Category Archives: Renault

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

RAC notches up a first as it tries out all-electric Renault Zoe patrol van

February 17, 2022Electric Vans, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

The RAC has become the UK’s first major roadside assistance company to use an electric patrol vehicle to reach breakdowns.

It is trying out a zero-emission Renault Zoe Van E-Tech, which has a range of 245 miles, as it said it dealt with some 7,000 random events every day – unlike delivery companies which can plan their routes – meaning a 200-plus-mile range was vital.

No electric van can tow broken-down vehicles as yet, but the RAC said the Zoe Van E-Tech was one of the few EVs on the market that could carry the tools and parts needed to fix four out of five breakdowns on the spot without its range being compromised.

The patrol van will mainly be used to attend the RAC’s two most common breakdowns – batteries and tyres – which together account for nearly half of its call-outs.

It can carry up to six replacement 12v car batteries, two tyres, a trolley jack, battery tester, the RACScan diagnostic tool and a variety of standard patrol tools.

The 55kW Renault Zoe patrol van will be used in urban and rural areas to assess its efficiency as a patrol vehicle.

RAC group operations director Paul Coulton said: ‘We are very excited to be putting our first electric zero-emission patrol van into service.

‘We have been assessing various electric vans for some time but have been frustrated by the fact there isn’t one on the market that can do what our diesel-powered patrol vans can do at the moment in terms of carrying 500 parts and tools and towing broken-down vehicles, with a range that’s even half what one of our standard vans can do on a full tank.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

ALL-NEW RENAULT KANGOO HAS BEEN CROWNED INTERNATIONAL VAN OF THE YEAR 2022

January 14, 2022Kangoo Van E-Tech, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

All-new Renault Kangoo Van has won the International Van of the Year award (IVOTY) 2022 as voted by a jury of 24 European journalists

New Renault Master ZE Electric Van with Kangoo ZE Electric Van behind (Image: Renault)

Renault’s latest innovative van was recognised, along with the new Mercedes-Benz Citan, as the best LCV out of the 14 light-duty vehicles released over the past 12 months
With the ‘Open Sesame by Renault’ side door* that opens up to a 1.45-metre-wide side access, the All-new Kangoo Van boasts unparalleled innovation
The All-new Kangoo Van is made at Renault’s Maubeuge factory, a site where excellence has become a trademark
Full UK specifications and pricing to be announced in January 2022
During the Solutrans trade fair in Lyon, Mr. Jarlath Sweeney, Chairman of the IVOTY jury, presented Mark Sutcliffe, SVP, LCV Business Unit, Renault Group, with the 2022 International Van of the Year award for All-new Kangoo Van. The Pan-European jury, of 24 leading journalists specialising in commercial, industrial, and transport vehicles, placed Renault’s latest van in front of the 14 light commercial vehicles from 11 different brands that have also been released in recent months.

For the IVOTY jury, the main criteria for the International Van of the Year Award are the vehicles’ contribution to the efficiency, safety, sustainability, and environmental standards of the light commercial vehicle sector.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

Community car share scheme launched

January 12, 2022Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

THE Southwest’s leading shared mobility organisation, Co Cars, launched its electric car club in Bude on Friday, November 12.

This has been thanks to Community Infrastructure Levy funding from Cornwall Council and the support of Bude-Stratton Town Council, Bude Coastal Community Team CIC, and the local community. This is the first on demand shared electric car scheme of its kind in Cornwall.

The two electric Renault Zoe cars with dual charging points are located at the Parkhouse Centre town council car park and are available to use by residents (and visitors) who sign up to the scheme.

On January 22, 2019, Cornwall Council declared a climate emergency. The Bude Climate Partnership has since been formed to work towards achieving carbon reduction in the town by 2030. The rural geographical locations of villages and towns in Cornwall is reported to have a vehicle fleet that is older than the national average, resulting in a more challenging context for carbon reduction from the transport sector.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

Renault dealers switch to EV courtesy fleet

November 29, 2021Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

Renault Retail Group has switched its fleet of courtesy cars to fully electric Renault Zoe models.

The business operates 15 dealerships in England and Wales and operates 164 courtesy cars.

The new electric vehicles (EVs) replace a selection of petrol-powered Renault Clio, Captur and Dacia Sandero models.

Ludovic Troyes, managing director of Renault Retail Group, said: “The 100% electric Renault Zoe has been prominent in the EV market for nearly 10 years, bringing zero-emissions motoring within the reach of everyone. By switching to electric courtesy cars, Renault Retail Group is giving all our customers the opportunity to experience the benefits of electric motoring, so they too can take advantage of affordable running costs whilst being kinder to the environment.”

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

Renault Presents the New-Generation Kangoo Van E-Tech With 186 Miles of Range

November 25, 2021Electric Cars, Kangoo Van E-Tech, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

Transporting heavy loads is not something BEV (battery electric vehicles) have proved to deal well with so far.

The massive battery pack they have to carry and the long times required to charge them will be a hindrance compared to FCEVs (fuel cell electric vehicles). On the other hand, small commercial vehicles will do just fine, as Renault proves with the new-generation Kangoo Van E-Tech.

The new van now presents a 45-kWh battery pack, more than double the Kangoo Z.E., which featured a 22-kWh unit. The benefits were also extended to the electric motor, which is more than twice as potent as its predecessor. While the Kangoo Z.E. had a 44 kW (59 hp) motor, the Van E-Tech has one that delivers 90 kW (121 hp).

Despite the two-fold improvements, that did not apply to the range. Instead of 170 kilometers (107 miles) of range under the NEDC cycle, it now presents 300 km (186 mi) of range, only under a more severe testing cycle: WLTP. We suspect the lower number than expected has to do with the testing method and the third-generation Kangoo being slightly larger (and heavier).

Renault has been a pioneer in using heat pumps in electric vehicles – with the ZOE – and the new Kangoo Van E-Tech is no exception. Renault says it extracts heat from “the air around the vehicle” without using energy in an electrical resistor. The company also said that the heat pump works best between -15ºC (-17.22ºF) and 15ºC (59ºF).

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

Renault Zoe gets new £32,295 Riviera Limited Edition

September 3, 2021Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

Just 300 limited-run Zoes will make it to the UK.

Renault has revealed a new high-end version of the Zoe E-Tech electric hatchback called the Riviera Limited Edition. Just 300 examples of the top-level supermini will be built for the UK market, with each costing £32,295 after the government’s Plug-In Car Grant has been applied.

Based on the currently range-topping GT Line trim – the best-selling version of the Zoe E-Tech – the Riviera Limited Edition comes with a host of internal and external upgrades. Midnight Blue Metallic I.D paint is standard, along with 16-inch alloy wheels and painted white body stripes.

Inside, the Riviera Limited Edition gets all the equipment found on the GT Line, but it adds ‘hands-free’ parking – a semi-autonomous parking aid that steers you into a space. Also included as standard are full LED headlights, a digital instrument display and a 9.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system.

Satellite navigation, automatic air conditioning and part-recycled cloth, part-synthetic leather upholstery are also thrown in. And you get the Apple CarPlay and Android Auto smartphone connectivity systems included in the list price.

Along with all that equipment, the Riviera Limited Edition also comes with a host of safety gadgets. Front and rear parking sensors are included, alongside a rear-view camera and cruise control. Equally high-tech additions include the lane departure warning system, blind spot monitoring and the automatic emergency brake system that can brake for you if you fail to respond to an impending collision.

Under the high-specification skin, the Zoe E-Tech Riviera Limited Edition comes with the standard Zoe’s 52 kWh battery pack, which allows it to cover up to 238 miles on a full charge. Charging the battery to 80 percent takes an hour and 10 minutes, while the 134 bhp electric motor gets the car to a top speed of 87 mph.

The new Zoe E-Tech Riviera Limited Edition is available to order from Renault dealerships now, with prices starting at £32,295 after the government’s £2,500 Plug-In Car Grant has been applied. That makes the new model just £200 more expensive than the existing GT Line trim level, although it’s almost £5,000 more expensive than the basic Zoe E-Tech Play version.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

Renault ZOE Will Be Phased-Out And Replaced By Renault 5

August 25, 2021Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, Sales, ZOERepost

The current generation ZOE is expected to continue only until around 2024.

According to Luca de Meo, Renault CEO, the ZOE will not live to see a next-generation as the company is switching to a new all-electric platform.

So far, the Renault ZOE was the best-selling all-electric model from Renault and one of the best-selling models in Europe.

However, the ZOE platform is getting old. The car was introduced around 2012, and since then upgraded several times (including a major refresh in 2019) in terms of new, higher capacity batteries, more powerful electric motors and most recently a DC fast charging option.

Our data indicates that the company has so far sold more than 300,000 ZOE (almost entirely in Europe).

Despite that, the ZOE will be replaced by a new electric car – the upcoming all-new Renault R5 around 2023/2024. It’s interesting, especially since in January we read that the ZOE will not be replaced.

Renault’s plan is to switch to the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance’s new CMF-EV platform to become more competitive. New solutions are expected to lower the costs quite significantly (maybe even by a third compared to ZOE, according to some reports).

The first CMF-EV-based Renault to be the all-electric Megane. The new wave of Renault’s BEVs will include also Renault 4, Renault 5 and performance-oriented Alpine models.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

Electric Car Awards 2021: Best used electric small car

August 13, 2021Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

With electrified cars now coming in all shapes and sizes – and available to suit every budget – we’ve named the best models in every class. Here we look at the best used electric small car…

If you want a small electric vehicle (EV) but your budget is limited, the answer, of course, is to buy a used one. But even then, a lot of them are beyond the pocket of the average motorist.

That’s where the Renault Zoe scores. You see, the Zoe is one of the older EVs on the market now, and it really does bring zero-emissions motoring within the reach of the masses; you can pick up an early example for as little as £6000.

Admittedly, those earlier Zoes with the 22kWh battery and 88bhp motor had pretty modest ranges, but later models with a 41kWh battery upped the official range to 186 miles – a very respectable figure – and these can now be had from around £12,000. A major facelift in 2020 brought a further increase in official range to between 238 and 245 miles.

Whether you buy an older or newer Zoe, what you’ll get is a small hatchback that’s smooth and easy to drive, and if you go for our preferred version, the later ZE40 R110, it’s nippy as well. Ride comfort is also good, with broken urban surfaces absorbed effectively.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

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.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form:

These models are are still eligible for the £2,500 electric car grant after new updates

April 1, 2021e, Electric Cars, Honda, Leaf, MG, MG5, News, Reviews and Comment, Nissan, Renault, Sales, ZOERepost

CAR GRANTS for those purchasing brand new fully-electric road cars have been dramatically cut from £3,000 to £2,500 under a new initiative from the Government.

Campaigners have attacked the proposals with many warning it could be families and those who need to purchase larger road cars who will be the most affected. The proposals also cap the scheme to models only priced below £35,000.

This means the UK’s most popular electric car, the Tesla Model 3 will no longer qualify as part of the plug-in grant discount.

With sales of brand new petrol and diesel road cars banned from 2040, drivers must switch.

But, road users can still secure a range of vehicles under the new measures including the popular Renault Zoe and Honda E.

Nissan Leaf
The Nissan Leaf is one of the longest-running electric vehicles on the market and is a popular option for those making the switch.

The Leaf is available for just over £27,000 while the Leaf + model can be purchased for around £33,000.

The classic Leaf is capable of up to a 168 miles of range on a single charge with the premium model said to manage up to 239 miles.

Nissan claims drivers who make the switch will also benefit from no congestion charge fees or Vehicle Excise Duty (VED) rates.

Nissan also states the cars are eligible for zero percent Benefit in Kind rates meaning company car owners will pay even less.

MG5 EV
The Government has confirmed one of the most popular electric cars the MG5 EV will still be eligible for grant payments.

The model starts from just £25,495 but is capable of up to 163 miles on electric power.

However, the car is one of the best low-budget options and even has a five star Euro NCAP crash test for extra road safety.

Honda- e
The Honda-e is one of the more quirkier electric cars on the market offering a unique, compact design.

The model is one of the only cars on the market to be fitted without traditional wing mirrors in place of camera technology beamed to the cockpit.

The car is available for just £27,000 but has a small range compared to some equivalent models with just 130 miles guaranteed.

It’s Time to Go Green!

If you would like to know more about Solar Panels and the PowerBanx range of home battery systems, and get a free instant quote, please complete our online form: