and also, Honda is doing the 90 days no payment thingy for financing the car. but I don’t know if it’s 0% APR tho. Let us know how it goes when you find one! Dealership said it might land on Dec. 1st but no one really know for sure. But I think buying it will make more sense than leasing it when it just come out. Unless they have these kind of crazy deal.
I think with the $7,500 federal rebate, plus the $2,500 Californian rebate, plus the $500 from Edison (power company), it makes it a pretty good buy. I’m thinking of getting the $36,600 touring model.
Hey Seachange, I don’t think the plugin is eligible for the $2500 rebate since its not pure 100% electric. You will probably qualify for $1500. Here’s where you can check. https://cleanvehiclerebate.org/eng/eligible-vehicles
Also, if you’re refering to SoCal Edison, it’s $450 rebate.
Comparing Electric pricing vs Fuel Cell over 3 years driving 10K miles:
Honda Clarity Fuel Cell
$5,000 CVRP Rebate
$369 + 36 (9.75% tax) = 405 * 36 months = $14,580
$15K Hydrogen Fuel (See Below)
21 Days of luxury SUV rental over 3 yrs (Avis)
Honda Clarity Electric
$2,500 CVRP Rebate
$899 Due at signing
$199 + 19.4 (9.75% tax) = 218 * 36 months = $7862
Hydrogen
Hydrogen in LA is $3.80 p/kilo
Range = 250 (average from reviews)
Fuel capacity 5.5 kilo
10,000 m / 250 = 40 refills * 5.5 = 220 kilos * $3.80 = $836 * 3 yrs = $2508
Electric (rough estimate)
$0.03/mile or less to charge at home
$300/year 10kmi
$900 3 years, plus charger = $1600
Cost after 3 yrs
Fuel Cell
2868 + 14,580 –5000 = $12,448
Electric
899 + 7862 + 1600 = $10,361
$2,087 ($58 more p/mo) more for Fuel Cell
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I think for your Electric one you forgot to add the CVRP rebate which is $2500 to your calculation.
So should be like 899+7862+1600-2500= $7861
So differences should be $12,448(fuel cell) - $7,861 = $4,587 ($127.42 more p/mo) more for Fuel Cell.
But I think you should consider that Hydrogen will be free(Since its cover up to $15,000 by Honda)
So my thought is like this:
Cost after 3 years:
Fuel Cell:
14580 - 5000 = $9580 ($266.11 per month for 36 month)
Electric:
$1440(you gotta add tax and reg. fee) + $218x35 - $2500 - either $500(NorCal) or $450(Socal)= 6070(Norcal) or 6120(Socal)
adding electricity(if charge at home from your energy rate) :
$6070+ $1600 = $7670(NorCal)
$6120 + $1600 = $7720(SoCal)
But I believe most of us will charge the car at work or public places, which they are usually free. (for my work place it is free)
So the difference is:
NorCal: $9580-$7670 = $1910 ($53 per month) more for fuel cell
SoCal : $9580 - $7720 = $1860 ($51.66 per month) more for fuel cell
Honda states Clarity Electric estimate range is 89 mile. Is it a high or low end estimate?
My daily work round-trip commute is about 45 miles on highway driving 80mph. There is no charging at my work place.
Next year, I may have to drop-off my kids to school, and that would be an additional 12 miles local driving. Plus 45 miles for work commute for a total of 57~60 miles.
I don’t mind having to charge it daily at night, but I don’t want to run out of juice while driving home 
Do you think this car range would work for me?
Thanks!
No. Having a volt for the last year and having a 60mile commute has taught me that you need a range of at least 2x your commute to not have range anxiety. I charge my volt every night when I get home, but on days that I forget, I have the gas engine as backup.
You may have to tell your boss you can’t come in because of car trouble if you forget to charge your car the night before. That’s happened many times to my coworker who owned a leaf and had a 50 miles commute.
Forgot to mention that I do have other cars as backup in case I forgot to charge it at night.
My concern is let say I drive 60 miles / day, would this car range of est 89 miles be fine? I’m afraid the actual range would be much lower like 65 or so…
My wife’s commute is 80 miles round trip. That’s all freeway driving here in SoCal. There’s 2 chargers for her to use at work, but they are usually all filled up with Volts, Plug-in Prius, and Ford Fusions. Not to get off topic here a bit, but those cars are all hybrids, they don’t need to charge. They have gas engine backups. Our old Fiat 500e barely made it home. She would keep it close to 60mph with no AC. EV’s should get priority. /end rant.
With the Clarity, my wife covers the 80 miles with some AC, going about 65-70mph. Her range left is about 29 miles. She’s not racing other cars and stuff like I do 
When I charge the car after those 80 miles, it takes about 20.3ish kwh. So the car has about 5 kwh left. My wife hasn’t played with regen braking paddle “shifters” yet. Guess if you learn to use them to slow the car down instead of brake peddle, you might be able to squeeze more miles out of it.
Thanks!
I live in LA / OC area, so most likely be either stuck in traffic or going at 80mph in carpool lane. Not sure this would decrease / increase the range in anyway?
So look like 80ish range Honda stated is on conservative side.
I’d hate to get the car and have to constantly thinking about whether I’ll be able to make it home with this limited range. Nevertheless, the current $199/month is sooo tempting … Its plug-in hybrid version would be out soon but not sure about the lease number yet so that’s another option for me.
Going 80mph on freeway in the carpool lane will drain your battery a lot faster. EV’s actually are a lot more efficient in bumper to bumper traffic and city driving than on the freeways. I think I read some where the sweet spot is about 65 mph for battery efficiency but don’t hold me to that. My wife’s commutes from Fullerton to Rancho Cucamonga. Luckily for her, she’s going against traffic. Clarity easily covers 80miles with maybe 20 to 25 more miles left to spare but that’s really pushing it to empty. You also have to consider no random trips across town because you heard there was a cool taco joint opening up. The Clarity GPS does have ChargePoint locations so you can easily find a charger if you need it. There’s going to be some lifestyle change for sure.
True true, 80mph will kill the range. 55mph ~65mph is the way to go if you want to do freeway, max range. lifestyle will need to adjust for sure! Did you resolve the HondaLink issue?
Anyone considering this Clarity or the Bolt deal, and can live with the range on the Clarity, should really get the Clarity. And this is coming from a two Bolt owner.
The Clarity interior is very very nice in terms of overall fit and finish. When driving the Clarity, the car feels solid and is so quiet, even for an EV. I would say the interior quality and sound proofing rivals that of new Lexus.
Meanwhile, the Bolt’s interior is spartan. No sunglass holder, cupholders that are not adjustable/kinda small, not much interior storage, and you can tell GM spent all their money on the battery. The seats are okay (not as bad as what others make it out to be) theres some really cheapo plastic on the door cards/door pulls. Driving dynamics - decently firm but still comfortable ride, nothing to write home about. Handling is okay bc of all the weight on the floor, but the rear torsion is not the most advanced setup.
The Clarity comes with 20k miles per year, plus you get the advanced safety tech which is not even available on the Bolt.
The biggest downside of course with the Clarity is that even if you’re okay with the range, you’re plugging in every single night. Plus there’s still going to be range anxiety no matter what you tell yourself. With the Bolt, I rarely have to remind myself of how much range is left. I don’t need to pre-plan - oh you’re going to be going X distance tomorrow so you HAVE to make sure you charge tonight so you have enough. Sometimes I think to myself, oh man we’re under 50% range on the Bolt, and then remember at 50% range it’s still 50% more range than I had with my Fiat 500e.
I really can’t believe they’re putting out brand new EVs that have this kind of range.
Regarding the high residual, I’m sure they’re rolling the $7500 rebate into it…don’t even think about buying it at lease-end.
Hey EVFreak,
Honda’s terms on the Clarity EV is lease only. You can’t buy the car after the terms are over. Maybe we’re just beta testing for Honda. You can’t buy the Fit EV either.
Yea we are totally the beta tester lol
I played phone tag with Honda case manager yesterday. I’m going to call our sales rep and see if he can help.
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hopefully sales rep will be able to resolve it. He’s the one who suppose to set it up for you too before you leave the dealership.
Honda knows a car with this range will have no place in the market in 3 years. It’s true residual is probably <40%.