Monthly Archives: August 2021

Renault Zoe review: compact EV trapped in no-man’s land

August 4, 2021Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

The Zoe’s size, range and price put this competent hatchback in a tricky position

There’s an advert on TV right now that shows four friends laughing and having a great time as they glide around in a Renault Zoe. The tagline is “room for everyone”.

Now, unless everyone is a contortionist, I’ve got an issue with that. The Zoe has many qualities but spaciousness is not one of them and it seems a strange thing to focus on.

Like most superminis you’ll just about fit two average sized adults and a couple of small kids into the Zoe but four adults will struggle, and they certainly won’t be smiling.

Personally, if I was Renault, I’d be making more of the fact that this is an EV that sits somewhere between a city car and a supermini but offers the kind of usable range usually reserved for far larger family vehicles – up to 238 miles on a charge.

In fact, if you’re really, really careful you can do some ridiculous distances in a Zoe. A team of volunteers from the Mission Motorsport charity managed to eke an unbelievable 475 from a single charge in a completely standard Zoe recently.

There’s an argument that if you’re using an EV for short urban journeys, you don’t need to worry about a huge range but that forgets the millions of people who can’t simply plug in and charge overnight. I’ll admit that it’s not a worry for everyone but for those in flats or terraced houses, a range of 240+ miles means far fewer trips to a public charging station than in other similar sized cars.

It also means that drivers who cover larger distances but don’t want or need a big family vehicle can opt for a compact EV capable of long drives.

The Zoe was once the only real option when it came to smaller EVs but now it finds itself surrounded by rivals ranging from the Fiat 500 and Honda e to the Vauxhall Corsa-e and Peugeot e-208. Yet in Z.E. 50 guise it still has the advantage over them in terms of range. The Vauxhall and Peugeot both offer just over 200 miles while the Fiat, Honda and Mini Electric offer between 135 and 199 miles on a charge.

In terms of range anxiety that plays into the Renault’s favour but the downside is that the big 52kWh battery means it’s priced closer to the Corsa and 208 while feeling more like the cheaper Mini or Fiat in terms of size and practicality.

Straddling the middle ground does give the Zoe some advantages. For a start, it feels as nimble and responsive as you’d want from a city car. It’s compact enough to dart confidently around the urban jungle, backed by the instant zip from its 132bhp motor.

But it rides better than most city cars and feels more confident on open roads where a combination of good body control, stability and impressive refinement mean it feels like its larger rivals.

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EV tire trial to reduce air and microplastic pollution in London

August 3, 2021Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

DPD is joining forces with the electric vehicle tire developer Enso to conduct full road trials of a new commercial EV tire design, specified to reduce air and microplastic pollution.

The trial is a part of Transport for London’s FreightLab Innovation Challenge, which is backed by the Mayor of London.

As tires wear, they emit more air pollution than tailpipes. In addition, tire particulate matter pollution makes up 28% of all primary ocean microplastics. The increased weight and torque of EVs increase tire wear, meaning that electric vehicles often emit more tire particulate matter than ICE vehicles.

Enso, headquartered in London, has developed a new tire that increases EV range on a single charge while reducing air and microplastic tire PM pollution.

This range-extending, pollution-reducing design recently broke a world hypermiling record, achieving the longest distance ever driven by a Renault Zoe on a single charge (achieving 764km on June 10 at Thruxton Race Circuit in the UK), in partnership with Mission Motorsport, the UK Armed Forces’ motorsport charity.

During the trial with DPD, Enso will compare its tire design with industry benchmarks on a fleet of DPD’s Nissan e-NV200 vans over a nine-month period, measuring improvements in energy efficiency and tire durability.

“Rather than just simply buying EVs, our whole approach to sustainability is about joining the dots and working with like-minded innovators to help solve the big challenges like air pollution,” said DPD’s head of CSR, Olly Craughan. “Through our involvement in London FreightLab we got to know Enso and understand their vision. While EVs are the future, unless we also solve the problem of tire particulate matter pollution, we aren’t really unlocking their full potential.”

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Ford Mustang Mach-E sets world record for EV efficiency

August 2, 2021Charging, Electric Cars, Ford, Mustang Mach-E, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

Team completes 840-mile route in electric performance SUV, stopping for just 45 minutes to charge

The new Ford Mustang Mach-E has set a Guinness World Record for efficiency in an electric car, averaging 6.54 miles per kWh on an 840-mile route between John o’ Groats and Land’s End.

The electric performance SUV was driven by BBC transport correspondent Paul Clifton and Fergal McGrath and Kevin Brooker, who already hold petrol and diesel efficiency records between them.

Setting off on 3 July and driving through the night to avoid congestion, the trio completed the trip in 27 hours at an average speed of around 31mph. Remarkably, they stopped only twice to charge: first at a MFG EV Power station in Wigan, Lancashire, and a second time in Cullompton, Devon. The two stops amounted to just 45 minutes spent plugged in.

“This record is about demonstrating that electric cars are now viable for everyone,” said the team, reflecting on their efforts. “Not just for short urban trips to work or the shops or as a second car, but for real-world use on long cross-country journeys. We’ve proved that, with this car, the tipping point has been reached.

“The Ford Mustang Mach-E’s range and efficiency make it an everyday car for tackling unpredictable journey patterns. We did a full day’s testing totalling 250 miles and still had 45% battery charge on our return.”

Range anxiety is often listed among drivers’ biggest concerns when it comes to switching from internal-combustion-engined cars to EVs.

This latest feat follows the exploits of the Renault Zoe, which recently hit 425 miles of range (180 miles more than its official WLTP figure) in a record attempt organised by Mission Motorsport at Thruxton race circuit.

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Rising oil price may speed shift to electric vehicles, says energy watchdog

August 1, 2021Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

IEA analysis offers hope for climate action but says inflated oil price may slow global economic recovery from Covid-19

Rising oil prices could help speed climate action by accelerating the shift to electric vehicles, but would come at the expense of the economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic, according to the global energy watchdog.

The world’s demand for crude surged by an average of 3.2m barrels a day (b/d) in June compared with the previous month but the return of oil production has failed to keep pace, triggering a steady rise in market prices.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) warned that oil prices, which climbed by two-thirds this year to highs of $77 a barrel earlier this month, could climb higher and lead to market volatility unless big oil producers pump more barrels.

“While prices at these levels could increase the pace of electrification of the transport sector and help accelerate energy transitions, they could also put a drag on the economic recovery, particularly in emerging and developing countries,” the IEA said.

US drivers are already facing record high prices to fill up their tanks due to rising oil market prices. The price per gallon reached an all-time high of $3.14 on Monday, and analysts have warned that the price could climb to $5 a gallon.

As a result, the cheaper price of running an electric vehicle may encourage more motorists to make the switch sooner than planned, boosting efforts to cut emissions from transport. But higher fuel prices could also stoke cost inflation across the global economy, particularly in developing countries.

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