2017 Honda Clarity Electric

NHTSA received a petition on or about July 18, 2022, requesting that Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 141 be applied to all electric and hybrid vehicles operating in the United States. The petition can be reviewed at NHTSA.gov under ODI Number 11486072. FMVSS 141 establishes performance requirements for pedestrian alert sounds for motor vehicles. The standard applies to hybrid and electric vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight rating of 4,536 KG or less or are defined as low-speed vehicles. The standard became fully applicable to all such vehicles manufactured on or after March 1, 2021.On January 27, 2023, NHTSA opened Defect Petition (DP) 22-005 to evaluate the subject matter described in the petition. On June 24, 2023 and as supplemented on June 25, 2023, the petitioner notified NHTSA he was withdrawing his petition. The petitioner indicated that, based on his review of data, there is no justification for asserting potential benefits that could be derived from actions sought by my petition. Based on the petitioner's withdrawal, DP22-005 is closed. Closure of this DP does not represent a determination by NHTSA regarding the subject matter of the petition.

AFTER CAR WAS CHARGED OVERNIGHT, WHILE DRIVING ON FREEWAY YELLOW WARNING LIGHT AND MESSAGE INDICATED CAR SHOULD BE TAKEN IN FOR SERVICE, AND A WARNING LIGHT THAT BATTERY WAS LOW AND WOULD TRANSITION TO LOW POWER MODE. THIS INFORMATION WAS IN CONFLICT WITH THE CHARGE INDICATOR WHICH ADVISED THAT THE VEHICLE HAD A DRIVABLE RANGE OF APPROXIMATELY 75 MILES. WHILE MANEUVERING OFF THE FREEWAY ALL POWER SYSTEMS ON THE VEHICLE FAILED. THIS WAS ON A DOWNWARD-SLOPING OFFRAMP WHERE THE FAILURE OF THE POWER ASSIST BRAKES AND STEERING MADE IT DIFFICULT TO CONTROL THE VEHICLE. VEHICLE WAS RETURNED TO DEALER 21 DAYS AGO WITH 111 MILES ON THE ODOMETER. AS OF TODAY (12/5/2017), DEALER HAS NOT BEEN ABLE TO REPAIR THE VEHICLE.

NHTSA ID

11052444

Incident

Nov 15, 2017

Mileage

111 mi

Service Bulletin - The Clarity Plug-In Hybrid and Clarity Electric may not start charging when plugged in or may stop charging before the high-voltage lithium-ion battery is full.

Tech line summary article - Some dealers have reported that when plugged into their Level II 240-volt charger, the vehicle won?t charge or it stops charging early. We?re aware of this issue and have it under investigation

Tech Line summary article - We?re looking at an issue of the driver?s power mirror not working and/or working oddly. It?s been reported, for instance, that when adjusting the driver?s power mirror, the passenger?s power mirror may respond instead.

Tech line summary article - Before you take a newly arrived vehicle for its first drive, make sure you charge the high-voltage lithium-ion battery. The vehicle leaves the factory with its battery state of charge level at a minimum. If you take the vehicle out on the street without first charging the battery, you could wind up running out of charge.

Servicenews article - The high-voltage lithium-ion battery in the Clarity Electric has an 8-year or 100,000-mile warranty. But unlike all of our earlier vehicles with high-voltage batteries, this one doesn?t set a DTC when the battery pack capacity value has reached the level for battery replacement under warranty.

Service news article - To prevent damage during shipping, leather-wrapped steering wheels come with a protective plastic covering. The easiest way to remove it during PDI is to grab the covering with both hands near the top of the steering wheel and pull it toward you, like you see here. The covering comes right off.