Renault Germany entered into a partnership with a company specialized in electric transport solutions to test a system that would reduce the charging time for electric cars.

Electric cars’ charging times are the main drawback of such vehicles. You have to be really patient when you plug in your car, and when you are in a hurry, such patient does not last for long. Electric car owners appreciate reduced charging times for their vehicles, and even more so reduced charging cost. To test such a system, Renault Germany teamed up with The Mobility House (based in Zurich and Munich), which specializes in electric transport solutions such as smart charge terminals and energy storage systems. The Mobility House (TMH) has developed a technology that substantially reduces the charging cost for the customer, as well as shortening the charge time by an hour. Eleven ZOE owners, working at Renault in Germany, were selected to test the system developed by TMH under real-life conditions.

Once plugged into a special charge station at the ZOE owner’s home, the car communicates its electricity needs via a Renault Global Data Center to TMH, which schedules vehicle charging on the basis of energy cost data. Electricity from the grid costs more during high demand periods and less when demand is low, so the system detects consumption peaks and stops charging until the cost falls. Fast charging then proceeds, at lower cost, until the car batteries are fully charged.

This technology enables electric car owners to optimize their electricity expenses without the trouble of having to calculate peak and trough demand periods themselves. It marks the first stage in forthcoming development of “smart grids”. Renault and TMH are also working together on other solutions for reducing charging costs, and offering electric vehicle owners ways to earn money by generating electricity to be fed into the grid.

Source: IN Auto News

What’s life really like with an electric car? Two years in a Renault Zoe should provide the answers

My name is Jim Holder and I’ve bought an electric car.

There, I’ve said it. Standing up in front of the autocar.co.uk crowd and saying that feels fairly momentous, because our readers are notoriously divided as to the merits of such vehicles. Some love them, some hate them; please don’t rush to judge me either way.

Anyway, after some earnest shopping around, I’ve laid down a £75 deposit and will lease a Renault Zoe for the next two years.

Both the rational and emotional sides of me couldn’t be happier. Let me explain why.

The Zoe will be mostly driven by my wife, who currently owns a 2007 vintage Ford C-Max powered by a 1.6-litre petrol engine. Despite covering just 100 or so miles per week, the stop-start nature of her travels (school clubs, swim teaching at various locations) means she spends £20-£30 at the pumps every seven days. Now, she will charge the Zoe once a week, at a cost of around £5 – so that’s £100 a month back in the bank.

Likewise, there will be no road tax to pay, no MOT test to cover and, because she is self-employed, there are significant tax savings. Servicing should also be £50 a year cheaper – and without, I hope, the anxious wait to find out what has worn out this time. Furthermore, selling the C-Max should also put £3500 in the bank to accrue some interest, while the ‘free’ charger that comes as part of the deal (but which costs £1000 prior to more Renault and government input) is another bonus.

Read more: Autocar

Renault believes in the strong potential growth for ZOE electric car sales, and as such is gearing up for increased production.

The Flins factory (in France) is already producing about 120 ZOE a day (up from 90 in the Spring, when the Superbonus was launched in France).

Now the company says that production will expand again – to 150 units a day by the end of November. The sudden change is probably adjusting for expected growth from the expanded diesel scrapping scheme in France next year and also higher demand throughout Europe.

To date, over 18,000 ZOE were sold in just France alone (nearly 7,000 in the first nine months of 2015) and 32,000 in total worldwide.

At 150/day, Renault would be able to deliver 3,000 ZOE a month (considering the French employees on the single shift working 20 days a month). Annual production would be ~36,000, a level of sales that the ZOE has never experienced such high volumes in the past.

Source: Inside EVs

Though sales of the Renault ZOE are far below the world’s #1 selling pure electric car (the Nissan LEAF), Renault is proud to report on a milestone achievement of having sold 30,000 ZOEs since it launch in 2012 through September. Actually, our tally had ZOE sales exceeding 30,000 back in August, but now Renault is making it official.

Surely sales world be higher if ZOE (or Renaults itself) were offered in the U.S., but for an electric car offered mostly (almost entirely in its early years) under a battery rental program, we consider 30,000 to be an exceptional figure.

The latest ZOE updates add more range to the car and it’s now being offered with the battery included in several countries, so we expect (and have already seen so far this year) a sales surge in the coming months.

Source: Inside EVs

A 20-strong fleet of Renault ZOEs has been introduced across a number of new sites in Scotland by car sharing company Co-wheels, the most recent being in Aberdeen, Dumfries and Dundee.

The Co-wheels car club, which provides low emission, hybrid and electric cars on a pay-as-you-go basis for organisations and communities, has further locations for EVs in the pipeline with the ZOE confirmed as its electric car of choice. All of the club’s ZOEs have been bought outright or funded via Government grants.

Co-wheels customers can hire a Renault ZOE for £3.75 an hour or £22.50 for 24 hours. As part of the club’s drive to encourage electric car use, Co-wheels does not make an additional charge for mileage – making the ZOE its most affordable car to hire.

Pierre Fox, Director, Co-wheels, said:

“Feedback to the Renault ZOE has been excellent, customers liking how simple it is to drive and finding the controls to be very straightforward. It’s the ideal size too, and is the perfect vehicle for our car sharing model with 90% of customers’ journeys being local.

“Using the ZOE also fits with us operating as a social enterprise with a commitment to improving society and the environment. We aim to help our members save money, reduce car ownership and create a cleaner environment by making lower impact transport options available, and because we have received grants for some of the cars, we are able to pass this saving onto our customers.

“Everyone who has driven one of our ZOEs has been very positive about the experience, so much so that when it comes to adding more electric cars at new or existing locations, it will be our preferred choice of vehicle.”

Source: EV Fleet World