Renault Zoe

shreddedmeat

shreddedmeat

Active Member
I know the i3 is the current electric car star, but what do we think of this?

http://www.renault.co.uk/cars/electric-vehicles/zoe/zoe/

Particularly on the £70/month battery hire scheme. It's not for me, but the mother is giving it some consideration after we crunched the numbers - running and purchase costs work out almost exactly the same as a diesel Polo or equivalent - the obvious downside being the limited range, but for her uses 100 miles or so is plenty, and there's a lot of public charging stations round here now.

It's also quite beautiful compared to the hideous i3 and LEAF... and so affordable for an electric car.

Cheers
 
£70 month buys a lot of diesel without the inconvenience of having to spend hours 'filling up' every 80 miles or so. And its French which is enough for me anyway. Personally I think the i3 is potentially the better car albeit ridiculously expensive.
 
The Zoe has been an interesting car. I'm sure the number works for others. The £70/month covers 7500 miles a year which should be plenty for a city runner. Have you also done the maths that includes servicing cost of the dino-juice car? The electric car requires little to no service, no oil change, no cambelt. It might even work out better.
 
I agree on most of what's been said. My £70 calculation was based on buying the diesel for a car that averaged 65mpg or so. There's really not a lot in it.

I would normally agree on the French part, but a modern Renault should be as well made as any Nissan since they're sharing parts these days. Plus it has a motor with one moving part - what is there to actually break down??

The inconvenience of having to 'fill up' every 80 miles is only an inconvenience if you're actually driving over 80 in one go, otherwise just park it and plug it. Apparently the batteries can be 'topped up' at any time by small amounts. Think of it this way - if your diesel car had a tiny tank and only got 80 miles, would that be an issue if got effectively a free full tank every time you went shopping?

If you take it on finance you get a 4 year warranty/roadside/servicing package.

Cheers
 
It's not the reliability although I still remain to be convinced, it is turning the attitude the French have to the British generally, our goods and services back on them. I simply will not spend my money on anything which goes into their coffers unless there is absolutely no other alternative. That apart ultimately I do believe electric propulsion is the way to go however i still think it will be a minority section of the market for many, many years to come until the tech develops to provide the convenience of petrol/diesel vehicles.
 
Eh? So you won't buy this car because you don't like the French, or you hold some preconceived 1950s notion that they all hate the British? Forgive me if I don't quite catch your drift!

I agree that it will probably be 10 years or more before electric is truly equivalent. Maybe a bit like the gradual adoption of diesel from petrol.
 
Last edited:
Without wishing to get too much into politics it was within the last 15 years the French were burning British goods at the docks (meat for example) and boycotting Uk meat long after the EU lifted sanctions, so yes, I am entitled to respond in kind! However the issue of EV propulsion is a bit more complex than petrol - diesel tech. the progress in battery development is not happening as fast as the 'experts' predicted as little as 5 years ago and sales are not (yet) meeting the predicted levels. Hybrids and REX cars are a different issue and i suspect will become much more popular in the next 10 years providing the purchase price premium is not excessive.
 
Adrian888 said:
Without wishing to get too much into politics it was within the last 15 years the French were burning British goods at the docks (meat for example) and boycotting Uk meat long after the EU lifted sanctions, so yes, I am entitled to respond in kind!
Click to expand...

The actions of idiots, no doubt. I just cannot see how the logical response to a childish bunch of xenophobic Frenchmen is to behave the same way a decade and a half later. It's a non-issue! Let's not fall for the stereotypes.

Anyway, back on topic - at what range would we consider a an EV to be a serious contender?

Cheers
 
shreddedmeat said:
...Anyway, back on topic - at what range would we consider a an EV to be a serious contender? ...
Click to expand...

I would like to see:
* 150 miles absolute minimum (preferably 200+)
* at least 100k-mile-expected-life and preferably 200k before a battery replacement is needed given daily charging
* 2x cheaper battery
* Charging time of less than an hour per 100 miles range (ideally 20 min / 100m so that a road trip might at least be slightly practical).


There are some battery technologies (metal-air, or lithium-sulphur for example) on the horizon which could deliver some of these things, but it takes a long time to get new battery designs onto the market.
 
It is the real-world range that is key for me, my weekly commute is upto 300 miles (minimum 180) and I simply don't want the hassle of having to recharge mid-week especially in winter when range will be even less, hence a REX or hybrid is more likely to sit on my drive in a few years time than a pure EV. Beyond that driving dynamics matching the best from VW/Ford along with everything else one gets in a 'conventional' car and being able to do everything a conventional car can......
 
Adrian888 said:
Beyond that driving dynamics matching the best from VW/Ford
Click to expand...

Probably the biggy for me. Can an EV ever be as 'alive' as a conventional car? Renaultsport generally has VW beaten down in terms of driving dynamics - but apparently this Zoe handles like a skip on casters...

Cheers
 
Well on the topic of cruise conrol I saw this and I am wondering if it is possible that anyone in london area does this as it seems pretty cheap although itys not for the A2
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Fully-Fit...les_CarParts_SM&hash=item3a7f6b9dfb#vi-ilComp

Also If any one does do a full fitting in london I would like to hear from you, I Have an Audi A2 2004 1.6 fsi Petrol manual gearbox, yes maual bit of a reach but guessing this cant be done or can it?
 
The petrol 1.6 can have cruise control. I thought it was much the same job as fitting it to the 1.4Tdi? It is the 1.2Tdi that has an ECU that does not support cruise control as supplied that is the pain...
 
There are many threads on here about retrofitting cruise. All cars can have it done, some are easier than others. £120 is a good price and no doubt Awesome will do a good job, they have a good reputation on here. Parts are about £60-70, more if you want the A2 specific part numbers.

Cheers
 
Thanks for the info If possible that would be helpfull Shreddedmeat, is awsome a member on the forum?
 
Last edited:
I was involved in the initial launch of the Zoe, got to drive it about a fair bit the end of 2012 took it around to a load of the dealer network etc. I'm freelance so don't work for Renault directly I hasten to add.


I actually quite liked it! Its like driving a mini Rolls Royce :D & yes I work for them too. Super quiet & a comfy ride, goes quite well. The numbers really add up if you have you own power source eg roof panels on your house/work where you get to paid to generate the electricity regardless if you use it or not, or a free charging point at work etc. Many public places are adding charging points & its often FOC sparks!!

The heat pump exchanger system is rather funky, never quite got my head round how it worked, but it defrosted the car easy enough by simply absorbing the residual heat in the air. Not using the battery as the heat source.

It is a nice car in its own right, quite cute & nothing like the ugly Nissan Leaf.
2012-11-29_13-07-55_409_zpsc41971d9.jpg
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top