128km range for all-electric Honda Clarity

The Honda Clarity EV will have a range of 128km on a single charge due to platform sizes and manufacturing costs, executives have said. This put the Clarity’s range well behind competitors, with the Chevrolet Bolt claiming a 450-km range, the Tesla Model S 400km, the Hyundai Ioniq 200km, and the Nissan Leaf 172km. Honda says the range limitation was due to tough engineering decisions. The Clarity battery platform will have to also fit inside the plug-in hybrid and hydrogen fuel-cell models in the range, which restricted available space. The cost of the battery was kept intentionally low to make pricing competitive. The Clarity EV is expected to start at around $48,000. "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?" Steve Center, vice president of environmental business development at American Honda Motor, told Automotive News. "Most of our customers would not be able to acquire it." The Nissan Leaf hatchback and Hyundai Ioniq contain EV models beneath the entry-level $50,000 price point. Honda hopes the Clarity sedan will be popular with commuters who desire a slightly larger EV without the expense. The all-electric Honda Clarity will debut in America this autumn. Details for a New Zealand launch are yet to be announced.