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Honda Clarity BEV: No Maintenance For Two Years

I have driven a Honda Clarity Electric (BEV) for about two years. Recently I just performed the first maintenance — adding air to the tires. It has never been to the dealer, and never required service before this, despite being driven over 11,000 miles. Compared to my experience with numerous other cars, having an electric car is a dream come true.

Full Accounting of Car Care

I'm sure some of you are asking, "Well you at least washed your car, didn't you?" Yes, I have washed it many times. I also had a couple of other incidents of note.

One time I left a tablet charging in the car. I later found the car unable to start, with the 'accessory' battery drained. This illustrates an interesting and surprising (at least to me) fact about many electric cars — they operate most in-car systems off a traditional 12V battery, which is not directly charged from the massive battery pack used for driving. Even though the Clarity had a nearly full charge in the large driving battery, the small 12V battery was drained charging the tablet. This required a jump start, but since I caused the issue I don't consider this maintenance.

And a few months ago, the windshield wiper fluid reservoir ran empty and I refilled it. I suppose that counts as maintenance too, but that was trivial and would depend on how often someone uses the wipers. Not really fair to count that against the Clarity.

Finally, the first real maintenance...

Adding Air to the Tires

While I was driving recently, several lights on the dash illuminated, and a message appeared warning about Low Tire Pressures. While I had been visually inspecting the tires regularly, I had not been testing the pressure. Knowing the car had TPMS made me somewhat complacent, I suppose. Plus part of me wondered just how low maintenance a BEV could really be. Extremely, as it turns out!

Revolutionary: Zero Maintenance Cars

After 2 years of regular driving, a fully electric car (BEV) required essentially no maintenance, in my experience. This is truly a revolutionary experience. Legacy vehicles with gas engines require oil changes, filter changes, and more, every 6 months or less. As more people experience electric vehicles, these benefits and more should have a cascade effect and cause a dramatic falloff in ICE sales.

Last modified on 30 Sep 2021 by AO