'With the Zoe EV available, do you really need a plug-in hybrid?'
http://gas2.org/2015/03/11/renault-zoe-gets-new-motor-range/ Renault Zoe Gets New Motor, More Range [2015/03/11] Christopher DeMorro [image http://evobsession.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Renault-Zoe.jpg (Zoe EV) ] ... a refreshed Renault Zoe Z.E., which gets a 20% boost in range thanks to lighter, better motor. Can that help improve lagging sales? The new R240 motor still makes 87 horsepower, and it’s managed to shed a little bit of weight, and squeeze itself into a slightly smaller package. Improvements to the motor, as well as the battery management system, increased range by about 18 miles on the generous European testing cycle. This boosts the claimed total range of the Zoe to about 149 miles per charge. Wow, right? Well, don’t get too excited just yet. On the same testing cycle, the Nissan LEAF is rated at 124 miles per charge, whereas the EPA gives it a much more realistic rating of about 84 miles. That’s a nearly 50% difference between what European and American testing standards say for the LEAF, and applying the same math to the Renault gives us a “real world” rating right around 100 miles. Still more mileage than most EVs on the market, I’ll grant you, but probably not the 149 miles Renault is claiming. The same can be said of Nissan’s claims to have a 250 mile battery in the works, though if I were a betting man, I’d put my money on Japan before France. Despite its alliance with Nissan, the Renault Zoe has had to fight its distant cousin the LEAF for the hearts and minds of European EV enthusiasts. The Zoe does arguably have a better financial argument in its favor, thanks to a lower cost and better rental scheme. It’s also arguably better-looking than the LEAF. But it’s also smaller, is sold in fewer markets, and hasn’t enjoyed anywhere close to the LEAF’s success. Just over 12,000 Renault Zoes have been sold since going on sale, compared to over 158,000 LEAFs. Even with the rest of Renault’s zero-emission lineup included in the count, the Japanese-French alliance has only built just mover 200,000 EVs…meaning the LEAF makes up more than 3/4 of the total sales ... [© gas2.org] ... http://evobsession.com/renault-zoe-gets-new-motor-more-range/ Renault Zoe Gets New Motor, More Range March 10th, 2015 by Christopher DeMorro http://evfleetworld.co.uk/news/2015/Mar/Long-Termers-Renault-ZOE/0438018976 Long Termers: Renault ZOE by Alex Grant 18 Mar 2015 [image http://media.comcar.co.uk/article/2015/Mar/image/0438018976-5966-Screen_shot_2015_03_18_at_12_36_24_png-640.jpg Renault ZOE Dynamique Zen ] After six months and almost five thousand miles, our ZOE has gone back to Renault. But, in that time, it’s answered the question I’ve been asked so many times since it was delivered: what’s it really like living with an electric vehicle? It’s much easier than you’d expect. We usually carry hundreds of miles of unnecessary fuel in a conventional car, but the ZOE shows a typical range of between 80 and 100 miles is quite generous. It’s enough to comfortably get from my house in Cardiff to Bristol and back, and the electricity costs less than half the price of the Severn Bridge toll. At each end, I can plug in while I do other things. Of course, long trips take planning. The range drops to around 75 miles on the motorway, not helped by my impatience at the Eco mode’s 60mph speed limiter. At a steady 70mph, with the blowers on but air conditioning off, it comfortably gets between Ecotricity’s Electric Highway network on an 80% charge, reached in 20 minutes. Range anxiety is usually down to bad planning. It’s hard not to love the technology, too. R-Link is fiddly at first but easy to get used to, setting cabin temperatures from your bed is a useful feature, and the Chameleon Charger means it takes the fastest charging speeds from whatever you can plug it into. Domestic sockets are the painfully slow exception, though, and the three-pin cable is really only a backup. The more you live with it, the more it becomes a normal car. It’s stylish, comfortable, has a generous boot, folding seats and ISOFIX points in the back, plus the refinement is blissful. For mostly urban driving and occasional motorway trips, do you really need a plug-in hybrid? [© evfleetworld.co.uk] ... http://www.therakyatpost.com/motoring/2015/03/19/zenn-monte-carlo-rally-2015-4-renault-zoe-in-the-running/ 4 ZOE models competing in 6th ZENN Monte-Carlo Rally till Sunday Mar 19, 2015 ... http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=subject%3Aevln+subject%3Azoe+NOT+subject%3Are&days=0&sort=date Read more Zoe EVLN items on evdl For EVLN posts use: http://evdl.org/evln/ http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/template/NamlServlet.jtp?macro=search_page&node=413529&query=subject%3Aevln+NOT+subject%3Are&days=0&sort=date http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/articles/canada-ranks-high-for-converting-to-electric-cars/46897/ Canadians shouldn't hold back from switching to electric vehicles http://greenpowertrain.automotive-business-review.com/news/uk-government-to-add-100-evs-to-its-fleet-110315-4529798 UK government to add 100 EVs to its fleet http://evfleetworld.co.uk/news/2015/Mar/Government-adds-140-plug-in-cars-and-vans-to-vehicle-fleet/0438018846 http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2015/03/13/tech-opens-electric-vehicle-charging-station/70285388/ A-B Tech opens electric vehicle charging station http://www.gannett-cdn.com/media/Asheville/2015/03/13/B9316594870Z.1_20150313155429_000_GUDA7AJT9.1-0.jpg + EVLN: iMiev EV features, unchanged since production r:60mi {brucedp.150m.com} -- View this message in context: http://electric-vehicle-discussion-list.413529.n4.nabble.com/EVLN-Renault-Zoe-EV-Gets-New-R240-Electric-Motor-20-More-Range-tp4674373.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)
