• Renault ZOE wins carwow Eco Award at carwow’s annual award ceremony, held today in London
• All-electric ZOE is the flagship of Renault’s diverse Z.E. electric vehicle range
• ZOE is priced from £17,420 on the road, after Plug-in Car Grant and excluding battery hire

Renault’s all-electric ZOE has won the carwow Car of the Year Eco Award in a presentation that took place today at The Shard in Southwark, London.

Commenting on the Renault ZOE, carwow presenter Mat Watson said:

“The carwow Eco Award goes to a pure electric car – the Renault ZOE which is affordable, gives decent range and is now nippier thanks to a new uprated motor. And if you charge it from renewable sources it’s truly zero emission.”

Vincent Tourette, Managing Director of Renault UK, said:

“The ZOE is at the forefront of electric driving across the UK and the car showcases Renault’s leadership in electric technology. It’s highly equipped and the latest R110 motor makes the ZOE even more responsive to drive. We thank carwow for presenting us with the carwow Eco Award today.”

The ZOE is available with an easy choice of two motors and two trims. In March this year the new R110 motor went on sale, giving more power but with the same range as the electric motor it replaced. The R110 motor is two seconds faster when accelerating from 50mph to 75mph compared to the previous motor, with a real-world range of 186 miles.

ZOE is also available with the Q90 motor, which includes a rapid charge function. With a 43kW connection a ZOE equipped with the Q90 motor will charge from zero to 80 per cent in one hour. While the R110 motor is well suited to driving around town, the Q90, with its rapid charging functionality, is perhaps better suited to driving longer distances.

Both motors are available on the Dynamique Nav and the Signature Nav trims. ZOE Dynamique Nav has, in addition to its comprehensive list of standard equipment, rear parking sensors, cruise control and Renault’s 7-inch R-Link infotainment system.

Renault’s R-Link infotainment system utilises Android Auto to link the driver or passenger’s smartphone to the ZOE and mirrors the phone display onto the vehicle’s seven-inch colour touchscreen to enable easy use of the smartphone’s functionality in the car.

Signature Nav offers premium leather upholstery, a BOSE® audio system, heated front seats, electrically folding door mirrors and a rear parking camera.

ZOE continues to be available to purchase in two ways. First, under a battery hire scheme, where ZOE pricing starts at £17,420 (OTR) after the Government Plug-in Car Grant, with battery leasing from £59 per month. In addition, Renault offers retail customers who purchase a ZOE, a free 7kW wall box charger fully-installed at their home to ensure the best possible electric experience.

Source: Renault Press

It’s no secret that the Renault Zoe is Europe’s best-selling electric vehicle, with more than 110,000 units sold since launching at the end of 2012.

To celebrate that sales milestone, Renault has given its electric supermini a special edition version fittingly called “Iconic.” Unveiled at the Paris Auto Show, the Zoe Iconic comes with exclusive exterior and interior features.

On the outside, the special edition EV sports a Highland Grey paintwork and, 17-inch aluminum wheels, and Iconic badges on the front fenders. Inside, the Zoe Iconic gains a grey-colored upholstery, “Iconic” sill plates, as well as a double bottom accessory for the luggage compartment that frees up loading space by storing the cables.

The Renault Zoe Iconic is available both with the new R110 electric motor or the older Q90 unit (a version of the R90 equipped for fast charging). The former produces 80 kW (109 PS/108 hp) and 225 Nm (166 lb-ft) of torque, while the latter makes 68 kW (92 PS/91 hp) and an identical peak torque.

The added power helps the Zoe equipped with the R110 motor cover the 80-120 km/h (50-70 mph) sprint two seconds faster than with the smaller unit. Conversely, the 0 to 100 km/h acceleration takes 11.6 seconds, and top speed is limited at 135 km/h (84 mph).

Read more: Car Scoops

SCOTTISH motorsport history was made at Kames Motorsport Complex, Muirkirk on Sunday, September 23 during the Albar Trophy Rally.

Welshman Cameron Davies took to the track in his Renault ZOE, the first electric car to compete in a motorsport competition in Scotland.

A respectable finish followed for Davies who spent most of the day explaining the characteristics of the car to competitors and spectators alike.

The rally season at Kames ended in a convincing win for Trabboch’s Colin Gemmell and co-driver Derek Keir from Ayr in their 2.5 litre Mk2 Ford Escort.

Graham Bruce, from Sundrum and Paul Toner were runners-up in a similar car with another East Ayrshire Car Club crew David McLeod and Eamonn Boyle third in a hard-worked Talbot Sunbeam.

Their was a photo finish in the junior section as Oliver Hunter and Tom Hynd (Peugeot 107) beat Lewis Haining and George Myatt (Skoda Citigo) by one second.

Read more: Cumnock Chronicle

Auto Trader has revealed the Renault Zoe as the UK’s fastest selling used vehicle in July, taking just 18 days to shift off forecourts.

It is the first time a fully electric vehicle has topped Auto Trader’s national top 10 list of fastest selling used cars.

An electric hybrid variation of the Mitsubishi Outlander MPV beat petrol and diesel-powered counterparts to become the fastest selling used car in London last month, taking just 12 days to sell.

Read more: Motor Trader

The all-electric Renault ZOE has been updated for 2018, and with it comes a new more powerful 106bhp motor

Verdict: 4 stars – The updates to the Renault ZOE bring a welcome dose of power, while keeping the old car’s usable range. Otherwise, it remains the same spacious, relaxing, all-electric supermini it was before. It’s worth sitting down to do some sums; the ZOE could save you money relative to established petrol or diesel-powered alternatives. Cars it’s more than good enough to be judged against.

There’s definitely more ostentatious electric cars than the Renault ZOE, but few are as successful. The ZOE has been the best-selling EV in Europe three years in a row, and only in 2018 did it slip behind the latest Nissan Leaf. It’s a car that is – quite literally – going quietly about its business.

To keep it fresh, the ZOE gains a range of updates for 2018. The infotainment system gets Android Auto for the first time and there’s a new purple paint finish on the options list. The range has been simplified, as well, with just two trim levels to choose from.

This Dynamique S Nav we’re testing here has all the kit you’d ever need; a seven-inch touchscreen with sat nav, auto headlights and wipers, climate control and rear parking sensors are all standard. The top spec Signature Nav adds leather seats, a Bose hi-fi (a £350 option on the Dynamique S Nav), and a rear parking camera.

The most significant upgrade comes to the motor, which produces 16bhp more than the old one. It’s an increase that is welcome on the move. While Renault quotes a 0-62mph time of 11.9 seconds (an improvement of 1.3 seconds over the old car) – at low speeds it feels much faster than those numbers suggest. The electric motor gives instant throttle response, letting the ZOE launch away from junctions and dart into gaps in traffic.

Read more: AutoExpress

New motor boosts electric car’s performance; it’s no every-occasion car, but it has loads of appeal as an urban runabout

What is it?

Renault’s European battery car sales champion, the Zoe, has just been tweaked and updated again.

This time, you rather suspect, the refresh represents Renault in a counter-punching mood, doing what it can to maintain the car’s market-leading position in the face of, among other rivals, a brand-new Nissan Leaf. Still, if it delivers a better car to anyone who takes the electric plunge this year, those new owners won’t be complaining.

This isn’t the most wide-ranging of mid-life overhauls. The edited highlights consist of a more powerful electric motor, an update for the touchscreen infotainment system, a new paint colour (Renault calls it Aconite Purple, and it’s the shade of our test car) and a few new pieces of interior trim.

So, having had 91bhp and 162lb ft to offer last year, the Zoe now has 107bhp and 166lb ft with which to tempt your toe, although that still leaves it shy of the outputs of the BMW i3 and Leaf by some margin. Handily, the Zoe’s motor upgrade doesn’t affect its energy efficiency or battery autonomy, with range remaining either 250 or 186 miles, depending on which of the EU’s lab test driving cycles you’re testing it on.

Renault proudly claims this is the market’s longest-range mainstream electric car, and with some credibility, at least as far as UK consumers are concerned. It’s certainly true that none of the Zoe’s current crop of electric rivals (the Leaf, i3, Volkswagen e-Golf and Hyundai Ioniq Electric) has been rated to go quite as far on a single charge.

Read more: Autocar