It has some stupid flaws that any potential buyer should know about. And the biggest stupidity is that it could be fixed with firmware, but Renault just does not care. If you live in a warm climate (never below 7 degrees C) these complaints/issues do not apply to you. When it is cold, you can not control the traction battery heating. So if being on a journey when it is below -5C your maximum charging speed is 7kW even at 20% SoC. To get full charging speed the traction battery needs to be above +7C. The heating of the cabin can not be controlled during charging. A workaround exists, heating can be turned on thru the app. But the temperature will still be drop to about 10C if it is below -10C outside. The heating/cooling thru the app is limited to 10min, no matter what, but it can be repeated every 10min manually... So it is not sufficient in low temperatures as it will not heat up the cabin or the traction battery enough when it is below +5C in 10min. The supplied single-phase 230V cable is strict 10A only and has no adjustments neither in the charging cable nor in the car settings, it is always maximum charge speed and always to 100% SoC.
For goodness sake this is a city car and yet Renault want £30,000. No height adjustment on front seats. Front seat head restraints can’t be removed and that just the beginning. On some trim levels there is no CCS fast charging socket. If you need this it’s a further £1,000 to the on the road price. Other manufacturers fit CCS as standard on all trim levels. The rear windows do not open downward there is no window mechanism fitted to the rear windows even on the top trim level. The only rear window opening is the old clasp system which was used many decades ago on the old Austin Minis. The only reason for the high price tag of this EV Zoe is the fully charged mileage range which is 240 miles but I guess this figure is on a hot summers day at least 22degrees c. Come the winter don’t think you will achieve anything like that, probably around 160 when the air temperature is 5 degrees or below. Can’t believe Renault has the audacity to put a £30,000 price tag on a city car, very disappointing.
Until car manufactures are upfront and honest about mileage capabilities of EVs and their charge times, no one is going to have confidence in them. Wasn’t Renault that we’re fixing exhaust fumes on their cars?
It appears that every man woman and child effectively subsidises the hydrocarbon industry $A1200/pa. Just resist the urge to ask why not renewables or , heaven forbid, EVs. It would need Rupert’s approval.
