2018 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid consumer reviews

I wasn?t planning to buy a new car as I loved my ?16 Accord Touring but after several test drives and looking at the $$$?s I was hooked. Tax credit of $7.5k, MA state rebate of $2.5k, $4.5k off msrp and a good trade in on the accord (Honda?s hold their value) made this a no brainer. My 40 mile daily commute is easily done on full EV and I charge at work in 2.5 hours. Charge at home - no problem overnight using my wall outlet. Don?t even need a 220. Fits my three adult/teen kids in the back and trunk is plenty big. Hugs the road and feels solid in turns. Acceleration is good enough for me. It?s not my old V6 Accord but I have had no issues at all in the city or highway. With the ICE on the power was surprisingly good, but as I almost never use the ICE I don?t have all that much experience with it. The interior styling is attractive and the seats are comfortable. Plenty of head,shoulder and leg room. I don?t have the visceral reaction to the exterior look that so many people have - it?s fine to me. Controls are easy to use for the navigation and radio. I do get distracted looking at the great distance I?m getting on the EV though. I didn?t have experience with regenerative braking, but thinking of the paddles like downshifting a standard makes sense to me. After watching a video on how it works, I guess I can just use the brake pedal to do the same thing. Things I?m not crazy about: Honda could have put the ?18 Accord radio in the car. This is what I had in my ?16 Accord. It?s good enough but come on Honda! Would prefer blind side monitors instead of the passenger side camera and I am finding I miss the front and rear sensors more then I expected. The clarity has a long hood and is low to the ground so I?m always anticipating a dreaded scrape when I park. Having the windshield washing in the arms is not a great idea, but so far it seems to work. Not sure I?ll feel that way in February. Headlights are not as good as my accord, but I?m getting fogs anyway so that issue will go away. These are all nits though. This is a great car. I wouldn?t have bought it NOW without the incentives because I drive my cars into the ground and this is the first time I?ve ever traded in a car. With the incentives I traded in a three year old car and got a brand new car for $900 net. And I?m saving probably $1k in gas per year. Easiest decision I?ve ever made. So far 1300 miles on 3 gallons of gas.

Other than charging takes more than the 2.5 hours advertised everything else seemed to perform as advertised. Gas is not need if the driving is within 40 miles. Once the battery is down to 50% and if anticipating additional 30 miles of driving switching to HV mode will extend the battery to prevent the engine from running at low battery mode.

Very economical car, if you drive less than 60 miles between charges, no need to buy gas. Very confortable, plenty of space, in the front and in the back.

I am a car guy. I drive a 69 mustang that I built. My perspective is from someone who has owned a LOT of cars over the years. Muscle cars, sports cars, and land yachts. I have owned the Clarity touring edition for 3 months now and as time goes by the car really grows on you. For anyone following the electric car craze, its evolution in motion. This car is part of a fast moving phase. But in the moment this car is just a giggle to me and I mean it in a good way. The electric car is here only because consumers demanded it. Corporations dont want you to have it because it upsets their method of extracting money from you. Think of the money you need to spend on maintenance in a year or gas. An electric car has far less moving parts to be replaced. They will fight this as long as they can until they can figure out how to profit from the new technology coming in. Enough of my rambling and on to my experience with Honda Clarity PHEV. I just installed a 22v charger. It charges in 2.5 hours from empty and will go 44 miles on a charge. Every writeup talks about the whining engine, when it kicks in and how much noise it makes. The day I drove the car home it had a dead battery. I could not believe how quiet the car was. This is the 3rd Honda I have owned with a CVT transmission. If you understand the mechanics, its a marvel to be able to take a small engine and maximize its horsepower by producing the ultimate torque at its highest RPM. This is CVT and its not for everyone. I think people forget what came before it and only focus on the negative. I see it as enjoying the marvel of the technology. This is a step in the evolution forward. You want to hear noisy or rough ride or uncomfortable? Take a ride with me in a 69 mustang. That will slap you into reality. If I wanted an ultra quiet and comfy car that floats me down a highway I would have bought another suburban Along with its 14 mpg mileage. I got this primarily because im tired of dropping 260.00 a month on fuel for my wifes BMW X5. She is now averaging 199 empg. She drives to work 36 miles round trip, comes home, puts the car on charge and does it again tomorrow. In 3 months we have put exactly $30.00 worth of gas in it. This is why I giggle. Oh and did i mention I will get 7500.00 back from Federal taxes and got a $1500.00 check back from the state of Delaware? Ya Im VERY happy with this purchase and would do it again in a minute. I encourage you to take a look at the Clarity. Forget the sniveling you hear from other write ups. This car will not dissapoint.

Very pleased that I bought the clarity. Our priority was the environment and reducing our consumption of gas. With the at least 50 miles of electric vehicle only capacity we've not use the gas tank the rare trips. Much nicer car than the volt.

The Honda Plugin Hybrid is stylish, comfortable and fuel efficient. It is a well designed vehicle with a long list of standard options. The infotainment system is user friendly.

I have owned 2 Prius and when it was time for a new car I just didn't want to get another Prius; I drove both the Honda Accord hybrid and the Clarity but I liked the way the Clarity drove better; the car is fun to drive and has all the bells and whistles with the exception of a sunroof; I am getting great gas mileage with the hybrid engine at 60 mpg and am using the electric motor for intown driving

220 miles per gallon or more. Honda quality. Very good acceleration, has heavy car road feel. Vision out of the windows is very good. Tax break makes this a very good choice.

I bought this car 4 weeks ago, already accumulated 1500 miles on it, with 4.6 GL of gas. I couldn't speak for the long term quality, overall the experience is happy so far. It's quiet ( extremely quiet in EV mode ), smooth, and sort of fun to drive. The acceleration is a bit sluggish in the eco mode, better in sport mode. My previous car was totaled, now I drive like a grandma, so this doesn't bother me at all. The screen works very well, GPS , speaker ... etc work beautifully, it comes with Apple play and Android , but I'm not eager to use them - just don't want apple or google to collect more data from my car, they already collected too much personal data. There are a couple things I think Honda can do better : 1. Once in hv or hv charge, I couldn't go back to eco mode unless I turn off the car. 2. dual climate control, my son complained the AC in the back row was not powerful enough. I feel it's good in the front. The car is priced a few thousand dollars above honda accord hybrid, but with all the tax/government incentives and saving on the gas, you end up enjoying premium experience of Acura with the cost of honda civic. And you can drive it on carpool lane, a big plus for commuters

Amazing gas mileage, great electronics, smooth ride, spacious, well equipped, easy to charge, fills up on 7 gallons, seemed transition from EV to HV. Amazing government tax credits and incentives.