Following two generations of Insight, Honda has adapted its Clarity fuel-cell vehicle to run on
electricity instead of hydrogen. The
Clarity will now be offered with a choice of three electric powertrains: the
hydrogen fuel-cell version launched this past December, plus the new plug-in
hybrid and pure EV variants revealed at the 2017 New York Auto Show.
The 2018 Honda Clarity Plug-in Hybrid is driven by
an electric motor rated at 181 horsepower and 232 lb-ft of torque, juiced by a
17-kWh battery pack. There's a 1.5-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine on board
as well, but that is there
mostly to generate electricity and extend its range. “Under certain
conditions", it can drive the wheels directly.
The sum total is a total range estimated to exceed
330 miles (42 on electric power alone), returning an anticipated EPA rating of
105 MPGe. A full charge is expected to take two and a half hours on 240-volt
power.
Honda also revealed the new
Clarity Electric – doing away with the fuel cell and range-extenders of its
stablemates entirely to fully embrace the battery EV method. Here the electric
motor is less potent than the PHEV's but the battery packs more juice: the
electric motor is rated at 161 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque, while the battery
pack churns out 25.5 kWh.
The anticipated combined EPA rating of 111 MPGe will
best the hybrid's, but the manufacturer isn't saying just yet how far it
expects the pure EV version will go between charges.
With the fuel-cell variant already offered in select parts of California, Honda will next roll
out the EV (blue car) later this year though still as a 2017 model,
starting in Oregon and California.
The plug-in hybrid (green car) will
ostensibly launch later as a 2018 model, but Honda expects this version will be
the most popular choice, so it's offering it in two distinct trim levels
(standard and Touring). Another dedicated hybrid model is slated to arrive next
year and will be made in America.
