2017 Honda Clarity Long-Term Road Test - Introduction

Edmunds.com

2017 Honda Clarity Long-Term Road Test - Introduction

We added a 2017 Honda Clarity fuel cell electric car to our long-term fleet to see if the new technology is a better alternative to battery-powered electric cars.

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throwback

The fact they only let you lease tells me Honda doesn't think this is ready for prime time. At this point I agree with Musk. EVs can be charged at home and if you don't need to recharge during the day, or can recharge at work, hydrogen cars have zero advantages over an EV. There are virtually no hydrogen stations outside of a small area of socal means that being able to quickly refuel is irrelevant as you can't drive very far anyway!

tlangness

Can't drive our Bolt to NorCal and back, this Clarity you can.

longtimelurker

Awesome '68 Skylark!

the_bruceb

Looking forward to reading what everyone thinks. Saw and drove it at an event hosted by Honda a few weeks ago. If you're someone who has a long commute; the finances on it make sense ($5,000 rebate, $15,000 worth of fuel, 20,000 annual miles, HOV sticker) but traveling out of the way to fuel it is crazy and the limited number of stations (in NorCal) doesn't bode well for long term ownership/lease. Not sure if it makes sense for puttering around town or for people with short commutes.

@throwback: Honda told us that the reason they're only available as a lease is so at the conclusion of the lease, Honda can take the car back and examine the drivetrain and other pieces of the car from bumper to bumper. Personally, I think they want to control who owns it so someone who lives and works 10+ miles from a fueling station doesn't have a negative experience with the car.

gslippy

Testing this car is a waste of time and resources. The best you can do is compare it to the just-departed Mirai and declare whether it's better or worse than that car. At the end of the day, nobody buys these things.