2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid Recalls & Complaints

Incident: July 14, 2026 · Filed: July 24, 2026

I was rear ended on the freeway that l caused my car to hit a guard rail, head on. I remember getting rear ended and then blacked out on hitting the guard rail. I then had chest pain. My driver's side airbags deployed with the driver's side front foot area airbags deploying. The airbags on the steering wheel did not deploy. There's a dash cam footage of this below that shows my car hitting head on with the guard rail at 31mph. [XXX] INFORMATION REDACTED PURSUANT TO THE FREEDOM OF INFORMATION ACT (FOIA), 5 U.S.C. 552(B)(6)

Incident: December 29, 2025 · Filed: June 25, 2026

My 2019 Honda Clarity has had a hybrid battery failure that triggers “Check Engine” and “Power System” warnings, making the vehicle unsafe and unreliable to drive. I brought the car to Norm Reeves Honda Cerritos on 12/29/2025, and the battery—still under warranty—has been on backorder for over 6 months with no repair completed. The dealer repeatedly requested new diagnostic readings but has not fixed the issue. I have asked for a loaner due to safety concerns, but none has been provided. The ongoing delay leaves me with a vehicle that cannot operate safely, and Honda has not offered a timely resolution. Despite ongoing communication with American Honda Automobile Customer Service and Norm Reeves Honda Superstore Cerritos, the issue has remained unresolved.

Incident: May 16, 2026 · Filed: May 27, 2026

I am writing to report an unresolved high-voltage safety defect involving the Motor Power Inverter Module on my 2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. The vehicle's high-voltage hybrid propulsion inverter is emitting a severe, high-pitched mechanical squealing noise during acceleration and regenerative braking.The high-voltage inverter serves as the foundational link regulating current between the lithium-ion battery and the electric drive motor. A failing inverter module presents an immediate, unreasonable safety hazard. Internal failure, thermal runaway, or component degradation within the inverter stack creates an imminent risk of sudden high-voltage isolation fault. This will result in an immediate vehicle stall and a total loss of propulsion while driving at highway speeds, leaving the vehicle stranded in traffic with no power to accelerate out of harm's way, creating a severe crash hazard.Furthermore, an authorized Honda dealership—Visalia Honda (Groppetti Automotive) in California—has failed to properly diagnose, isolate, or resolve this high-voltage drivetrain defect despite the vehicle being brought in specifically for this issue. Despite the component being legally covered under California’s mandated 15-year/150,000-mile extended emissions and hybrid warranty, the dealership has taken no constructive corrective action, allowing a known, physically degraded high-voltage component to remain active on public roadways.Federal intervention and a formal technical investigation into Honda's clarity hybrid propulsion inverter systems are required to address this vehicle stalling hazard before an electrical failure results in a highway collision.

Incident: May 16, 2026 · Filed: May 27, 2026

Currently the high voltage inverter is squealing, it is currently at the dealership. They have verified it is the inverter that is malfunctioning but they will not warrenty the repair because they are saying it needs to completely fail and throw a code. This is the right time to fix it prior to catastrophic failure, can you please help.

Incident: February 1, 2026 · Filed: March 11, 2026

The contact owns a 2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. The contact stated that while driving at an undisclosed speed, the brake pedal was depressed; however, the vehicle failed to stop as intended. The contact stated that the BRAKE Hold system, hill start assist, collision mitigation system, VSA, and the electric parking brake warning lights were illuminated. The vehicle was driven to a safe location and turned off. The vehicle was restarted. Additionally, the warning lights were no longer illuminated. The contact stated that the failure had occurred while it was cold, and the temperature was below zero degrees. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, where it was diagnosed with an electric servo brake control unit/pedal seal simulator failure. The contact was informed that the electric servo brake control unit/pedal seal simulator needed to be replaced. The vehicle was not repaired. The contact was informed that parts were not in-stock and that the parts needed to be ordered. The contact researched the failure using an online chat group and was advised to take the vehicle back to the dealer. The vehicle was taken to the dealer, and the contact informed the dealer that the failure could be because of a failing battery. The dealer replaced the battery. A month later, the failure reoccurred. The contact stated that while sitting in the vehicle with the engine idling and the foot on the brake pedal, the vehicle rolled backwards. The vehicle almost crashed into the vehicle that was parked behind it. The contact immediately turned off the vehicle. The vehicle was restarted. The vehicle was driven to the residence without the failure recurring. The vehicle was not diagnosed or repaired by an independent mechanic or dealer. The manufacturer was made aware of the failure but provided no assistance. The failure mileage was approximately 44,000.

Incident: August 28, 2025 · Filed: September 17, 2025

Took my car in due to the AC not working. We were told that AC Condenser and AC evaporator was broken. The AC condenser was replaced due to a recall and was placed under warranty a few years ago. Honda, indicated that AC Condenser was still under Warrenty, but the AC Evaporator is not. When it was explained to us at Honda Dealership in Dublin, CA. That the two parts go hand in hand, and that they would not be able to replace the AC Condenser until the AC Evaporator was replaced. As Honda requires a “pass” reading. The repair man at Honda also indicated that with AC Evaporator being broken imposes health risks such as breathing issues, dizziness, exposure to mildew and bacteria, as we were breathing in the gas from refrigerant that was leaking and burning then going in to the cabin of our vehicle when the AC was running. We have contacted Honda of USA and filed a case they indicated that due to our cars mileage, age and out of warranty that they have decided to decline assistance. This will be an ongoing issue as the two parts should be under warranty to get both of them fixed accordingly and to reduce health exposures.

Incident: December 18, 2023 · Filed: August 28, 2025

The contact owns a 2019 Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid. The contact received notification of NHTSA Campaign Number: 23V858000 (Fuel System, Gasoline); however, the part to do the recall repair was unavailable. The contact stated that the manufacturer had exceeded a reasonable amount of time for the recall repair. The dealer was contacted and confirmed that parts for the recall repair were not yet available. The contact called several other dealers, including Lake Elsinore Honda (18450 Collier Ave, Lake Elsinore, CA 92530), Diamond Valley Honda (300 Carriage Cir, Hemet, CA 92545), and DCH Honda of Temecula (26755 Ynez Rd, Temecula, CA 92591); and all confirmed that parts were not yet available. The manufacturer was not made aware of the issue. The contact had not experienced a failure.

Incident: July 10, 2025 · Filed: July 18, 2025

I was entering the highway on ramp with a car in front of me going slow, when saw it was clear switched lanes and attempted to speed up to highway speed and the car's automatic braking system activated, flashed "BRAKE" on the dash with nothing in front of me, lane was clear, and then it applied the brakes hard. Came to an almost complete stop with my foot on the gas, had to remove foot to be able to accelerate again, luckily there was no near car behind me or it would have rear ended my car.

Incident: May 10, 2025 · Filed: June 17, 2025

The evaporator for my air conditioning unit failed. I have 43,000 miles miles on the vehicle and kept up the maintenance on the car directly with the dealership. When the A/C doesn't work, the car can't defrost the windshield properly, which is a USDOT defined safety issue.

Incident: June 13, 2025 · Filed: June 13, 2025

2019 Honda Clarity. Both the condenser and evaporator failed at 5 years and 55k miles and cause the AC system to not work, which in turn will not defrost the front windshield in the winter (visibility concern). The dealer has confirmed the issue when I took it into the service department on June 13th, 2025. Honda will replace the condenser for free with Service Bulletin 21-017 which extended the warranty to 10 years. The evaporator is not covered under any warranty and would cost $2,610 to replace. This is a known issue that Honda should cover under a warranty or recall due to it being a safety issue in addition to a comfort issue.