A few weeks ago, on an especially wintery day, I took a Honda Clarity PHEV for a test-drive. Since then, I’ve written this recounting of my drive, many times over, in my head. There are two paths that I see for this piece. First, if I am strictly talking about the car, its most favorable. It really is a solid product, worthy of MotorWeek’s accolade. It has a few quirks, but none that are a deal breaker. The other version of this article ultimately gets tainted by the overall experience of my drive. I am going to attempt to show both sides, without the experience diminishing my impression of the vehicle. If I had been at any other dealer, or even with another salesperson at the same dealership, I may have been left feeling differently.

The weather made for a great test of its prowess as a Michigan car. It did very well, handling the slush and slop on the roads with aplomb. In fact, I would consider it a very sharp handler in general, though lacking in steering feel. The Clarity PHEV features adjustable regen with paddles behind the steering wheel, but I did not notice much of a difference between the various levels. I am happy to concede this fault to operator error, given the amount of time I had the car, I didn’t stop to read the operator’s manual. In sport mode, the gas engine has an aggressive little snarl to it, sounding sportier and less generator-like than my Volt when its range extender kicks on.

The driver’s seat is comfortable, but I wouldn’t refuse more lumbar support. The Clarity’s cabin feels large, with a roomy backseat. The trunk is good-sized, but slightly oddly shaped. One very cool little touch that goes a long way is how the seat-backs both have a pocket up high for rear seat passenger cell phones. Another feature that I found helpful was triggered when you blinker to the right. An image from the right mirror camera takes over center display, and also says that objects in mirror may be larger than they appear.

Here are my not deal-breaking issues with the car: There isn’t a physical volume knob on the radio. There is an up down switch for adjusting the volume on the steering wheel, but an actual volume knob would be better. The volume knob is one of those historically perfect, cannot be improved upon ideas, like sliced bread and pop-tarts. The wood on the dash is absolutely, without question fake, any time you tough it, it sounds hollow. Despite this, Honda took to the time to give it a charming matte finish with a convincing grain. What was the goal? Why not cover it in soft-touch, or silver, or anything besides wood? Lastly, it isn’t attractive, but it’s bad-looking or offensive. If I really try, it reminds me of a Citroen CX, a car that is also not attractive, but so quirky it’s charming.

My overall impression of the car was that it was very enjoyable to drive and a compelling package. I would like to spend more time with one in the future.

Factoring in my overall experience on the day, its a good car let down by a lack of interest by the selling dealer. Straight from my notes: “0 miles EV range upon arrival. Would have liked to experienced EV mode.” This is most unfortuante, as I even made a point of arranging the test drive well in advance, in hopes that it would be charged up. And lastly, before I had even set eyes upon it, I was told this: "it's a neat little vehicle, but it doesn't lease out as well as the Civic or Accord” I really did enjoy driving the Honda Clarity PHEV, unfortunately the rest of the experience was very off-putting. If I feel that way, how do they plan to sell to someone who isn’t committed to EVs? They don’t…