2017 Honda Clarity EV Release Date, Specs News: All-Electric Car to Have Only 80 Miles of Range
Those who expected the 2017 Honda Clarity electric vehicle (EV) to go up against the all-electric Chevrolet Bolt may have to temper their expectations quite a bit as it has been revealed that Honda's environmentally-conscious vehicle will only provide 80 miles of driving range on a single charge — way behind the Bolt EV's 238-mile range.
In fact, the 2017 Honda Clarity actually positions itself on the lower rung of all battery-operated vehicles available in the market, according to Automotive News.
However, the automaker has revealed that the Clarity EV's all-electric driving range was not due to any problems with the car's engineering. Rather, it was a conscious decision that Honda made to keep the vehicle's price tag lower. Equipping the Clarity with a larger battery with a longer range would have had a significant impact on the all-electric vehicle's weight and price.
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"A pillar of the Honda brand is affordability, and if Honda came out with some obscenely priced long-range electric car, what does that do for the brand? Most of our customers would not be able to acquire it," Steve Center, vice president of environmental business development at American Honda Motor, told the publication.
The executive added that there are consumers who are already aware of their everyday routes and that the Honda Clarity's 80-mile range will be sufficient enough to take them to these places. They won't need something that has up to 300 miles of range as there are trade-offs when it comes to charging times and added costs to the consumers' electricity bills.
Furthermore, at this point in time, the actual driving range that is most practical for normal consumers has yet to be established.
While the 2017 Honda Clarity EV will be more attainable that the Tesla models, time will tell if it will be able to compete with the also affordable Chevrolet Bolt and the Nissan Leaf.
The 2017 Honda Clarity EV will be released in the spring with a price tag of about $35,000 before federal tax credits or incentives.
