I think that there are others, even at Honda, that might agree with your assessment that it was just too low a range.
I don’t. Maybe an extra 20 miles would have made sense, but from the Honda perspective, I think it made perfect sense. Three cars on the same platform with power trains that match three different duty cycles. For light local city driving, the BEV. The range exceeds the average commute identified in an EV range study at UC Davis several years ago (during the RAV4-EV days) which said that for commutes you only really needed 30 miles range for the average driver. This study was embraced by the California BEV community. If your duty cycle requires more range, you move up to the fuel cell. (Putting aside that you can’t get it in most places - Honda was developing their EV lineup for the long term.) And if you need more flexibility in fueling than what either can provide, there is the hybrid. It made perfect sense to me. - Mark Sent from my Fuel Cell powered iPhone > On Mar 11, 2020, at 11:21 AM, EVDL Administrator via EV <[email protected]> > wrote: > > From what little I can find online, it appears to me that while the Clarity > FC version is/was lease-only, the PH and EV versions were offered for sale. > The PH seems to have sold in the $35k range. I can't find a price for the > EV version, though one source said it was actually higher than the PH base > price! > > I don't recall ever seeing either a Clarity of ANY variety here in Ohio, on > the road or at dealers, nor have I ever seen it advertised. You can't sell > what you don't tell buyers about, Honda. > > And that EV range. Car and Driver is right; it's hopeless. In 2020, when > you can (at least in Europe) buy a nicely-appointed < $29k EV with a 400km > (WLTP) range, and with longer ranges in the pipeline, who wants a $35k+ EV > with a third-world 135km range? Even the ~$24k Renault Twingo ZE goes > nearly twice as far, 250km (WLTP). > > The thing is, Honda could easily fix the Clarity EV's range, if they wanted > to. Cell energy density keeps rising. Since 2011, Renault has increased the > Zoe's battery capacity from 22kWh to 52kWh, without significantly changing > the car's chassis or making the battery any bigger. > > But I don't think Honda want to fix it. They have a long history of EV foot- > dragging. AFAICT, they're only developing EVs now because the EU is pushing > hard for them, with real legislative teeth on show. > > Like Toyota, Honda are pretty far behind, and they're going to have to spend > some serious money to catch up. It probably does make sense for them to cut > the Clarity EV loose and spend the money on EVs more likely to sell in the > EU. If they were really smart, they'd nuke the rest of the Clarity line > too; I'd guess that they lose big time on the FCV version. > > David Roden - Akron, Ohio, USA > EVDL Administrator > > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > EVDL Information: http://www.evdl.org/help/ > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > Note: mail sent to "evpost" and "etpost" addresses will not > reach me. To send a private message, please obtain my > email address from the webpage http://www.evdl.org/help/ . > = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = > > > _______________________________________________ > UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub > ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html > INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org > Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA) > _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub ARCHIVE: http://www.evdl.org/archive/index.html INFO: http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org Please discuss EV drag racing at NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
