After six months and almost five thousand miles, our ZOE has gone back to Renault. But, in that time, it’s answered the question I’ve been asked so many times since it was delivered: what’s it really like living with an electric vehicle?

It’s much easier than you’d expect. We usually carry hundreds of miles of unnecessary fuel in a conventional car, but the ZOE shows a typical range of between 80 and 100 miles is quite generous. It’s enough to comfortably get from my house in Cardiff to Bristol and back, and the electricity costs less than half the price of the Severn Bridge toll. At each end, I can plug in while I do other things.

Of course, long trips take planning. The range drops to around 75 miles on the motorway, not helped by my impatience at the Eco mode’s 60mph speed limiter. At a steady 70mph, with the blowers on but air conditioning off, it comfortably gets between Ecotricity’s Electric Highway network on an 80% charge, reached in 20 minutes. Range anxiety is usually down to bad planning.

It’s hard not to love the technology, too. R-Link is fiddly at first but easy to get used to, setting cabin temperatures from your bed is a useful feature, and the Chameleon Charger means it takes the fastest charging speeds from whatever you can plug it into. Domestic sockets are the painfully slow exception, though, and the three-pin cable is really only a backup.

The more you live with it, the more it becomes a normal car. It’s stylish, comfortable, has a generous boot, folding seats and ISOFIX points in the back, plus the refinement is blissful. For mostly urban driving and occasional motorway trips, do you really need a plug-in hybrid?

Source: EV Fleet World

The Renault Cléon plant will create 100 jobs with open-ended contracts in 2015 as part of a plan announced by Carlos Ghosn on February 12. The plan involves the hiring of 1,000 people in 2015, including 500 in French plants.

More than 50 years after it was built in 1958, the Cléon plant is taking on the production of the all-Renault electric engine, the R 240. Combined with optimised battery management, this engine extends the ZOE’s range to 240 kilometres[1] – a boost of 30 kilometres.

To enable the launch, €50 million were invested from the €300 million earmarked for the plant in 2011. This new technology is part of the Alliance’s electric strategy and will also benefit Renault partners.

100 jobs created

By creating 100 new jobs, the Cléon plant is reinforcing its skills to meet high commercial demand from the Alliance partners. These permanent positions will go to candidates in a range of occupational categories and having varied qualification levels, from vocational training certificates to two-year post-baccalauréat diplomas.

This job creation program follows a training plan developed in 2012, which features approximately 6,000 hours of training in preparation for the production of the R 240. The plan includes general theoretical training on the electric engine for all players involved in the project as well as technical training on the machines, in cooperation with the suppliers, for operators and maintenance staff.

Renault’s acquired electrotechnical expertise serving the alliance

Cléon has been leveraging its experience for a little more than two years with the production of the ZOE Junction Box, the system developed by Renault Technocentre engineers that manages the car’s energy transfers. The Cléon plant has mastered the assembly of electronic modules and gained invaluable experience for the production of the powerful R 240 electric engine. This expertise has made it possible to extend the ZOE’s range to 240 kilometres[1] – a boost of 30 kilometres – and will also benefit Alliance partners.

For the comparable common components of Renault and Nissan engines, the engineering and operating teams drew inspiration from Nissan’s experience in producing the LEAF engine. Cléon also gained from the expertise of local businesses that manufacture electric engines for other purposes.

Recognised industrial activity

The engines and gearboxes produced at the Cléon plant have been a true success which, in the first quarter of 2015, translated into an overall increase in activity and proportionally more business from partners (Nissan, Dacia, Samsung, Daimler, General Motors). These partners accounted for 43% of the plant’s engine and gearbox production in Q1 2015 compared to 37% at end-2014.

In addition to this burst in activity to meet high demand from Renault, Nissan and Daimler, the Cléon plant is also gearing up for several launches. The plant, which already supplies engines and gearboxes for the Trafic, recently delivered the first engines for the Opel version of the van. New vehicles in the Renault range such as the Espace and the Kadjar also benefit from powertrain components produced at Cléon. And the ZOE already features the Alliance’s brand new electric engine, the R 240. These recent and upcoming launches should help increase the site’s manufacturing volumes.

“This is fantastic news for the Cléon plant. These new hires will reinforce Renault’s skills in terms of designing and manufacturing electric vehicles. This activity in France, at the heart of the European market, is part of the Alliance’s electric strategy and will benefit its partners as well.” Stefan MUELLER, SVP Operations, Europe Region.

Key 2014 figures for Cléon:

• More than 1 million engines and gearboxes manufactured
• 14,537 tonnes of aluminium parts cast
• 65% of production exported
• 63% of production for Renault, with
• 37% going to other Group, Alliance and partner brands
• Nearly 20% of production for Nissan.
• 44% of production for passenger cars and 56% for LCVs

[1] Range measured in accordance with standards in force

Source: Renault Press Release

After six months and almost five thousand miles, our ZOE has gone back to Renault. But, in that time, it’s answered the question I’ve been asked so many times since it was delivered: what’s it really like living with an electric vehicle?

It’s much easier than you’d expect. We usually carry hundreds of miles of unnecessary fuel in a conventional car, but the ZOE shows a typical range of between 80 and 100 miles is quite generous. It’s enough to comfortably get from my house in Cardiff to Bristol and back, and the electricity costs less than half the price of the Severn Bridge toll. At each end, I can plug in while I do other things.

Of course, long trips take planning. The range drops to around 75 miles on the motorway, not helped by my impatience at the Eco mode’s 60mph speed limiter. At a steady 70mph, with the blowers on but air conditioning off, it comfortably gets between Ecotricity’s Electric Highway network on an 80% charge, reached in 20 minutes. Range anxiety is usually down to bad planning.

It’s hard not to love the technology, too. R-Link is fiddly at first but easy to get used to, setting cabin temperatures from your bed is a useful feature, and the Chameleon Charger means it takes the fastest charging speeds from whatever you can plug it into. Domestic sockets are the painfully slow exception, though, and the three-pin cable is really only a backup.

The more you live with it, the more it becomes a normal car. It’s stylish, comfortable, has a generous boot, folding seats and ISOFIX points in the back, plus the refinement is blissful. For mostly urban driving and occasional motorway trips, do you really need a plug-in hybrid?

Source: EV Fleet World