I heard the news from Renault in about the middle of December that there were just 11 of the Renault ZOE ‘Dynamique Nav’ still in ‘stock’, i.e. available to sell across the UK dealer network or in Renault’s south coast import yard. That is the 2015 model of the ZOE, the one with the 22kWh battery and the Renault motor (so with 80-100 miles of range). It is effectively the definitive model of the Renault ZOE so far.
Well I learned today that all stock has been sold – there are no more new 2015 ZOE’s available to order from stock anywhere in the UK (there is just one example of the lower ‘Expression’ model remaining in stock, but that model doesn’t get PCP support from Renault so has never been popular or successful – it represents something like just 1 in 20 of ZOE’s sold). What remain at dealers are just the few ZOE’s that have already been ordered (e.g. on ‘spec’ by a dealer, or cancellations) and we are currently tracking down the last ones for keen customers.
So the Renault ZOE as we have known it in the UK is no more. From now on all new orders taken will be for the 2017 model ZOE – the Renault factory in Cléon retooled to manufacture this model during last autumn and deliveries are due to customers from February/March.
Renault ZOE Z.E.40
Virtually all new orders will be for the long-range Z.E. 40 (41kWh) ‘Dynamique Nav’ and ‘Signature Nav’ models as, again, the new ‘Expression’ model (which only comes in the old short-range 22kWh form) gets so little PCP support that it is unlikely to sell in meaningful numbers in the UK.
I see this, then, as the end of an era. From now on the Renault ZOE will – in any meaningful sense – only be available in Z.E. 40 form. Renault have ditched sub-100 mile EVs (except, perhaps, on paper) and from now on will only produce 200 mile* EVs. That is a major milestone in the development of European EVs with meaningful ranges.
The king is dead – long live the king!
*well, 180-190 miles so close enough to 200 miles to count!
Renault has handed over the keys to its 100,000th electric car, a ZOE, in the Norwegian capital of Oslo, today
A pioneer of all-electric vehicles, Renault is the European leader with 27% market share for electric cars
Five years since the launch of its first electric vehicle, Renault has handed over the keys to its 100,000th electric car customer.
The Renault ZOE – the brand’s all-electric supermini – was sold to 41 year old Norwegian, Mr. Åsmund Gillebo. To truly complement his purchase of a ZOE, he has been presented with five years of Fortim recharging and 100,000 minutes of recharging time from Grønn kontakt, two local energy suppliers.
Renault: the European leader for electric cars
Renault has handed over the keys to its 100,000th electric car, a ZOE (Image: Renault)
In the first half of 2016, Renault sold more than 15,000 electric vehicles (excluding the Twizy), an increase of 32% on the previous year. This success confirms Renault’s status as the European market leader, especially for LCV. Indeed, on European roads, one in every four electric vehicles is a Renault. In France, half of all electric cars are Renaults. Renault’s main markets for electric cars are France, Norway, the UK and Germany. In the UK, Renault Z.E. sales grew to 1,199 in the first half of 2016 – an increase of 26.1 per cent. Of this, 1,069 of the vehicles were the all-electric ZOE – a 39.4 per cent increase on the first six months of 2015. Since the launch of its Z.E. vehicles in the UK in 2011, Renault has sold 5,977 electric vehicles to date comprising of Fluence, Kangoo Van Z.E, Twizy and ZOE.
Eric Feunteun, Director of Renault’s Electric Vehicle Division, said:
“Every year there are more customers for electric cars and Renault is making a major contribution to this with its constant innovation and dedication to developing infrastructure. Our customer satisfaction, which stands at 98% for the ZOE, encourages us to keep pushing onwards”.
Renault boasts the most comprehensive range of 100% electric cars on the market, enabling it to meet a variety of needs. The range is made up of the compact ZOE city car, the Kangoo Van ZE, the compact urban two-seater Twizy (and its utility version, the Twizy Cargo), and the stately saloon the RSM SM3 ZE (the best-selling electric vehicle in Korea).
The ZOE, the best-selling electric vehicle in Europe, dominates the market for electric private cars with over 23% market share. The Kangoo Van ZE, the leading electric LCV in Europe for the third year running, sets the benchmark for professionals and has won a number of tenders, including the French Post Office, and the French electricity provider ERDF in Norway. Lastly, with 17,000 models sold, the Twizy is the trailblazer for new ways to get around all over the world, and is extremely popular in car-sharing initiatives in both Europe and North America.
Renault, a key player in electric innovation
With cutting edge electrical technology, proven by its performance in Formula E, Renault is naturally winning over an increasing number of users. Since it began its electric adventure Renault has adopted a global strategy for electric mobility, and the development of infrastructure in particular. Renault is involved in a number of projects to install public recharge points, working with public bodies and other players in electric mobility like energy technicians. There are currently over 100,000 public recharge points around the world, 80,000 of which are in Europe, and they are constantly growing in number. As an example, Renault supports European Commission projects for the TEN-T fund (Trans European Transport Network), which has installed over 2,300 quick charge terminals along highways and major roads in over 15 countries.
In the UK, the ZOE has won numerous awards including What Car?’s ‘Best Electric Car Under £20,000’ for three consecutive years and was most recently voted second in the 2016 Auto Express Driver Power vehicle ownership survey out of 183 cars – Renault’s best ever ranking in the survey for one of its vehicles.
Hi, I am Trevor Heale. This is an introduction/taster to the Ioniq EV. Look online for in depth reviews/specs etc. Robert Llewellyn’s “Fully Charged” YouTube program was my introduction to the Ioniq. So I have to thank him for this adventure.
Trevor Heale’s new Hyundai Ioniq Electric (Image: T. Larkum)
It is a fantastic machine. Pure pleasure to drive. I was not expecting to ever feel like this about motoring again.
Driving the Ioniq EV is simple:
Walk up to the car with the key in your pocket, press the button on the drivers door and pull the handle.
Once the driver’s door closes the driver’s seat moves to its designated position (nice).
There is no ignition switch.
Push and hold the foot brake pedal and press the start button to activate the car. The dash board display is lovely as it runs through its start up checks. Hold the foot brake, press ‘D’ on the centre console and the car is ready.
Press the right pedal and enjoy.
Pros
Fantastic machine. Pure pleasure to drive. Did I say that yet?
Regenerative Braking – I love this. I have it set to the highest level and 95% of the time I only use the right pedal (can’t very well call it the gas pedal) to go faster or slower.
Roomy – Five adults with no bother (No noticeable loss of performance :o)
Comfy – Heated and vented front seats.
Super safety features (inc all round air bags and sensors).
Cheap servicing – Five years up front cost £290.83
An incredible amount of electronic features.
Three driving modes. Eco, Normal and Sport.
Range. I am mainly using Normal (and occasionally Sport mode :o). The more it learns about my driving style the more I’m getting from each charge. After four cold frosty days and two charges my initial range has increased from 91 miles (at delivery) to 135 miles. I expect that to increase with warmer weather and Eco mode.
Cons
None for the Ioniq itself. It’s a fantastic machine… Sorry off topic for a moment.
The problems I’ve had were due to Hyundai’s launch team.
No EV manuals (for staff or customer) were available!
There are an incredible amount of electronic features, most of which I have had to work out for myself. I have a copy of the Hybrid manual but it doesn’t address my EV specific questions.
No service manual available at delivery.
The delivery Check list that we worked through prior to my acceptance of the car didn’t include unplugging it from a charge point (Double clicking the unlock button seems to be the answer). Having a manual would have helped. A lot.
Overcoming Range Anxiety
I’m currently running the battery down to reset my anxiety level.
Previously if my diesel was down to 30 miles I became anxious because it gave no further indication of range and I’d top it up pronto. With the far more accurate range indicator of my Ioniq I am comfortable driving towards ’empty’ confident in what it’s telling me.
Being an EV owner
What can I say? I am very, very pleased. Almost smug.
Compared to my Kia Cee’d (£60 per fill and rising) it’s wonderful getting my fuel from home and it only costing £8 in instalments* to travel the same distance.
We are planning to tour the UK soon and hope to take full advantage of being an Ecotricity customer (Rapid free charging at motorway service stations). I’ll let you know.
My thanks to Trevor Larkum for guiding me through the transition to EV driving. I think everyone should have a knowledgeable friend when going electric. His help has taken the fear out of this.
Thanks also to Bletchley Hyundai for supplying the car so quickly and their unwavering support for the lack of manuals.
The updated BMW i3 is better than ever and this Range Extender makes range anxiety a thing of the past
BMW i3 REx range extender 94AH 2016 (Image: AutoExpress)
Verdict: 4 stars
The BMW i3 is a more compelling proposition than ever thanks to its bigger battery pack and improved range. The pure EV version will cost pennies to run, but it’s this REx model that steals the show. Unlike conventional plug-in rivals like the VW Golf GTE, the i3 offers a truly usable electric-only range, allowing you to feasibly avoid using the petrol engine at all. Added kit like DC charging should make it even easier to live with, too.
In a world of increasingly stringent emissions regulations, more and more buyers are considering the purchase of an electric vehicle. Range anxiety remains a problem, however, with many worried about simply running out of juice.
BMW thinks it has the answer. By fitting a denser 94Ah battery pack to its funky looking i3, engineers have almost doubled the car’s all-electric range. Now capable of up to 195 miles, the BMW i3 is more than suitable for the average daily commute.
But what if that’s not enough? What if the thought of being stranded at a motorway service station without access to a plug still terrifies you? Handily, bosses have seen fit to add the bigger battery to the Range Extender model, too.
The thing is, it’s not actually any bigger. The 94Ah battery slots into the same space as the old unit – meaning this new model is only marginally heavier than the outgoing car. BMW says it’ll do 288 miles on a single charge and full tank of fuel, charging from empty to 80 per cent full in only 40 minutes.
That super-fast charge time is thanks to the fact that all i3s now get DC Rapid Charge as standard. It’ll still allow you to top up from a standard three-pin wall socket, although that’ll take around 10 hours.
On the road, the i3 drives just as it did before. It has the same playful handling as we’ve grown to expect from a BMW, while the rear-wheel propulsion gives it a sporting edge often missing on competitor cars. The two-cylinder engine feeds the batteries rather than being directly connected to the wheels, meaning you’re never driving solely on petrol power. It’s whisper quiet, too, ticking away in the background without you even noticing.
As a result, the BMW i3 always benefits from the electric motor’s instant torque. It offers pleasing acceleration (0-62mph takes 8.1 seconds) – with the ability to surprise some supercars off the line. It tails off at motorway speeds, but still feels comfortable at 70mph.
I had the pleasure last Friday to attend the delivery of one of the UK’s first Hyundai Ioniq Electric’s to my friend and colleague Trevor Heale. I have to say I was impressed with the Ioniq Electric in the flesh.
Hyundai Ioniq Electric Handover (Image: T. Larkum)
Not only did it look good, but it had an impressive list of equipment including automatic cruise control, blind spot warning, electrically positioned driver’s seat, and so on.
Hyundai Ioniq Electrc (Image: T. Larkum)
The handover was lengthy but thorough and Patrick at Bletchley Hyundai did a good job of explaining most of the car’s features despite a lack of documentation from Hyundai HQ.
A Happy Trevor and his Hyundai Ioniq (Image: T. Larkum)
I have no doubt that Trevor will enjoy his Ioniq. He has promised to tell us about his experiences with it and we look forward to publishing his blog posts here soon.
As expected we got most of the way to our destination in Surrey without having had a chance for a proper rapid charge. The plan was to charge at Frimley Park Hospital, and if that failed to go to Church Street car park in Fleet. Driving an EV long distance is all about having a plan and a backup plan!
i3 charging at Frimley Hospital (Image: T. Larkum)
We needn’t have worried – Frimley turned out fine, eventually. We knew the charge point was in the covered part of the (very large) car park and found it pretty easily. However, things did then get a bit tricky. Zap-map indicated that there were two CCS-capable charge points there, with one of them offline. In fact there was only one (the other charge point could only do AC and Chademo) and it was showing an error on the screen; naturally I was worried that this was actually the offline unit.
I cancelled the apparent charge session and re-initialised it (just following instructions on the screen) and it seemed to clear. I started a new session using my Polar RFID card (it’s a CYC charge point, but CYC is now part of Polar). When I first connected the i3 and began a charge, however, it only lasted about a minute, and then stopped with an error on the dash. Anyway, I persisted and the second time it worked fine.
We were fully charged about 45 minutes later – that was longer than I expected, particularly as we plugged in with 32% charge, so that implies to me that the charge point may not have been giving its full 50kW power (perhaps as a result of the initial failed charge?). Nonetheless, it’s hard to complain when the charge was free, and even £3 for the parking seemed reasonable as we were able to pass the time sitting in the nearby hospital cafe with a cup of tea and a slice of cake.
The charge issues and long charge time notwithstanding, it was a pretty good experience and I’m sure we’ll use Frimley again. We left with 99% charge and had enough not just to get to Surrey but to show off the i3’s acceleration a few times while there, and then return all the way back to Northampton without a further charge. Hats off to the i3 once again!
Much-improved range and same suite of strengths make the Zoe an EV that more people than ever before can now consider
RENAULT ZOE Z.E. 40 DRIVE TESTS IN PORTUGAL (Image: Autocar)
What is it?
When the groundbreaking Nissan Leaf appeared in 2010, we were fed statistics that should, on paper at least, have alleviated a number of common fears and misconceptions that surrounded all-electric motoring. For example, the claim that a 100-mile range is enough for more than 75% of all journeys undertaken made the Leaf, with its 124-mile range, look positively practical.
However, what these statistics failed – and still fail – to take into account is that the car as a concept has been such a success over the past century thanks to its unparalleled flexibility. Having the freedom to go where you like, when you like and with a minimum of inconvenience is something the public simply don’t want to give up. In short, people care about that extra 25% of journeys.
Over the years a number of manufacturers have responded to the public’s fear of range anxiety, with BMW and Nissan recently taking steps to increase the performance of their pure EVs. However, as of yet, only Tesla offers an ‘entry-level’ EV capable of true long-distance motoring, in the form of the Model S P60D with its 267-mile range.
Thankfully, Renault now claims to have rectified this situation, with its new mass-market Zoe R90. Despite costing a whopping £34,345 less than the Tesla, the R90 is theoretically capable of travelling up to 250 miles on a charge – only 17 miles short of the premium US saloon. Granted, in real-world driving conditions that astonishing figure is predicted to fall to just 186 miles, but that’s still 80 miles more than the entry-level 20kWh Zoe and, according to Renault, is “the greatest range of any mainstream electric vehicle”.
This extra range comes courtesy of a new battery which has almost double the storage capacity of the current Zoe’s (at 41kWh) but, crucially, is no larger or heavier. This has been achieved by increasing the energy density of individual cells rather than adding more battery modules, thus Renault has been able to pack the battery into the same compact space as before.
Combined with a free home 7kW fast-charger, which takes just three to four hours to charge a Zoe to full capacity from empty, and new satellite navigation software that allows drivers to access paid charging points regardless of the operator, Renault says range anxiety is a thing of the past.
We’re currently on our way in the i3 from Northampton to Surrey, to visit relatives for New Year’s Eve. It seems like most of the few CCS charge points operated by Ecotricity at motorway services are offline today.
I have therefore planned to charge at public charge points near our destination. However, since we always stop at Toddington services going south for the toilets anyway, I thought I’d try an AC charge here (Toddington has no CCS/DC cable).
The i3, of course, does its slow charging on AC (alternating current) like all electric cars and its rapid charging on DC (direct current) like all electric cars except the Renault ZOE. However, the new i3 (the ’94ah’) has a trick up its sleeve – it can ‘medium charge’ on 3 phase AC (a feature shared only with the Tesla).
After about 10 minutes of mucking about with the Ecotricity app on my ‘phone it finally loaded, and the car started charging from the Type 2 cable (intended for rapid charging a ZOE). About quarter of an hour later, when we were ready to leave, we had taken on 2.5kWh of electricity. 2.5kWh in 14 minutes equates to about 11 kW charging power, which is what the i3 can theoretically achieve so it’s encouraging to see it working in a real situation.
2.5kWh charge after 14 minutes (Image: T. Larkum)
Having said that, we only gained about 10 miles of range (so about 40 miles per hour). That’s certainly better than nothing, but doesn’t compete with true DC rapid charging where that’s available.
Speculation about the future of transportation, like common flu, appears to be contagious. Not a week goes by without another celebrity, business guru or executive predicting that future of transportation is electric.
That, you may say, is probable and not newsworthy. What is newsworthy is that many of the same people are predicting that the transition is likely to be at a pace much faster than many had expected.
Tesla Model 3 at launch (Image: K. Field/CC)
In July 2016, for example, Virgin Group founder Richard Branson was quoted as saying that he suspected that 15 years from now every car on the road would be electric. Chances are that he made up the number – 15 years – without giving it much thought. One can also assume that he was talking about new cars sold in 15 years, not all cars on the road.
That, of course, is what makes Branson Branson. He was talking to CNN at a Formula E race, which he was attending to support the Virgin Racing team. He said,
“Formula E is pushing the boundaries forward into what will be the future. Fifteen years from now, I suspect every car on the road will be electric.”
He went on to elaborate:
“If governments set the ground rules — and they sometimes have to be brave and set positive ground rules — and for instance said, ‘more than 50% of cars must be battery-driven in 10 years and 100% in 15 years,’ we could make that happen. It will be great fun and really challenging to do. The cars would be much more efficient… and battery technology will get better and better.”
The car of the future will be electric, connected and, eventually, self-driving. But where does that leave the car industry of the future? In a series of articles this month, Heard on the Street takes a look at how investors should approach the biggest technological disruption the car industry has faced in decades.
A Tesla showroom in San Jose, California (Image: Bloomberg)
Battery-powered electric cars outsold gasoline ones at the dawn of the automotive age. In a decade or so they may well do so again. Investors need to watch out they don’t get caught on the wrong side of history.
Precisely when electric cars leave their current luxury or green-tech niches and—after many false starts—enter the mainstream depends above all on relative cost. On that front, electric vehicles have momentum.
The plummeting cost of batteries is key. The growth of mobile computing has driven massive investment in the area, improving the range of electric cars while reducing their cost. Mercedes-maker Daimler thinks the production cost of engine and battery technology might reach parity in 2025. But the tipping point for consumers, who also factor in subsidies and running costs, will be earlier.
