PARIS/TOKYO (Reuters) – Europe’s car industry was put on alert for more job losses on Friday as a French minister warned Renault could disappear if it didn’t get help soon and a Japanese news report said partner Nissan was considering 20,000 layoffs, with many in Europe.
Renault (RENA.PA) and Nissan (7201.T) have been in a carmaking alliance for the past two decades and are due to announce a strategy update next Wednesday.
The plan was originally billed as a reset of their relationship, which was rocked by the November 2018 arrest in Japan of the alliance’s architect and long-time boss Carlos Ghosn on charges of financial misconduct, which he denies.
2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
However, the update has taken on greater significance since the coronavirus pandemic hammered demand for vehicles and threw production into disarray.
French finance minister Bruno Le Maire, who is considering a 5 billion euro ($5.5 billion) loan for Renault to help it through the crisis, warned on Friday the company’s future was at stake.
“Yes, Renault could disappear,” he told Europe 1 radio.
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Consumer passenger cars aren’t the only vehicles undergoing electric transformations. We’ve seen the introduction of early electric fire trucks, and now Japan is getting its first electric ambulance. It’s a Nissan NV400, and it will be used by the Tokyo Fire Department at the Ikebukuro station.
Nissan NV-400 (Renault Master ZE) Ambulance
Though badged as a Nissan, the NV400 is at its heart a Renault Master Z.E. electric van. The powertrain is the same as the French van with a 33-kilowatt-hour battery (7 kWhs less than the base Nissan Leaf) and a 55-kW motor driving the front wheels. That translates to 74 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque. That doesn’t sound like much, but in as dense a city as Tokyo, it’s not likely the NV400 will be able to reach high speeds at all, even if it had a Hellcat engine.
There are a couple of unique additions to the van to enhance its ambulance capability. One is the inclusion of a separate 8-kWh lithium-ion battery that can operate all the equipment on board for long periods of time without eating into the ambulance’s range. It can even be used like a generator to provide power to external emergency equipment. Then there’s the stretcher, which Nissan vaguely says is electrified to make it easier to use by the medical personnel. We presume the stretcher has an electric motor to make it easier to push around.
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Mirror Motoring’s Colin Goodwin has found the Renault Zoe electric vehicle the perfect runner in lockdown to go and visit his mum and – with no off-street parking – found it easy to charge up away from home
There’s only one essential journey that I have to make and that’s to care for my 94-year-old mum.
She’s only 10 miles away and for this I’ve been using a new Renault Zoe that was delivered a few days before the lockdown started.
The improved Renault Zoe has a longer range and posher interior (Image: Renault)
This is the longest period that I’ve run an electric car and it’s proving to be a very interesting experience as I live in a terraced street with no off-street parking.
That means I cannot charge the car at home.
This leaves me with three options: our local mini Waitrose which has a Polar public charging point; my pal Jim’s wallbox charger; or public charging points while out on my travels.
Anyway, this is the third generation Zoe and its range has been extended to 245 miles thanks to a 52kWh battery.
There’s also a new front bumper and LED headlamps.
Other changes to the car’s lines bring its styling more into line with the latest Clio and Captur models.
The more significant changes, however, have taken place inside.
Many of the hard plastics have been replaced by soft-touch materials. There’s also more brightwork which lifts the perceived quality.
There are three grades of Zoe to choose from, starting with the entry-level Play (106bhp R110 motor), the Iconic (R110 or 133bhp R135 motor) and top-spec GT Line (R135 motor only).
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PARIS — A trade union representing workers at Renault’s Flins plant near Paris on Sunday urged staff not to return to work before May 11, saying it was still too risky in terms of their health given the coronavirus crisis.
The SUD union said that Renault management had asked workers to return to the Flins plant from April 28/April 29.
2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
The factory, which builds the Renault Zoe electric small car and the Nissan Micra small hatchback, will be the first Renault assembly plant to start up again after the automaker closed European factories in mid-March. Renault’s other French car plants will resume production in May, Renault has said.
The French government has earmarked May 11 for when it will start to ease a national lockdown imposed in mid-March to tackle the spread of the virus.
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Zoe will no longer be the French brand’s only big bet on the electric market. The SUV will be based on the Renault Morphoz concept
Renault is one of the brands that most bet on all-electric cars – so much so that it simply ignores hybrid cars. But, over time, Zoe has been the French brand’s only major commercial bet in this segment. Now the situation is going to change. According to the English magazine Auto Express, within 18 months a new car with good commercial potential will keep Zoe company. It is an SUV based on the Morphoz concept.
Renault electric SUV (Image: Auto Express/Playback)
Renault’s new electric SUV will be the production version of the Morphoz concept.
According to Auto Express, Renault Group’s head of design, Laurens van den Acker, said: “I hope we can make it look more like a Morphoz. O [conceito] Morphoz was an interesting exercise, because I wanted to make sure that our electric cars had a lot of personality, even if they didn’t have the usual features or elements that a traditional car has, like a large grille; the traditional elements that you encounter in a vehicle ”.
The car uses the new CMF-EV electric car platform from the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi Alliance.
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Ah, testing a small electric car. Let me guess. Honda e… Mini… 208… Corsa… Cinquecento?
Keep guessing. This is indeed a part of Planet Car that has become pretty congested in the last couple of months. But let’s not forget the one that has owned the territory for more than eight years, the Renault Zoe. And it’s just had a major going over.
2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
So what is it? A dodderer that’s about ready to be put out to grass, or a wily old stager that can still teach the whippersnappers a thing or two?
Well, it does well in the headline one electric-car issue: range. Here are the numbers: Honda 137 miles, Mini 144, Fiat 199, Vauxhall 209, Peugeot 212, all in their small-wheel versions.
The Zoe hits 245 miles by the same slightly artificial measure. Dah winnah!
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But the maximum power is available just up to around 30% state-of-charge (SOC) and then fades slowly to about 25 kW at 80% SOC.
Fastned, one of the most known European fast-charging networks (focused mostly in the Netherlands and surrounding countries), recently checked out the all-new Renault ZOE with CCS Combo DC fast charging capability at one of its stations. Here are the results.
2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
The ZOE is the first Renault with an optional CCS inlet (the previous generation had only AC Type 2 inlet for 1 or 3-phase charging), which allows for the most versatile charging:
1-phase charging up to 7.3 kW
3-phase charging up to 22 kW
DC (within the basic range of 50 kW)
According to Fastned, the ZOE with Z.E. 50 battery pack (52 kWh usable and estimated 55 kWh total), can accept up to 46 kW peak power from an external DC charger.
46 kW is not much, but we would not complain, because the ZOE is a city car after all.
However, as we can see on the chart, once the battery state-of-charge (SOC) hit about 30%, charging power steadily tapers down. It lowers to about 25 kW at 80% SOC.
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Renault has upgraded the Zoe with a super range, while MG is undercutting every comparable electric car. Who has the brighter idea?…
For all the hype around Tesla, and as much as you might dream of owning a Model 3, a Model S or perhaps even a Model X, there’s more than a reasonable chance you don’t have the wherewithal. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider an electric car at all, because there are now quite a few that offer many of the same perks for a much lower price.
MG ZS EV (Image: T. Larkum)
So, assuming that you need a reasonable boot and rear seats that can comfortably accommodate adults, what are your cheapest options? Well, the Renault Zoe is certainly one; this car came out in 2013 but has just been thoroughly overhauled, with a bigger battery, a new interior, a swanky infotainment system and the option of a more potent motor.
Prices start at £25,670 (after the Government’s £3500 grant), but here we’re testing the range-topping GT Line, which gets all the gadgets you’re likely to want. Meanwhile, the MG ZS EV can cost just £22,495 (again, after the grant), although we’ve picked the range-topping Exclusive for a closer match with our chosen Zoe.
Driving
Performance, ride, handling, refinement
Although the Zoe offers two power outputs (108bhp or 132bhp), you get the stronger motor as standard with GT Line trim. Don’t expect anything remotely close to Tesla performance, but acceleration is still punchy away from the line and you can easily keep up in the outside lane of the motorway.
The ZS is quicker – not hugely, but put your foot down and it surges forth with noticeably more vigour. In fact, in the wet, you have to be a bit gentle when pulling out of junctions, lest the 141bhp motor spin up the front wheels.
Lift off the accelerator pedal in either car and you feel yourself slowing down as the regenerative braking system harvests energy to replenish the battery. And you can strengthen this effect so that you’ll need the brake pedal less often.
Performance isn’t just about how quickly you can speed up and slow down; it’s also about how far you can travel between charges. Officially, this Zoe can achieve 238 miles, compared with 163 for the ZS – unsurprising, considering the French car is more aerodynamic and has a bigger battery.
In our real-world tests, the Zoe went a very respectable 192 miles on a full charge (slightly farther than the entry-level Tesla Model 3). We were unable to test the ZS, due to unreliable weather, but it’s likely to be at least 50 miles adrift in equivalent conditions.
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Renault’s bet on the Zoe electric car is starting to pay off. Sales surged to almost 10,000 units in Europe last month and the vehicle is becoming one of the brand’s best-selling cars.
Despite being only sold in Europe, the Renault Zoe is one of the best-selling electric cars in the world.
2020 Renault Zoe (Image: Renault)
Total deliveries have now surpassed 250,000 units and what is most surprising is that sales are not slowing down.
Last month, Renault delivered almost 10,000 Zoe electric cars in Europe.
That’s twice as many units as the previous month and a 156% increase over the same period last year.
In January, the Zoe was Renault’s second best-selling car in Europe – second only to Clio 5, which was delivered in higher volume…
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Renault’s electric automatic Zoe electric vehicle (EV) has retained its title as the fastest selling used car in the UK, with the 2016 variant taking the top spot in the first review of the Auto Trader Fastest Selling Index of the year.
The result adds further weight to the prediction from automotive analysts that 2020 is set to be the year of the electric car. The latest figures from the Index, which live tracks the speed at which vehicles sell combined with a 1-100 Retail Rating determined by live supply and demand, showed that the French ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) currently has the potential to leave forecourts in just 25 days. Despite the 2016 variant topping January’s list, with just one Zoe featuring on the top 10, January marks a slight decline in popularity compared to December, where three made the list.
2018 – Renault ZOE
“Despite a slight increase of traditional fuelled vehicles on the top 10, it’s impossible to ignore the huge shift in consumer perception towards low emission cars”
said Auto Trader’s director of commercial products, Karolina Edwards-Smajda, commenting on the Index.
“Whilst we’re a long way from mass adoption, every metric on our marketplace indicates an ever-growing appetite for electric. Not only has the ZOE continued its reign into the new year, but over the last 12 months we’ve seen a significant 78 percent increase in searches for EVs on Auto Trader. With more and more new generation models set to reach showrooms this year, coupled with fast improving infrastructure, its looking increasingly likely that 2020 will indeed be the year of electric.”
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