I was asked to review my Honda Clarity fuel cell car, and why I hope to replace it in 2020 with a Tesla.
Background
Evaluation in three parts:
1. Physical aspects of the car itself (exterior and interior)
2. Performance—handling, acceleration, etcetera.
3. Fueling (with an alternative power source).
The Car Itself
Addendum (January 23, 2021):
Background
- Retired civil servant. (Decidedly not a millionaire.)
- Six foot, five inches tall—so adequate roominess is a factor.
- In 2016, contemplated buying my first ever new car. Wanted (a) less/no gasoline, (b) dependability, (c&d) adequate range and performance, and if the truth be known (e) some sort of “gee whiz” factor.
- Test drove Tesla S and X models at three Tesla dealerships in northern California. Fell in love—so cool. But my more frugal (read, “cheap”) self said, “Honda plug-in hybrid.” Decided to watch and wait (no rush).
- December 2016: my perfectly-running 1992 Honda Accord was t-boned and spun 180 degrees at the center of a four-way intersection. The Accord remained driveable, but replacement was clearly indicated sooner rather than later.
- Attended early 2017 Honda promotional event for fuel cell Clarity. Impressed. (The plug-in hybrid and all-electric versions were not to be available until later that year; I couldn’t wait.) Three-year lease only; perfect for my plans to re-visit Tesla.
- Took delivery of “pioneering” Honda Clarity fuel cell car in May 2017.
- About the Clarity fuel cell car:
o Semi-luxurious interior, four-door sedan. Similar in size and features to an equivalent Honda Accord.
o A non-plug-in electric car with electric motor. Generates electricity using fuel cell technology (fuel cells
were used on Apollo moon missions of the 1970s).
o No internal combustion. Chemical interaction of hydrogen gas (fuel) and atmospheric oxygen creates
water and electricity, stored in the batteries.
o No (nonpoint source) pollution by the car. (But there can be point source pollution during the industrial
production of hydrogen gas—e.g., from natural gas--depending on the technology used.)
o Available in the USA only in California, I believe.
o Leasing (for 3 years) only. (Toyota and Hyundai make fuel cell cars for sale).
o Range: Close to 300 miles. Good.
o Fuel availability: In Truckee, Sacramento, San Francisco Bay, mid-Central Valley, Los Angeles, and San
Diego areas. No hydrogen fuel for passenger cars in most other states, I believe, and in outlying
California areas.
o Mechanics of fueling: similar to that for gasoline.
o Cost to refill: somewhat more than for premium gasoline. (But Honda currently provides free fuel for 3
years.)
o Cost: Lease is about $400 per month for three years.
o Eligible for California HOV sticker.
o California clean air rebate (in 2017 was ~$5,000, I believe).
Evaluation in three parts:
1. Physical aspects of the car itself (exterior and interior)
2. Performance—handling, acceleration, etcetera.
3. Fueling (with an alternative power source).
The Car Itself
- Appearance: OK, but not my favorite thing. I don’t care for the partial rear-wheel body panel overlap (but it improves aerodynamics/fuel efficiency, I’m told). And the back end is like my own (aging) rear end—i.e., overly expanded. (But the car’s pear-shape is partially necessitated by the larger of two fuel storage tanks.) Bottom line: it is no Tesla Model S. (But the Clarity gets compliments, so maybe it is just me. And I have it for its personality, not its looks.)
- Interior: Good; better than good. Comfortable, heated leather front bucket seats. Adequately roomy cabin. Like being in an equivalent Accord. Front visibility through the windshield is somewhat curtailed by a radar(?) module. (True in other new cars? Miniaturization should eventually help overcome this problem.) Rear seating? Similar to other mid-sized cars, I guess—I’ve never tried them.
- Controls: I dislike the control buttons (for Park, Reverse, Neutral, and Drive). After two years I just can’t get used to not having some sort of lever. The “ignition” switch is a button; the key a fob (as with Teslas). The parking brake button is also annoying. (It is probably just me. I will probably love controls in a Tesla because,..well because it's a Tesla for crying out loud.)
- Interior Electric devices: Powered windows, climate control, front seats, side mirrors, door locks, etcetera. Typical Honda reliability. It all works well and reliably.
- Digital Touch Display: (Though smaller than in the Teslas) LOVE it. What a great innovation (for all cars). The updateable Garmin GPS map navigation program has proven very handy—my first car with this technology. Apple CarPlay (standard feature) works great to integrate iPhone apps (e.g., Maps) into the Honda’s display, if desired. So I can be told where to go in no uncertain terms by either Apple’s Siri or by “Stella” (my name for the Honda map display female voice). And what great timing on the technology. Convenient map-displayed traffic conditions (Sacramento, I-80, San Francisco) are increasingly important.
- The central rear-view camera (when in Reverse) is now, for me, also essential, and I enjoy the right-side turn-signal-activated camera view (unfortunately there is no left-side camera and I hear that the right-side-camera system was removed from later model-years).
- Bottom line: From the inside it is probably equivalent to piloting a (fat) Accord.
- Good and good.
- As with most electric vehicles, acceleration is peppy (but as you’ve hear me say, it’s no Tesla). I haven’t really tested performance—it is not my car, after all. On the few occasions I’ve briefly mashed the accelerator pedal, the car lunges forward, albeit with a slight delay. My guess is that Honda has installed a reliable and powerful front-drive motor, albeit with governors to prevent “ludicrous” driver behavior. This vehicle is obviously intended for a somewhat more sedate crowd (than those purchasing a performance version of the Model S, for example).
- Parts I’ve paid for: windshield wipers.
- Repairs: Just standard yearly maintenance visits ($300+) combined with a couple of free corrective recalls. No big deal.
- Handling is not as good as with my (wide) 1992 Honda Accord. But it is OK. Again, I have not pushed it (e.g., on winding roads at speed).
- Conclusion: Perfectly OK. (But it’s no Tesla, blah, blah…)
- Ah, here we go…
- Up ‘till now I would totally recommend this car to anyone desiring a mid-priced, well-appointed four-door sedan. (The Clarity would retail at about $60,000, I believe; that cost mostly because of the high-tech under the hood.) But fuel availability has lately been a real bummer.
- For 1½ years things were fine. My driving needs were modest. The single West Sacramento fuel pump (for the entire greater Sacramento metropolitan area) was, believe it or not, adequate; never congested or entirely unavailable. Two new Shell fueling sites were added in 2018, one in northern (I-80) and one in southern (I-50) Sacramento. Looking good.
- Unfortunately, by Thanksgiving 2018 the aging West Sacramento hydrogen pump (oldest in the then Linde [now Iwatani] system) was consistently and chronically faltering.
- Then came some sort of significant (but fortunately non-injury) explosion in Santa Clara at a hydrogen distribution center in early June 2019. This shut down deliveries of gaseous hydrogen all over northern California, just when the West Sacramento station I depend on--which ironically takes deliveries of liquid (not gaseous) hydrogen and therefore had an adequate H2 supply--decided to definitively break down. For weeks extending into months drivers could purchase little to no hydrogen fuel in Sacramento and the Bay area. As of November 2019 hydrogen supply is still not back to “normal.”
These facts point to a significant hydrogen infrastructure reliability problem, at least in northern California. (Coincidentally, I hope, there was also a hydrogen-fuel-related, non-fatal explosion June 2019 in Norway, of all places, that affected sales of hydrogen vehicles there. Conspiracy-theorists: have at it blaming Big Oil.) - The bottom line: Fuel-cell-car-customers need to feel confident they will have ready access to fuel. Fuel providers and vehicle manufacturers need to be confident there will be customers. It is a delicately balanced system in its infancy that was all too easily thrown out of whack in northern California by one relatively minor incident and an arguably overly-cautious (excessive?) regulatory response.
- What is in store for hydrogen vehicles in the USA? I don’t know.
- Am I happy I participated in this three-year experiment? Yes I am.
- Do I like the Clarity car? Yes I do.
- Would I recommend a Honda Clarity fuel cell car to others? No I would not.
Busy families, working people, those with daily schedules, and folks with only one vehicle (i.e., most people) need confidence in dependable fuel availability. Right now, that appears to be lacking for hydrogen fuel in northern California.
- You betcha. (At least, I hope so.)
- Still six-months out, so…that. But right now I am planning for a Model X, long range version. Love the Model S, glad the Model 3 is here, and Tesla performance versions are cool--if younger I might be tempted. But I think the Model X is (literally) a better fit. Why?
o Easier access/egress (than a Models S or 3). (I have still minor, but increasing mobility issues.)
o Somewhat greater interior spaciousness and visibility (than other models).
o More cargo space.
o Surprisingly, not a fan of the falcon-wing doors. (Vertically-opening doors have arguably been
problematic throughout automotive history.) But Tesla has had time to iron out the kinks and I probably
won’t use them as much as front side- and rear-cargo doors. (Too bad falcon-wing doors are not an
option.)
o My early complaint about where the automatically-adjusted (as seat reclines) headrest hit my neck bone
has apparently been dealt with (headrests can now be raised and lowered manually, I believe)
o I would prefer a no- or removable-rear-seats version, but rear seats can now at least be fully reclined
forward to give greater cargo space (in 5-seat version I favor).
o Even in SUV and extended range configuration, it has more than enough performance and safety for me.
o And it’s a freaking Tesla, for heaven’s sake!--with all those terrific features.
Addendum (January 23, 2021):
- Boy, was I ever right about 2020 being nasty.
- My car was in the shop for approaching 2½ months (December 2019-February 2020) due to the fuel cell stack recall that affected most early Clarity FCEVs. Some recalled cars were taken off lease and retired early by Honda. In my case the decision was made to repair the vehicle and keep it on the road.
- In March 2020 I chose to extend my Honda Clarity lease for one more year due to uncertainties related to the Covid pandemic, rumors of a "refresh" for Tesla Models S and X, and the approach of intriguing new electric vehicles from Lucid, Rivian, and others.
- This gave me time to gradually eliminate other BEV makes/models from consideration due such things as cost, late planned release-dates, undesirable or absent features, and other factors.
- Meanwhile, I began to notice disturbing online reports of car industry dissatisfaction with hydrogen as an energy source for consumer road cars. Apparently, builders like Volkswagen and Mercedes grew increasingly disenchanted with hydrogen's greater production, transportation, and dissemination costs, and with its overall cost-per-unit-energy inefficiency compared with electricity used in BEVs.
- Right now, as are many people, I am waiting to learn the details of any Tesla "refresh."
- Meanwhile, the always poor-reliability (Linde/Iwatani) hydrogen fuel dispenser I've been forced to use in the next town over (12 miles away) has been taken off-line for at least 1½ months for its long-overdue upgrade (just as I near the end of my fuel cell adventure). And 16 new Tesla superchargers have just been installed ½-mile from my house. Is this a clear sign, or what?
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