Category Archives: Renault

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

Renault Captur E-Tech plug-in hybrid review

November 16, 2020Captur E-TECH Plug-in, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

Does a 30-mile all-electric range make this compact SUV a more attractive option?

Renault isn’t shy about its role in the growing electrification of the motor industry.

In fact, it’s downright boastful about being one of the first major manufacturers to offer a fully electric car in the shape of the Zoe, which it launched in 2010. A decade later the Zoe is still going strong but the world hasn’t fully embraced EVs so car makers are looking at other ways to ease buyers into an electric future.

One such obvious method is hybrid models, which get drivers used to electric power but also, coincidentally, help manufacturers cut their fleet CO2 emissions at a time when serious new fines are on their way.

Which leads us to the Renault Captur E-TECH plug-in hybrid.

The Captur is one of three new hybrid variants launched at the same time by the French firm, sitting alongside a Clio “regular” hybrid and the Megane plug-in hybrid.

From the outside, the only obvious difference between this plug-in version of the compact SUV and a regular petrol Captur is the additional filler cover for the charging socket. Besides that, a couple of subtle E-TECH badges are the only indicators that this is a three-motor motor.

Yep, you read that right – three motors. The Captur hybrid uses a non-turbocharged 1.6-litre petrol engine as its main source of power, matched to a 49kW electric motor for a total of 158bhp. There’s also an integrated starter/generator like you’d find in a mild hybrid, which handles the start-up element and a small portion of the energy recovery that charges the battery. It’s all tied together with a clever clutchless transmission derived from Renault’s F1 technology.

It sounds complicated but in operation you’ll probably never worry about it. Everything runs together smoothly (most of the time) and the hybrid system generally takes care of switching between all-electric, all-petrol or a combination of the two, feeding energy from the engine or braking back to the battery as conditions allow. If you want to lock the car into electric-only mode, for example when in town, there’s a dashboard button for that. And, similarly, if you want to store battery power for a later time, there’s a battery save function.

The only problem with the hybrid system is a brief but distinct pause before the petrol engine kicks in if you accelerate hard in EV mode, for example when leaving a town for a national speed limit stretch. Around town, however, the Captur feels responsive as the electric motors give instant urgency for nipping through traffic. And once everything’s running harmoniously, the Captur is quick enough, with power to reach up to 83mph in all-electric mode.

In official testing, the Captur managed an all-electric range of 30 miles and fuel economy of 188mpg. On our test route, which took in a mix of A-road and urban driving, we saw an eye-opening 117mpg thanks to a fully charged battery and some useful energy recuperation.

Charging is taken care of via a 3.6kW on-board charger. This limits the charge speed but Renault says rapid charging isn’t necessary with a relatively small battery. Renault wants owners to use the Captur hybrid as an EV first and foremost so it will kindly fit a free home charging wallbox for buyers, allowing a full charge in between three and four hours.

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Islington Council welcomes new Renault Zoe fleet

November 10, 2020Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

Islington Council has added six Renault Zoes to its fleet as part of a gradual transition towards zero-emission vehicles.

The new additions will be used by the council’s Voids Team, who inspect and assess council properties that become empty across the borough’s near six square mile area, within its Housing Proerty Services division.

The arrival of the Council’s first Renault Zoes coincides with the upgrade of its fleet charging infrastructure. The council aims to switch more vehicles within its 500-strong fleet – spanning cars and small vans through to street sweeping vehicles and 26-tonne refuse and recycling collection vehicles – to electric.

Cllr Rowena Champion, Islington Council’s Executive Member for Environment and Transport, said: “Islington Council is committed to making our fleet greener, as part of our continuing efforts to clean the air that local people breathe and to help achieve our goal of creating a net zero carbon Islington by 2030.

“The use of the Renault Zoe by our Voids Team will help to achieve this goal, ensuring that the team are able to travel around the borough in an environmentally-friendly way. The team visits all kinds of locations across the borough, and the convenient size of the Zoe has proved to be hugely beneficial, ensuring that operatives can park easily. The Voids Team have also been complimentary on the ride, range and navigation system within the vehicle.”

Islington Council opted for the Renault Zoe due to the value it represented, its real-world range of up to 245 miles and flexible charging options. The vehicles were procured via The Procurement Partnership Limited (TPPL) framework agreement, which from a choice of vehicles from up to 14 manufacturers identified the Renault Zoe as the best fit for the requirements of Islington Council.

Finished in Glacier White with the addition of Islington’s Council livery, the Renault Zoes were ordered in the Iconic level of trim.

Vincent Tourette, managing director, Groupe Renault UK, added: “Islington Council covers one of the most densely populated London boroughs and we are delighted that it has chosen the Renault Zoe to help in its quest to make the region a cleaner and healthier environment and also support one of its busiest divisions.

“With councils under increasing financial strain and facing the difficult task of needing to lower their environmental impact without affecting their productivity, the Renault ZE electric vehicle range is proving the perfect solution. With our electric vehicle expertise spanning almost 10 years and our EV offering being stronger than ever, local authorities enjoy the peace-of-mind that a Renault electric vehicle is amongst the very best of its kind and that there’s a version that will certainly meet their passenger car and light commercial vehicle needs.”

Available from £26,995, on the road after the Plug-in Car Grant, the Renault Zoe offers a range of up to 245 and, with the 50KW DC rapid charge option, 90 miles of charge can be restored in 30 minutes.

We Drove 8 Electric Cars over 120 miles…

October 29, 2020Audi, Cooper Electric, e-2008, Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, Hyundai, Kia, Kona Electric, MINI, News, Reviews and Comment, Niro EV, Peugeot, Renault, Volkswagen, ZOERepost

…in real conditions so you don’t have to

As it turns out, not all electric cars are created equal

Electric cars are not absolute newcomers to the car industry anymore. Over the past five years or so, most carmakers have churned out at least one electric car with plans to release a handful of others over the coming decade or so. The charging infrastructure has grown, too.

While this is obviously good news, it also leaves us (and the customer) with quite a big pond of EVs to choose from. To add more to the confusion and indecision, electric cars come in all shapes and sizes, set in motion by just one electric motor, two, or even three, and, obviously, very different price tags. Long story short, picking your next electric car might leave you scratching the top of your head. We get it.

Fret not, though. We’ve been kindly invited by Romania’s leading car outlet, Automarket, to an eight-day, eight-car real-life experiment that set out to discover just how good (or bad) the latest electric cars are in actual traffic both in and outside the city. What followed was to be known as Electric Romania 2020, basically a workshop on wheels powered by Vitesco Technologies, joined by other partners such as Michelin. The experience helped us better digest and understand both the strengths and shortcomings of today’s electric car: range-wise but also in terms of comfort, dynamics, user friendliness, tech-savviness, and overall liveability.

This is where I started feeling like doing my dissertation paper all over again. Firstly, Electric Romania was thought out and designed as a tour of Romania done with EVs.

In case you’re asking why eight days, well, the backbone of the tour consisted of eight cars – all launched in 2020 on the Romanian market – and 14 journalists and content creators that would sample the said cars.

Basically, you got to drive another car each day, and the end of which you had to fill in a form with various bits of information: distance travelled, total time of travel, charging times, how much battery you had left at the destination, how much electricity went into the battery during charging, average speed, and so on.

So, each electric car was put through its paces over eight days, but every time by a different driver with a completely different set of driving habits than the one before him and on a different route. This included highways, winding A- and B-roads through the mountainside and hillside, as well as flat, plain-splitting roads where the elevation didn’t change much.

As for the car lineup itself, this is it, in the exact order we drove them:

Porsche Taycan
Renault Zoe
Volkswagen ID.3
Audi e-tron Sportback
Hyundai Kona Electric
Kia e-Niro
Mini Cooper SE
Peugeot e-2008
From here on, each car’s battery pack, electric motor (or motors), range, other specs as well as driving impressions will be presented as it follows.

Porsche had to get its first electric car right. And good God, it did. The Taycan Turbo is not just a flurry of performance, but a smile magnet. Sitting behind the wheel in the handful of traffic jams that slowed us down is the best way to enjoy the most honest smiles I’ve been treated with in a luxury car. Some people see you in Mercedes-AMG S63 or in a Panamera Turbo and you can just read either envy or loathing on their faces. With the Taycan, it’s the complete opposite: candid, genuine smiles from folks of all ages, walking on the street or driving in the next lane.

When you’re not sitting in a traffic jam, the Taycan Turbo’s personality can flip from tame to psycho as quick as it can go from naught to 60 mph: three seconds flat with Launch Control, on its way to a top speed of 260 kph (162 mph). The acceleration is brutal. You can easily squeeze a lot of squeal out of the wider-than-life rear tires from a standstill and with a drop of bad luck, you can even fracture a vertebra before the electronic nannies kick in or you decide to lift off. Even at highway speeds, smashing the accelerator will make the Taycan squat then shoot straight up ahead. The back of your head never leaves the headrest. Even if it wants, it can’t. At this point, I’m scared just thinking of what the Turbo S can do.

For a car this wide and long, city cruising is surprisingly swift and easy, but it’s the outer roads that make your spine tingle inside the Taycan. When on, the Launch Control feature triggers the Overboost function that unlocks the Turbo’s 500 kilowatts (670 hp, 680 PS) and 850 Newton-meters (627 pound-feet) coming from two electric motors fed by the 83.7-kWh battery pack (that’s the net, usable capacity – gross capacity according to Porsche literature is 93.4 kWh).

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Renault ‘lollipop’ measures air pollution to reduce idling

October 25, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

Renault has customised the traditional lollipop to monitor air quality levels during the school run in order to mark Clean Air Day (October 8th).

Renault commissioned the custom lollipop as part of its ‘Be Mindful, Don’t Idle’ campaign to raise awareness of the impact of parents and guardians leaving their engines running during the school run.

According to its nationwide research, 27% admit to idling regularly.

One side of the Renault lollipop displays the exact concentration of fine particulates – known as PM2.5 – in the atmosphere thanks to in-built air sensor technology. It displays the pollution level in real-time to road users.

The reverse features simple iconography that shows whether it is ‘Good’, ‘Okay’ or ‘Poor’ allowing both parents and children to see the quality of the air they are breathing as they enter the school gates. The bands are based on the boundaries published by the Department for Environment Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA), running through a range of PM2.5 levels.

The lollipop features a highly accurate sensor located in the circular section at the top behind the recognisable ‘Stop’ sign. The black bars have been modified on each side to display the PM2.5 level and associated rating to drivers and pedestrians.

The World Health Organisation recommends that the air we breathe should not exceed 10 μg/m3 of fine particulate matter. The legal limit in the UK is double that figure.

Demonstrated outside Castle Newnham school in Bedford on a road with two schools and a college, the Renault Lollipop recorded air pollution figures of between 2.5 μg/m3 and 14.7 μg/m3 from 7:00 to 7:45am which is deemed as low by DEFRA.

As the morning commute began to get busier, at 8:00am, this figure quickly went up to 25.7 μg/m3 with slightly heavier traffic – exceeding the legal limit in the UK. By the time of the afternoon school run – noticeably busier than the morning one – levels continued to exceed this figure.

Renault found idling is more common in urban areas – with 50.1% admitting to doing it – compared to 12% in rural locations. More than 28% of people said they leave their engines running for 6-10 minutes.

According to research by the British Lung Foundation and Asthma UK, in excess of 8,500 schools, nurseries and colleges in England, Scotland and Wales are located in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution.

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Renault Attacks Idling Pollution At Schools

October 11, 2020Electric Cars, Energy and Climate Change, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

I’m currently waiting for my daughter to get out of school. Being Florida, it’s hot as he**. So, everyone else sitting here is running their car.
I prefer to not think about the pollution that is rising up around us and that kids will have to walk through as they get out of school. There are perhaps 7 or 8 Teslas in the pickup area, but that’s nothing compared to the many, many more that are burning gasoline. While it won’t help me, I’m happy to see that Renault is doing something about this problem in the UK.

Despite not being a scorching hot mess, 27% of parents in the UK admit to idling while waiting for their children — men more than 50% likely to do so than women (or more than 50% likely to admit it). As a result, “1 in 3 children in the UK breathe unsafe levels of air pollution,” according to Renault.

Interestingly, in the UK, sitting in a car and idling with the engine running is illegal! Didn’t know that? Don’t worry, neither did 60% of respondents. What is there to do about the idling problem if it’s already illegal? Yep — raise awareness around the problem, the law, and solutions. Hence, Renault has launched the “Be Mindful, Don’t Idle” awareness campaign.

The stakes? According to Renault, “More than 8,500 schools, nurseries and colleges in England, Scotland and Wales are located in areas with dangerously high levels of pollution.”

“The fact that the majority of people don’t realise that idling is illegal just highlights the scale of the problem,” explains Matt Shirley, Senior Manager, Electrification & New Mobility. “Every minute a car is idling it produces enough emissions to fill 150 balloons. It goes without saying, if the 27% of school run journeys stop idling, there would be a significant improvement in the air quality for their children.”

Naturally, the easiest solution to enjoy your air conditioning or heater without causing harmful pollution where your kids are walking around is to go electric. Renault’s awareness campaign may be partly or even mostly altruistic, but it’s also a marketing campaign. Renault is a leader in the electric vehicle market, and the more people see the benefits of an electric car, the more ZOEs it’s going to move.

So far in 2020, the Renault ZOE is the top selling electric vehicle in Europe. Indeed — it’s even outselling the Tesla Model 3 so far this year. We’ll see what happens as the year closes out, but the ZOE is certainly in the running for best selling vehicle of the year even at the end of December.

In the UK, where this awareness campaign is focused, the ZOE also sells well, and plugin vehicle vehicle sales overall have risen to 10% of automobile sales in the market.

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First drive: Renault Captur E-Tech

October 6, 2020Captur E-TECH Plug-in, Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, RenaultRepost

Renault is about to offer the Captur with its latest petrol-electric powertrain. The tech is fascinating, but business users will be just as interested in the 10% BIK rate.

The Captur is already a phenomenally successful product for Renault and it’s easy to see why. Marrying the funky visual attractions and the elevated driving position of an SUV to the easy driving manners of an agile supermini, you would be forgiven for thinking it couldn’t be any more on-trend. Well, if anything, it’s about to become even more ‘street’ as Renault launches a new plug-in hybrid Captur.

By now, most of us are familiar with plug-in hybrids and most of us understand the concept of using a combination of a petrol engine – diesel examples are increasingly rare – and an electric motor to boost a vehicle’s power output and reduce CO2 emissions. To many business users it’s an attractive solution, thanks to the claim of stellar fuel economy figures plus low CO2 outputs, which equate to reduced benefit-in-kind rates.

The Captur’s 10% BIK rating is essentially calculated on its ability to travel up to 30 miles and up to 84mph on electric propulsion alone. Although 10% may not be quite as appealing as the current 0% of pure electric vehicles, such as Renault’s own Zoe, it’s considerably less punitive than the taxation kicking dished out to diesel car drivers.

The biggest advantage plug-in hybrids have over pure electric vehicles is that they are not constrained by battery range alone, as they will continue to run on petrol power once the battery’s power is depleted.

In the Captur’s case, you charge its battery via a 7kW wall-mounted charger – there is no fast charge option – most likely overnight.

Strict adherence to this regime is key because if you forget to charge up you will cop for a double penalty, as not only will you be hauling around the deadweight of a drained battery pack, you will also be sapping energy from the petrol engine as it attempts to re-energise the battery.

Undoubtedly, the trickiest piece of the Captur’s powertrain is its clutchless automatic gearbox, which uses electric motors to synchronise gearchanges. It’s a smart solution and for the most part works pretty seamlessly. However, it is not without its quirks.

Because the battery power cannot be allowed to drop below a certain level, as it needs to retain sufficient energy to enable the starter motor to work, including its many stop-start procedures, the petrol engine will occasionally take on a mind of its own, and out of the blue send the revs soaring to generate a re-energising flow of electricity.

We experienced this on two separate occasions. Once at a standstill, when it seemed odd to hear the revs cranked well above idle but not particularly alarming, and also at crawling speeds, where the connection to the engine was seemingly lost to some form of artificial intelligence. Less intrusive are the occasional shudders that accompany some shifts and the odd time where the gears seem reluctant to downshift, leaving the engine to labour up steep inclines.

Compared to the high-tech gearbox the 1.6-litre four-cylinder petrol engine is positively old school. Eschewing a turbocharger and relying purely on fuel injection, it is designed with smoothness and quietness in mind, mainly to minimise the aural and vibration transitions between electric and petrol modes. To this end, it is highly effective, only ever sounding strained when worked excessively hard.

Like most Renaults these days the Captur focuses more on comfort than dynamics. Although there is some audible whine from the electric motor, wind, road and suspension noise are generally well suppressed, while both the steering and the brakes demonstrate a consistent, connected feel.

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Council switches entire pool car fleet to Renault Zoe EVs

October 4, 2020Electric Cars, News, Reviews and Comment, ZOERepost

South Lanarkshire Council has taken delivery of 141 Renault Zoe electric superminis, ensuring that more than a quarter (28%) of its small fleet will be fully electric.

The purchase – which represents the biggest-ever Scottish order for Renault’s electric vehicles – will see 104 vehicles used to switch the council’s entire pool car fleet away from the former diesel vehicles.

The remaining 37 Renault Zoes will be deployed across a range of council services including Roads, Housing and Technical and South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture, supported by their official 245-mile range.

While the deal will cut both emissions and running costs for the council, the hope is that the chance to trial EVs in the real world will also spur employees to switch their own personal vehicles to electric ones.

The council’s vehicles are being funded by a grant of more than £1m from Transport Scotland’s Switched on Fleets Programme and will be charged by existing council charging points, backed by the addition of more chargers in the near future.

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THE CARS WITH ONE EYE ON SUSTAINABILITY

October 3, 2020BMW, Electric Cars, Ford, Hyundai, i3, IONIQ Electric, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, ZOERepost

Recycling. It’s a word which most people know and understand. In a world faced with imminent climate change, recycling is a way for us to limit our own impact on the earth through reducing waste and turning what we’d usually throw away into something new.

Manufacturers are just as aware of this too. In fact, plenty of car makers are integrating recycled materials into their vehicles. Let’s take a look at some of the best.

BMW I3
BMW’s striking i3 is green from the off, as its fully electric powertrain has far less of an impact on the environment than an equivalent petrol or diesel-powered car. However, it goes further with an interior which majors on sustainability.

Much of the interior is made from kenaf, which is a lightweight, quick-growing material taken from the mallow plant. The dashboard is crafted from eucalyptus, while the seats are woven from sustainable wool. Check out i3 models for sale here.

POLESTAR 2
Polestar’s new 2 is a car which has been brought in to take the fight to Tesla in the electric car stakes. However, it hasn’t lost track of the end goal – to reduce environmental impact – which is why you’ll find eco-friendly techniques and materials used throughout its construction.

It uses natural fibre composites to reduce the car’s overall use of plastic while at the same time driving down weight. In addition, the seats themselves are made from recycled plastic bottles, the upholstery is entirely vegan-friendly and the carpets are made from old fishing nets too. Don’t worry – they’ve been cleaned first.

HYUNDAI IONIQ ELECTRIC
Hyundai’s Ioniq was somewhat of a trendsetter from the off, as it was one of the first cars to be offered with three powertrains – regular hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric. However, it’s just as cutting edge in other areas too.

Hyundai used recycled plastic mixed with powdered wood and volcanic stone to lower the weight of the interior plastics by an incredible 20 per cent.

Vauxhall Corsa-e vs Renault ZOE: verdict and specifications

September 24, 2020Electric Cars, Renault, ZOERepost

The Renault ZOE outshines the Vauxhall Corsa-e in several key areas, but it’s a fairly close result

Both of these electric superminis make a lot of sense for a lot of people. They’re not meant for long trips, but if you can get over that and realise that most journeys are short, especially if you live in a city, then their ranges of up to 200 miles are plenty.

The ZOE makes just a bit more sense overall, though. It’s more comfortable than the Corsa-e while also being more practical, and the interior is a nicer place to spend time. Yet the Corsa-e’s faster rapid charging capability and punchy motor mean it still has lots of appeal.

1st: Renault ZOE
The ZOE is punchy despite being less powerful than its rival, and it also has a longer range than the Corsa-e. The 50kW rapid charging compatibility is enough for most users, too. The Renault is also more spacious than the Vauxhall, with a better-quality interior, a longer warranty and slightly better infotainment – so it’s the winner here and one of the best EV superminis around.

2nd: Vauxhall Corsa-e
The Vauxhall’s lower-quality cabin, smaller boot and more cramped rear seats let it down somewhat, but in most other areas it’s good. The 100kW rapid charging is a big bonus as it’ll reduce time spent waiting around, and it has enough range for daily use. It’s agile, nippy and quite fun to drive as well, so it’s worth a look if you’re after a small EV.

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Global Plug-In Electric Car Sales July 2020: The Market Takes Off

September 14, 2020Electric Cars, Hyundai, Model 3, News, Reviews and Comment, Renault, Sales, Tesla, ZOERepost

Tesla exceeds 200,000 YTD, while 9 other brands sold more than 10,000 passenger plug-in cars.

After about a year of relatively low growth or noticeable decline inf global plug-in electric car sales, July 2020 finally brings us a strong bounce up.

With close to 248,000 sales (the 4th best monthly result ever), sales improved by 76% year-over-year, and market share is up too, at 3.7% (7% decline in the overall car sales helped a little bit).

All-electric cars hold the majority of plug-in car sales (64% and 67% YTD), although growth of 63% year-over-year in July is significantly lower than in the case of plug-in hybrids (up 106% year-over-year).

During seven months of 2020, almost 1.2 million passenger plug-in cars were sold globally, which is 5% than a year ago at this point, but the perspective is positive as Europe is booming and China has returned to growth.

Model rank
The top selling models last month were:

Tesla Model 3 – 22,461 (#1 YTD: 164,800)
Renault ZOE – 9,410 (#2 YTD: 46,511)
Tesla Model Y – 7,540 (#11 YTD: 20,955)
Wuling’s Hong Guang MINI EV – 7,348 (outside top 20)
Hyundai Kona Electric – 6,257 (#4 YTD: 25,549)
The Model 3 is pulling forward quickly and is so far ahead that we can already assume it’s the best-selling car of the year 2020, just like in 2019.

Renault ZOE is really strong and clearly stands out from the rest of the pack. The time will tell whether it will be caught by others, like Model Y or Wuling’s Hong Guang MINI EV (with over 50,000 orders).

By the way, Hyundai Kona Electric passed the Volkswagen e-Golf and is now targeting the Nissan LEAF.

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