Category Archives: Renault

News and reviews of Renault electric cars (including plug-in hybrids).

A look at Renault's new marketing campaign for the Zoe model in France

When’s the best time to advertise electric cars? The middle of a gas shortage.

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOE

Strikes have brought parts of France’s oil industry to a standstill this week. Gas stations are running dry, lines are building at the pumps and people are hoarding fuel. The only people smiling? Electric car owners.

A look at Renault's new marketing campaign for the Zoe model in France
A look at Renault’s new marketing campaign for the Zoe model in France

And electric car makers have been quick to seize the golden marketing opportunity.

France’s Renault (RNLSY) launched a campaign this week to boost the visibility of its top selling electric car, Zoe, with multiple posts on Facebook (FB, Tech30) and Twitter (TWTR, Tech30) and advertisements in three French newspapers.

“In France, we don’t have any more petrol but we do have Zoe,” tweeted Renault. Its Facebook posts quickly received thousands of ‘likes’ and ‘shares’.

Renault said the campaign had led to a 50% spike in calls from drivers seeking information about the Zoe model. It also prompted electric car owners to post carpooling offers online to help other drivers who had run out of fuel.

Read more: CNN Money

Renault is a partner of the European fast-charging project Fast-E in Germany (Image: Renault)

Renault is a partner of the European fast-charging project Fast-E in Germany

Charging, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOE
  • Official launch of Fast-E project co-financed by the European Union and nine companies, including Renault, in Berlin and Brussels.
  • 241 charging stations installed in Germany and 37 in Belgium by the end of 2016.
  • A sister project between the Czech Republic and Slovakia adds another 30 charging stations.
Renault is a partner of the European fast-charging project Fast-E in Germany (Image: Renault)
Renault is a partner of the European fast-charging project Fast-E in Germany (Image: Renault)

The 278 charging points set up every 80 km along Germany and Belgium’s main motorways, will allow drivers of electric vehicles to “refuel” and extend their car’s range. The total investment of the EU-funded cooperation is approximately €18 million.

Every one of the multi-standard fast-chargers spread out over four countries have AC and DC connections, allowing drivers to charge their vehicles’ batteries easily and quickly. Electric vehicles can be charge up to 80% on the charging stations within an hour.

RENAULT IS NUMBER ONE IN ELECTRIC VEHICLES IN EUROPE

Renault sells more electric vehicles in Europe than any other car manufacturer and had a market share of over 23 percent in 2015. Indeed, nearly one out of every four electric vehicles sold in Europe comes from the French manufacturer. The Renault electric vehicle product range includes the compact five-door hatchback ZOE, the Kangoo Z.E. and Kangoo Maxi Z.E. vans, the agile two-seater Twizy and the compact carrier Twizy Cargo.

About Fast-E:
Under the leadership of the charging station operator Allego, the project Fast-E brings together nine companies in the industry, including three charging station operators (RWE Effizienz, enviaM and Allego) as well as four car manufacturers (Volkswagen AG, BMW AG, RENAULT SAS, NISSAN CENTER EUROPE), DB Energie GmbH, a subsidiary of DEUTSCHE BAHN and the Hamburg-based company hySOLUTIONS, which, as a competence centre in several charging infrastructure projects, is responsible for the integration of new drive technologies in urban transport. The quick-charging stations installed as part of the project employ the Combined Charging System (CCS) and CHAdeMO, each with up to 50 kW power output, as well as a type 2 connector with 43 kW power output. The project is expected to end in December 2017 with the completion of the accompanying studies; the charging infrastructure will continue to operate commercially thereafter.

About Allego:
Allego operates a charging infrastructure network for electric vehicles in Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. The company, headquartered in Arnhem and having subsidiaries in Germany and in Belgium, has a neutral market position as a pure operator and is independent from suppliers in regards to charging technology. This helps Allego ensure maximum flexibility and a high degree of reliability in the availability of charging facilities. The special focus in the development and operation of charging technology for electric vehicles lies in the creation of a comprehensive network of normal and quick chargers. For this purpose, the company has already installed 86 quick chargers on Dutch, German and Belgian motorways.

Source: Renault Media

Electric cars dominate Driver Power 2016, the UK’s biggest car satisfaction survey

Electric Cars, Model S, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, Tesla, ZOE

Tesla Model S tops Driver Power 2016 with highest-ever satisfaction rating, with Renault ZOE in second and four hybrids in the top ten

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British car owners who’ve taken the plunge and bought electric cars are raving about them, according to Driver Power 2016. This year’s car ownership survey – now in its 15th year – is dominated by electric and hybrid vehicles, with Tesla’s Model S taking first place in seven out of ten categories as well as the overall number one position.

The survey covers the issues that really matter to motorists with owners rating their vehicles over ten categories including reliability, running costs, practicality and in-car tech. This year, Driver Power received nearly 50,000 responses, with 32 makes and 150 models ranked.

This year’s winner, the Tesla Model S, received a highest-ever satisfaction rating of 97.46%, which included a 100% satisfaction rating in the Ease of Driving category – the first time any model has received full marks in the history of the Driver Power survey.

Brian Walters, Director of Research and Insight at Driver Power, said:

“With seven individual category wins it’s hard to dispute the appeal of the Tesla. This is the first time this manufacturer has appeared in the Driver Power survey, but with results like these I’m certain we’ll see more of it in the future.

“The in-car tech has raised the bar for other manufacturers, and the growing network of rapid-charging points that are free for owners to use makes it the number one for running costs as well. The only area for concern is build quality, but if Tesla can sort this out then I think it’s going to be a tough brand to beat.”

As well as the ZOE in second place, Renault took third spot with the new Kadjar SUV. Last year’s number one brand, Lexus, took four of the top ten positions with its IS, GS and RX (marks two and three) models.

Read more: AutoExpress

Renault ZOE R240 Battery Capacity – 23.3 kWh Usable, 26 kWh Total

From time to time the question about the real Renault ZOE battery capacity pops up, especially after the French company introduced new longer range R240 version in parallel with previous Q210 edition.

Renault stated that the range (under NEDC) increased from 210 km (130 miles) to 240 km (149 miles) thanks to new in-house developed drivetrain. In real world terms the new R240 ZOE will go a little over 100 miles, whereas the Q210 was more like 88-90 miles.

Basically, range increased by some 14%, but there was no word about battery capacity changes.

Thanks to one of our readers (hat tip to Alex) in a recent story about strong ZOE sales in March, we got a hint about a video with Masato Origuchi from Renault (formerly at Nissan) who revealed battery capacity change at one of presentations in late 2015.

The first generation Renault ZOE had 22 kWh usable energy from the battery, while the new R240 is able to use 23.3 kWh out of nearly 26 kWh. Increase of usable capacity is 5.9%.

In other words, the new, more efficient electric motor wasn’t the only cause of longer range.

Battery cells for Renault ZOE are supplied by LG Chem. Those are 36 Ah, 3.75 V.

Renault enables (like all other manufacturers) only part of the full battery for usage (less than 90%), to extend the durability of the pack.

Source: Inside EVs

Renault ZOE Production

Renault Says ZOE Production Is At 160 Units Per Day

Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOE

The Flins factory in France is the sole location for production of the Renault ZOE and we’ve now learned that each and every day approximately 160 ZOEs roll off the Flins assembly line.

Renault ZOE Production
Renault ZOE Production

If we assume Renault means 7 days a week, 365 days a year (that’s probably not what Renault intends to mean in its Tweet), then annual production for ZOE would stand at 58,400 units. A rather impressive figure.

However, it’s more likely that Renault’s Tweet is implying a typical five-day work week, with various break here and there for factory overhauls, holiday shutdowns, etc.

In that scenario, the implication would be approximately 200 days per year at 160 units per day, or 32,000 ZOEs produced annually…still a rather decent amount of EVs per year.

Renault itself has previously stated that its production goal for ZOE is 35,000 units this year, up from 20,000 produced last year.

Source: Inside EVs

New Renault ZOE from £165 per month fuel included

Blog, Electric Cars, Renault, ZOE

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