Honda Clarity Hybrid

Wired reports: [edited]

To combine the benefits of electric propulsion with the reassurance of internal combustion, Honda brought in two electric motors and a 1.5-litre petrol engine. Like a small company of actors putting on an epic play, each fills a variety of roles. Those vary based on whichever of the dozens of possible mode combinations the driver engages via buttons, paddles, and pedals.

The Clarity Hybrid can go 47 miles on battery power (340 miles total), gets the equivalent of 110 miles per gallon, and delivers a respectable 212 horsepower, in a large, comfortable package that starts at $33,400.

The logic behind Honda’s newest addition to its dedicated line of electrified vehicles is simple: function as an electric as much as possible, and use the engine to maximise efficiency by charging the batteries or directly powering the wheels – whatever makes the most sense at the moment.

Say you start in the default Normal mode, with the battery charged (just 2.5 hours to fully top off from a 240 volt home hookup). The Clarity will disengage the engine and operate on battery power alone, letting the electric motor drive the wheels. If you baby the throttle, you can keep it that way, even hitting the 100 mph top speed in electric mode. If you floor it, the petrol engine will kick in to help drive the wheels and produce maximum acceleration.

As the 17 kWh battery drains, the Clarity will automatically modulate use of the petrol engine based on the driving conditions. The petrol engine will supply electricity to the propulsion motor directly, via the second electric motor that functions as a generator, and may also drive the wheels directly at medium and highway speeds.

Where most hybrids link their engines to the wheels with a continuously variable transmission, the Clarity uses a single speed transmission with a direct connection to the wheels. This mitigates the efficiency losses that come any time the engine acts as a generator. When the engine drives the wheels directly, the loss is zero, and that power can either be supplemented by the motor’s propulsion or replace it entirely, if the driver wants to conserve battery use.
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