'What it's like to drive Renault's Electric Zoe'
http://www.theguardian.com/renault-on-road-revolution/2016/may/19/renault-zoe-the-all-electric-vehicle-at-a-supermini-price-tag Renault ZOE: the all-electric vehicle at a supermini price tag 19 May 2016 [image https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/dc674633961ecc58e996013a93b15bd90369e219/0_333_4500_2699/master/4500.jpg?w=700&q=55&auto=format&usm=12&fit=max&s=581290900e6261b738559fa8104e3ae4 RENAULT ZOE (B10) - PHASE 1ON LOCATION ZOE brings the electric dream to the mass market. Photograph: CG Eyedream ] Sales of electric cars continue to rise apace, and it’s the everyday electrics such as the Renault ZOE that are driving this booming market Within every class of vehicle the sales battle is fought under a distinctive set of rules. Some fight purely on price, others over fuel efficiency. It might be spaciousness, or luxury, or power for others – frequently it’s a combination of the above and more. Electric cars must compete on all of the same points, while offering zero emissions at the exhaust pipe and lower running costs – offering customers everything they enjoy about their car now, and more. Renault’s contender, the ZOE, offers safety, space, and everyday usability, as well as a driving experience matching or exceeding that of vehicles in the conventional supermini class, along with super-low running and maintenance costs. That electric cars are more expensive than internal combustion is a matter of industrial history: carmakers have spent a century cost-cutting conventional car parts. Electric cars, conversely, are built from a range of new technologies: from battery packs to power electronics, everything is still in its infancy, and performance, rather than price, drives design. For Renault, offering the ZOE with a four-year warranty and at a price-point equivalent to a diesel competitor is impressive. More impressive still is the offering of a truly impressive range and several world-first technologies. About that range. Ignore it. The New European Driving Cycle is a good tool for comparison tests, but the standardised simulation carried out under lab conditions is frequently criticised for bearing little similarity to real-world driving. Renault suggests a rather more realistic estimated range* of 106-miles in summer, dropping to 71 miles in deep winter, although there’s also an “eco” button that allows the ZOE to eke-out a little more range by limiting acceleration, decreasing top speed and turning down the air-con. For most motorists, however, vehicle range shouldn’t be a major issue. The most recent census by the Office of National Statistics informs us most regular trips fall well within ZOE’s range: the daily repeat business of the commute to work (averaging nine miles in 2011); the school run; and shopping trips are where electric cars excel. It makes sense to carry 45kg of sloshing petrol because a daily trip to the filling station would be annoying; it doesn’t make sense to add on another slab of batteries when recharging is a simple matter of remembering to plug in when you get home. ZOE can be charged directly from a standard three-pin socket – but that can take quite a while. The preferred option is the home wall box, supplied and fitted by Chargemaster for Renault’s retail customers, which brings the full charge time down to three-to-four hours. Out on the road, you could opt for one of Britain’s 9,000 charging points suitable for the ZOE, more than 200 of which are higher-powered chargers that drop charge times further, with an 80% charge completed in 30-60 minutes. Inside the ZOE, an embedded built-in R-Link tablet offers a TomTom satnav, which allows drivers to plot the most energy-efficient routes and locates nearby charging points. It’s also capable of carrying out a range of tablet functions including access to email and Twitter. It can even give you feedback on your driving style after each journey, if you’re the sort of person who appreciates that kind of thing. There are now more than 4,200 ZOEs registered in the UK. The ZOE and cars like it are gaining in popularity. Data from the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders show sales of pure electric cars rose by 40% in 2015, as the market for new cars grew by 6% in the same year. The remaining question for an electric future is the issue of longevity. Conventional cars target lifecycles of 15 years or 150,000 miles but, as everyone with a phone or a laptop knows, lithium-ion batteries have a tendency to degrade. This is where Renault changed the conventional car offering. Anyone worried about being stuck with an electric vehicle 100,000 miles hence can take the option of buying the car but hiring the battery pack. For a monthly fee, based on expected mileage, Renault will simply rent you the battery pack and replace it should its capacity fall below 75% of the original figure. For all the undoubted innovation, perhaps Renault’s real technological achievement is this: managing to bring all this design and technology into a lower price bracket, and bringing the electric dream to the mass market. *All ranges are based on standard driving styles and weather conditions [© 2016 Guardian News and Media] http://www.stuff.co.nz/motoring/road-tests/80249961/what-its-like-to-drive-renaults-little-electric-zoe What it's like to drive Renault's little electric Zoe May 24 2016 As we cruised down Auckland's southern motorway in our white Renault Zoe ... [a Leaf] ... drew up alongside us and tooted ... Its driver gave us a big smile and a thumbs-up, then continued on his way. The brotherhood of the electric cars, eh? ... 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