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New MG ZS EV vs new Renault Zoe

March 12, 2020Electric Cars, MG, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOE, ZS EVRepost

Renault has upgraded the Zoe with a super range, while MG is undercutting every comparable electric car. Who has the brighter idea?…

For all the hype around Tesla, and as much as you might dream of owning a Model 3, a Model S or perhaps even a Model X, there’s more than a reasonable chance you don’t have the wherewithal. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider an electric car at all, because there are now quite a few that offer many of the same perks for a much lower price.

So, assuming that you need a reasonable boot and rear seats that can comfortably accommodate adults, what are your cheapest options? Well, the Renault Zoe is certainly one; this car came out in 2013 but has just been thoroughly overhauled, with a bigger battery, a new interior, a swanky infotainment system and the option of a more potent motor.

Prices start at £25,670 (after the Government’s £3500 grant), but here we’re testing the range-topping GT Line, which gets all the gadgets you’re likely to want. Meanwhile, the MG ZS EV can cost just £22,495 (again, after the grant), although we’ve picked the range-topping Exclusive for a closer match with our chosen Zoe.

Driving

Performance, ride, handling, refinement

Although the Zoe offers two power outputs (108bhp or 132bhp), you get the stronger motor as standard with GT Line trim. Don’t expect anything remotely close to Tesla performance, but acceleration is still punchy away from the line and you can easily keep up in the outside lane of the motorway.

The ZS is quicker – not hugely, but put your foot down and it surges forth with noticeably more vigour. In fact, in the wet, you have to be a bit gentle when pulling out of junctions, lest the 141bhp motor spin up the front wheels.

Lift off the accelerator pedal in either car and you feel yourself slowing down as the regenerative braking system harvests energy to replenish the battery. And you can strengthen this effect so that you’ll need the brake pedal less often.

Performance isn’t just about how quickly you can speed up and slow down; it’s also about how far you can travel between charges. Officially, this Zoe can achieve 238 miles, compared with 163 for the ZS – unsurprising, considering the French car is more aerodynamic and has a bigger battery.

In our real-world tests, the Zoe went a very respectable 192 miles on a full charge (slightly farther than the entry-level Tesla Model 3). We were unable to test the ZS, due to unreliable weather, but it’s likely to be at least 50 miles adrift in equivalent conditions.

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Budget 2020: What does it mean for motorists?

March 12, 2020Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

Following Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s first budget, we look at whether it was good or bad news for drivers…

The government has announced new funding for electric vehicle charging, pothole filling and road improvements as part of its annual March budget.

In his first budget as Chancellor, Rishi Sunak announced a new package worth £27 billion for strategic road improvements over the next five years, including an extra £2.5 billion to repair 50 million potholes over the next five years. The Chancellor dubbed the announcement as representing the largest investment ever in the transport sector.

Below, we look at each of the Chancellor’s other announcements, and how they affect motorists and car buyers.

Electric vehicle charging

The Chancellor announced a new £500m funding pot, to be spent over the next five years, to help grow the UK’s rapid charging network for electric cars. The intention is that drivers will never be more than 30 miles away from a rapid charging point. The fund is primarily designed to cover the cost of businesses installing fast charging points on their premises.

According to charging point locator Zap Map, there are currently close to 18,000 charging points in more than 11,000 locations across the UK.

Plug-in vehicle grant

In addition, the current grant for those buying an electric vehicle, due to run out at the end of this year, has been extended to 2023 in a move worth £403 million. However, the current grant of up to £3500 will be cut to £3000 on orders placed from 12 March. In addition, the grant is no longer available on cars costing more than £50,000.

Industry body the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders had wanted the government to go one step further by abolishing VAT on electric and plug-in hybrid cars. The group said that this would increase sales of such cars to just under one million by 2024, resulting in the saving of 1.2 million tonnes of CO2.

So far in 2020, more than 6500 purely electric vehicles have been sold – a rise of more than 200% on the same period in 2019. However, such cars still represent just 2.9% of total cars sold. More than 160,000 buyers have made use of the grant since it was introduced in 2011.

Elsewhere, the budget confirmed that electric vehicles will be exempt from the so called Expensive Car Supplement, which can add up to £1600 in tax over five years on cars costing more than £40,000.

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Renault Zoe electric car sales surge, becoming one of the brand’s best-selling cars

March 10, 2020Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, Sales, ZOERepost

Renault’s bet on the Zoe electric car is starting to pay off. Sales surged to almost 10,000 units in Europe last month and the vehicle is becoming one of the brand’s best-selling cars.

Despite being only sold in Europe, the Renault Zoe is one of the best-selling electric cars in the world.

Total deliveries have now surpassed 250,000 units and what is most surprising is that sales are not slowing down.

Last month, Renault delivered almost 10,000 Zoe electric cars in Europe.

That’s twice as many units as the previous month and a 156% increase over the same period last year.

In January, the Zoe was Renault’s second best-selling car in Europe – second only to Clio 5, which was delivered in higher volume…

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Plug-in vehicle leasing demand skyrocketed in 2019, according to Vantage Leasing

March 10, 2020BMW, Citigo-e iV, Electric Cars, MINI, News, Reviews and Comment, Sales, SkodaRepost

Vantage Leasing, the personal and business contract hire company, saw a 700% increase in demand at its business for plug-in vehicles last year.

Premium brand models made up the majority of the new plug-in vehicle contracts.

The Range Rover Sport PHEV was the most popular option, accounting for 60% of all plug-in hybrid models. Even more surprisingly, it was also the most popular version of the car, making up 59% of all Range Rover Sport lease contracts in 2019.

The data points to a huge surge in plug-in vehicle interest and Vantage Leasing has now launched an ‘EV Chooser’ tool that compares key metrics for EVs – including range, price and efficiency.

Vantage Leasing has also created its own EV ranking based on how vehicles fair across those criteria, with the Skoda CITIGOe IV coming out on top.

BMW Group’s plug-in models performed particularly well. The second-most popular PHEV was the BMW 5 Series, closely followed by the BMW 3 Series and MINI Countryman. Plug-in derivatives accounted for 30% of 3 Series lease contracts and 67% of Countryman contracts.

Other strong performers included the Volvo XC90, with double the number of Twin Engine plug-in hybrid models leased in 2019 compared with 2018.

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Leasing customers look to snap up EVs before subsidies end

March 10, 2020Electric Cars, Leaf, Model 3, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan, Sales, TeslaRepost

Personal leasing customers are rushing to electric vehicles (EVs) ahead of next month’s expiration of the £3,500 subsidy for plug-in vehicles.

Latest figures from Leasing.com show that pure EVs accounted for 5% of all leasing enquiries in January – almost twice that of their share of the overall new car market (2.7%).

The Nissan Leaf proved to be the most popular all-electric model in January. With a range of around 168 miles, the 110kW N-Connecta 40kWh Nissan Leaf derivative proved most popular, ahead of the Tesla Model 3.

The Plug-in Car Grant (PICG) is spread evenly across the term of the lease and can reduce the monthly cost of a 36-month contract by around 25%, or £100 a month, according to the British Vehicle Rental and Leasing Association (BVRLA).

Leasing.com and the BVRLA are calling for the grant to be extended to continue to acceleration the uptake of zero-emission vehicles

Paul Harrison, head of strategic partnerships at Leasing.com, said: “Leasing customers are responsible for the purchase of tens of thousands of electric vehicles each year and the PICG is vital in helping more consumers make the transition from petrol or diesel to electric vehicles.”

“Now that hybrid vehicles appear to have been added to the government’s ban, and speculation it could happen as early as 2032, more urgently needs to be done to continue to incentivise the uptake of electric vehicles by consumers.”

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Electric vehicles could turn solar households into autonomous energy units

March 5, 2020Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, V2GRepost

Many discussions abound on how Australia can reach renewable energy targets of 50 per cent and much more. Many experts believe achieving this goal will depend on the availability of a low cost, bulk energy storage infrastructure.

Pumped hydro has received much attention in this regard. While technically feasible, bulk storage still requires transmission and distribution infrastructure that is not only costly but will take considerable time to implement.

A far simpler and cost effective route is the bottom-up approach of turning each house into an autonomous energy unit.

The use of solar panels in homes and small industry has proven to be remarkably successful. The uptake of rooftop solar has been so good that the grid, as well as losing a portion of their market to solar, is becoming unable to use all of the exportable household solar energy generated during clear days.

Without some form of energy storage, solar panels can provide only around 30% of daily household energy, leaving the grid to supply the rest. Solar hot water systems can bring the total solar contribution to around 45% of energy requirements.

However, to reach greater household energy autonomy requires storage.

The missing element to achieving high levels of renewable energy has emerged in the form of the Electric Vehicle (EV). EVs not only provide transportation, but also have significant battery storage capacity.

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How running electric vehicles can save organisations money

March 4, 2020Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, SalesRepost

Eight years ago, Fleet News produced a supplement boldly called “2012: The Year of The Electric Car”.

While there was growing evidence at that time that the technology was about to break through into the mainstream, it turned out we were – as is sometimes the case – ahead of our time.

However, current political, environmental and technological circumstances suggest that with the dawn of the new decade, battery electric vehicles (BEVs) will now really start to gain a firm foothold in the UK fleet sector.

Part of the reason for this should be that the adoption of BEVs also has the potential to save fleets thousands of pounds per vehicle each year.

This is why it is important that organisations look beyond the P11D price or leasing cost premium that BEVs carry over petrol or diesel vehicles to look at wholelife costs, says Helen Lees, head of electric vehicles and connected services at Groupe PSA.

“We are trying to focus our customers’ minds on the total cost of ownership of EVs,” she says.

“Even if you have to pay more up front, or even if your monthly rental is a little higher, the reduced running cost through electricity is much cheaper than petrol or diesel; there is a reduced service, maintenance and repair (SMR) cost from the fact there are fewer mechanical working parts so there is less to replace on every service, and that can change the perception of pricing in the customers’ minds.”

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Let’s spark the electric car revolution now — there’s no time to stall

March 2, 2020Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Opinion, Sales, TeslaRepost

For those of you thinking that electric cars didn’t exist before Elon Musk and Tesla, think again.

Those stepping out into the manure-strewn streets of Manhattan in 1897 could have hailed a battery fuelled, as opposed to horse drawn, taxi. In 1900, more than 1,000 electric cars were made in the US, 28 per cent of total American car production that year.

A few years later, however, Henry Ford produced the petrol-powered Model T and the electric starter motor replaced the hand crank. From that point on, the electric car was seemingly doomed: not enough power, not enough range and, as petrol stations proliferated, not enough charging points.

To be fair, electric vehicles still managed to flourish in niche areas. The humble milk float had a maximum speed of around 15mph, could travel roughly 25 miles (following a seven-hour charge) and blocked the streets of Britain for decades. Floats were cheap to run and could easily be charged at the milk depot after the day’s deliveries (a model that could be used in the 21st century if we end up with huge fleets of self-driving cars). Still, floats could never compete with a Ford or, for that matter, a Ferrari.

Tesla, however, can. And, increasingly, so can other manufacturers of electric cars, one reason why the Government is now planning to ban the sale of petrol and diesel cars by 2035. Range is less of an issue than it once was. The cars — unlike milk floats — are quick. Fuel-wise, they’re incredibly efficient: they don’t rely on the controlled explosions taking place in an internal combustion engine (which creates too much by the way of heat and too little by the way of miles). And, over time, the maintenance bills will be a lot lower: no gearboxes to go wrong, no spark plugs to clean, no engine oil to be changed.

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EDF acquires Pod Point securing its role in the UK EV market

March 2, 2020Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, POD PointRepost

EDF has confirmed its long-rumored acquisition of electric vehicle (EV) charging company Pod Point, in a move that sees it cement its position in the UK EV space.

The energy supplier has purchased the charging company together with Legal and General, which is taking a c.23% stake in EDF’s newly-formed joint venture. This follows the finance giant purchasing a share in Pod Point last March.

EDF says that the acquisition will bring benefits including reduced costs to customers, through the combination of EDF’s energy solutions and Pod Point’s 62,000 chargers in the UK currently.

The acquisition follows its purchase of battery storage and EV charging infrastructure firm Pivot Power last November as it seeks to grow in the EV space, both in the UK and Europe.

Simone Rossi, UK CEO of EDF said EVs will be “crucial” to reducing carbon emissions and fighting climate change.

“With the addition of charge points, we can help our customers to reduce their carbon footprints and benefit from lower fuel costs by going electric. The additional electricity demand from EVs will require urgent investment in low carbon generation from renewables and nuclear.”

Erik Fairbairn, Pod Point CEO & founder said that this was an “incredibly exciting next chapter” for the company.

“By joining up with EDF we can take things to the next level and accelerate our national roll out of charging points and make it even easier for drivers across the UK to go electric. I’m immensely proud of what the Pod Point team has already achieved but think it is only a fraction of what we will now be able to do with EDF.”

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Electric Vehicle Consumer Code launched for domestic installers and suppliers

March 2, 2020Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and CommentRepost

A consumer code for installers and suppliers of electric vehicle (EV) charge points has been launched by Renewable Energy Assurance Ltd (REAL).

REAL also operates a number of other codes and certifications, including the Renewable Energy Consumer Code (RECC). A 50% discount on membership of the Electric Vehicle Consumer Code (EVCC) will be offered for the first year for installers who are already RECC members, with Joju Solar and Caplor Energy the first two EVCC members.

The EVCC applies to suppliers and installers of domestic EV charge points whether acting on their own account or as a sub-contractor.

It spans pre-sale activities, contracts, installation and completing the work, after-sale activities and complaints handling and the dispute resolution process.

It has been designed to dovetail with the Institute of Engineering and Technology’s Code of Practice for Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment Installation (the IET Code), as well as the current Electric Vehicle Homecharge Scheme.

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