to the game, they’ve become a force to reckon with in the automotive world and have given other carmakers something to look out for. A lower cost plug-in hybrid could shake things up if priced right.

However, Hyundai has expressed a keen interest in hydrogen fuel cell vehicles over EVs as a replacement for gasoline, which could be fueling their trepidation when it comes to plug-in vehicles. With the brand split over which way to go, can it deliver the kind of plug-in car it needs to be competitive in a growing marketplace?

Prius V Fighting Chevy Orlando Hybrid is Taking Shape

The Chevy Orlando is a compact people-mover that GM sells all over the world – but not in the US, where the small, well-built tiny van market was defined (and, some might say, totally satisfied) by the Mazda 5. In recent years, however, Toyota’s Prius V, Ford’s C-Max, and rumored similar vehicles coming form Nissan and Honda have shown that America might be catching up with Europe when it comes to tiny people movers. Here’s the thing, though: with the exception of the Mazda 5, all of those people-movers are hybrids.

So, what do we have here, really? According to Autoblog, it’s a Chevy Orlando hybrid (possibly a plug-in hybrid) that, they say, had an interior littered with hybrid components and testing gear. Then of course, there’s this …

… which seems a pretty clear “hybrid indicator” to me!

You can read more about the upcoming Chevy Orlando hybrid and check out a full photo gallery over at Autoblog, where the original article was published. Enjoy!

Source | Photos: Autoblog.

Toyota’s Hydrogen Fuel Cell Vehicle To Retail At $50,000 – $100,000

Toyota is slated to release its first fuel cell vehicle in 2015, and the price is expected to be in the range of $50,000 to $100,000. While that is still a lot of money, it is far cheaper than the estimated $1 million the first prototype fuel cell vehicles cost to build.

Depending on if the price is actually closer to $50,000 or $100,000, Toyota could conceivably mass produce fuel cell vehicles in the near future. But even if the cost comes down, fuel cells are a long way off from viability, and manufacturers put them on the back burner years ago and decided (with some government prodding) to go with electric vehicles instead. Electric vehicles intended for the masses are currently in the $30,000 to $40,000 range, but are now falling into the $25,000 range. That said, the government now seems ready to give hydrogen fuel vehicles a helping hand as well.

This hydrogen fuel cell vehicle will be based on the FCV-R concept. The FCV-R concept is a four-door sedan (shaped like a Prius) unlike the current test fleet of fuel cell-powered Toyota Highlanders. An updated version of the FCV-R will be displayed at the upcoming Tokyo Motor Show, but a lack of hydrogen refueling infrastructure may limit the vehicle’s initial sales to California and New York. Even there, the number of hydrogen fueling stations are few and far between.

Even so, Toyota still expects to sell 2,000 of these vehicles when they enter the market. Depending on the actual price, they could sell even more. Toyota has been saying for years that it intends to sell these fuel cell vehicles in the $50,000 price range. It’d be surprising if they didn’t at this point. But would you buy one?

Source: Automotive News

19.7% of new cars sold in May 2012 in Japan were hybrids; Prius and Aqua dominate

Integrity Exports. 19.7% of new cars sold in Japan in May 2012 were hybrid cars, up 11 percentage points from last year. The liftback Prius led the field with 20,789 units sold, closely followed by Aqua (Prius C overseas) with 20,091 units sold.

Looking at the different manufacturers, hybrid sales make up 25% of Honda sales in Japan, and a whopping 46% of Toyota sales. Honda’s percentage has actually dropped a little thanks to the success of its kei car minivan, the NBOX.

And talking of kei cars, these now make up four-tenths of new car sales in Japan, with 6 of May’s top-ten best-selling models being keis.

Prius Coupe Set for 2014 Lauch

The Prius family is growing again. Toyota is already set to bring the seven-seater Prius Plus to UK showrooms early next year – but Auto Express can reveal that it’s also planning to launch a trio of all-new models in the next three years as it moves to turn the Prius into a standalone brand. This bold step will see hybrids sold through specific dealers by 2014.

That’s when the replacement for the current Prius saloon is due to arrive, and our illustrations show the cars that will join it in these new franchises. Readers may be familiar with the first of these, as the Prius C was previewed by the striking Prius C Concept at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

Gone are the blade-like headlamps and distinctive LED running lights seen on the car on the stands. The bold indent running down the flanks has also been axed, as the production C takes on a more conservative design. The idea remains the same, though, with the compact five-door hatch providing a new entry point to the Prius brand and competing with smaller hybrids like Honda’s Insight and CR-Z.

With its compact dimensions and low kerbweight, as well as its combination of a 1.5-litre petrol engine and an electric motor, the C will be the most efficient Prius. It’s set to deliver economy well in excess of 80mpg. But if you thought the new Prius brand wouldn’t be exciting, think again – a two-door performance hybrid is also earmarked for 2014.

The Sports Coupe is based on a rear-wheel-drive platform taken from the next Lexus GS. It will get a new plug-in hybrid set-up featuring lithium-ion batteries, and be offered with a manual gearbox. Also set to debut in 2014 is a Prius SUV. This high-riding model has been rumoured since the Hybrid X Concept was seen at 2007’s Geneva Motor Show, and it’s set to be based on the Toyota RAV4.

Our sources say it will be the most efficient car in its class, and offer the latest Hybrid Synergy Drive set-up or a version of the Sports Coupe’s plug-in drivetrain.

Source: AutoExpress