Electric supermini contender http://carandvannews.co.uk/2013/06/28/first-drive-renault-zoe/ First Drive: Renault ZOE by: Andrew Charman June 28, 2013
[images http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE01.jpg http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE02.jpg http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE03.jpg http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE04.jpg http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE05.jpg http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE06.jpg http://carandvannews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/1306RenaultZOE07.jpg ] What is it: All-electric supermini contender Key features: Affordable due to leased battery, competitive looks Our view: In these times of trouble in the car industry of mainland Europe Renault believes it has a secret weapon – the French state brand is staking a bold position in the front line of the electric car revolution. The ZE range of Renault EVs started in a small way with the launch of a version of the Kangoo van late in 2011. This was followed by the Fluence four-door saloon, and the mildly bonkers Twizy runabout. ZOE, however, is the fourth of four, and something different – this is the car Renault is pinning its big hopes on for sparking electric growth. This car is a supermini, and crucially, one that can compete on price with traditional superminis, instead of costing many thousands more like other typical EVs. ZOE prices start at £13,995, which is indeed in general diesel supermini territory. It should be immediately pointed out, however, that this price is arrived at after minusing the 25 per cent – in this case £4,200-plus – that the Government is currently willing to contribute under its grant scheme for electric vehicles. But how can Renault sell this car so much cheaper than other EVs? Well it’s quite simple really, as when you buy a ZOE, you don’t buy the hugely-expensive lithium-ion battery. You instead lease it, at around £70 to £103 a month depending on a contract based on the number of miles one expects to do in a month. Aha, so not so cheap then? Renault begs to differ, and quotes as a potential rival a Ford Fiesta Style five-door 74bhp TDCi diesel, which will cost £14,095 and then on average consume around £65 worth of fuel a month… By leasing the battery, a ZOE owner enjoys peace of mind, Renault says. Battery anxiety is one of the concerns putting drivers off switching to electric, the fear being that like in a mobile phone, the battery will lose capacity over a couple of years and end up costing a lot of money to replace. Renault doesn’t believe this will happen, but under the leasing scheme any battery that drops below 75 per cent of its capacity when new will be repaired or replaced, whether the car is with its first or 10th owner. The ‘official’, laboratory-determined range of the ZOE is 130 miles but Renault prefers to quote ‘real world’ ranges, which are 90 in the summer, 62 in the winter. The latter figure especially doesn’t sound much, but it is actually further than many people commute to work – according to Renault superminis travel on average 30 miles a day. Of course there’s nothing to stop said owner charging the car while at work either using one of the many public charge points now around (more than 1700 and growing fast) or a three-pin plug. The ZOE includes a ‘Chameleon’ charger that allows it to be charged at several different rates, and times. A full charge at home can take up to nine hours and cost around a pound, but there is also a standard charge that reaches 80 per cent of capacity within an hour, or a fast charge that hits the same level in just 30 minutes. And the price of the ZOE includes a free home wall box charger, installed by Renault’s partner in the EV programme British Gas and saving a customer around £500. So all this sounds rather impressive – Renault neatly crossing through many of the reasons given for not buying EV. But is the ZOE itself any good? Well it makes a strong first impression, because it does not scream ‘electric car’. In other words it looks like any other supermini, with excellent sculpted visuals from whichever angle you view it. The ZOE is actually based on the platform of the latest Clio and built on the same production line at the Flins factory in France. It’s a five-door hatch, there’s the kind of room a supermini owner would expect sitting in front or rear, and a 338-litre boot which stretches to 1,225 litres when you drop the rear seats. So it ticks all those boxes. Where things change is when you press start. The car comes to life, signified only by the dash display lighting up, and you put the gearlever into drive and glide silently away. Well not quite silently – the stealth-like progress of EVs is actually a real issue, because quite simply pedestrians cannot hear them coming. So Renault has come up with a ‘noise’ for the ZOE to make. It’s not an engine note – according to Renault’s marketing types that would be a retrograde step, so it’s a created sound, noticeable but not intrusive. At the launch event, opinions as to what it actually sounds like varied. Your correspondent decided it was reminiscent of a piston-engined light plane heard from quite far away. It is slightly odd, if well-intentioned, and if you really want stealth mode the noise can be turned off from a button in the cabin. On the road the ZOE is not exactly spirited – acceleration feels slightly laboured, but overall the car is effective enough, rides well and corners with confidence. There’s lots more to note in the ZOE, features such as the heat pump that captures energy from the air to warm or cool the cabin and ease the demands on the battery, or the pre-conditioning button that can set the interior temperature just to your liking while the car is charging. Most important aspect of the ZOE, however, is that it adds up. In the current climate, by keeping ownership of the battery and making the most of grants and the like, Renault can offer an electric vehicle that makes affordable sense against traditional opposition. That’s got to be a good thing… Key specification Model Tested: Renault ZOE On Sale: June 2013 Price: £13,995-£15,195* plus battery hire £70-£103 a month Engine: Synchronous electric motor Power (bhp): 87 Torque (lb/ft): 162-184 0-62mph (sec): 13.5 Top speed (mph): 84 1306RenaultZOE05Range (miles): NEDC 130, real-world 62 (winter)/ 90 (summer) Charge time: 9hrs (home), 1hr (std to 80 per cent), 30min (fast to 80 per cent) CO2 emissions (g/km): 0 Key rivals: Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, VW Polo Test date: June 2013 * Price includes 25 per cent government grant [© carandvannews.co.uk] For all EVLN posts use: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=evln&sort=date Here are today's archive-only EV posts: EVent: Plugins @Wave 2013 Vienna2Zurich rally (video) EVLN: 2013 Leaf carmagazine.co.uk review EVLN: 2013 Smart Fortwo ED: Happy urbanite EVLN: $26k 2014 Chevrolet Spark EV + EVLN: Tesla Paired With Google Glass, Just Because {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-First-Drive-Renault-ZOE-tp4664108.html Sent from the Electric Vehicle Discussion List mailing list archive at Nabble.com. _______________________________________________ UNSUBSCRIBE: http://www.evdl.org/help/index.html#usub http://lists.evdl.org/listinfo.cgi/ev-evdl.org For EV drag racing discussion, please use NEDRA (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NEDRA)
