Tag Archives: ZOE

A Total Cost of Ownership Comparison of ZOE Vs CLIO

At Fuel Included, we have run our Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) Calculator on a real-life example to help show the way the costs break down, and the considerable savings that can be made.

Today we have gone head to head with an all Electric Renault ZOE Dynamique 40 kWh, and a Petrol engined Renault CLIO Dynamique Nav TCe 90.

Renault ZOE and Renault CLIO

We have taken a commuter travelling into central Milton Keynes each day and parking as our representative driver. These tables show the total monthly cost* by summing all costs for the three year period of the lease and dividing them by 36.

Total Cost of Ownership

Electric ZOE Vs Petrol CLIO cost comparison for 20,000 miles per year
Electric ZOE Vs Petrol CLIO cost comparison for 15,000 miles per year
Electric ZOE Vs Petrol CLIO cost comparison for 10,000 miles per year

Conclusions

Even at the lower ranges of driving there are significant cost savings to be made. However, we see that as the mileage increases, the money to be saved is simply staggering.

Please contact us if you would like us to assess the cost of ownership of an electric car for your use case.

*Assumptions made for these calculations:

  • Petrol price from Sainsbury’s Bedford £1.21 per litre.
  • Electric charging is home charging plus 10 charges per year at £6 per charge from the Ecotricity rapid charge network.
  • CLIO mpg 52 from https://www.honestjohn.co.uk/realmpg/renault/clio-iv-2013
  • Both cars taken on 3 year PCP. Clio prices from http://offers.renault.co.uk/cars/clio/selection?offer=305 and ZOE prices from our current Fuel Included offer.
  • ZOE miles/kWh 4.5 from manufacturers real-world mileage figure divided by battery capacity.
  • Home charging Economy-7 unit cost 7.5p
  • Tax: Clio 1.2L 118 g/km CO2 = £160 in year 1 and £140 per year subsequently.
  • Parking costs based on person parking 200 working days per year in Milton Keynes town centre

Electric Car Day – A great Success for our Milton Keynes Multi-Car Test Drive Event

With support from Nissan, Renault and BMW, we hosted our first Milton Keynes multi-brand electric car day at our offices in Milton Keynes.

In a packed two and a half hours of pre-booked drives over twenty people enjoyed the thrills and spills of electric car driving, with 2 Nissan Leafs, 2 BMW i3’s, 1 Renault ZOE and one Nissan EV-200 electric van.

We’ve written about these vehicles in more detail in other posts:

This is the first of many. Please contact us if you have an office that would benefit from a multi-car test drive event.

Facebook Live Video from a BMW i3 test drive

Video walkaround of a couple of our Cars available for test

Leaf, i3 and EV-200

The Complete Guide to Electric Car Benefits in Milton Keynes

ZOE Winter Testing

ZOE it’s cold outside (or how I got my heating working)

♪ ♫ When the weather outside is frightful

the ZOE’s not so delightful

but now I know what to do

my fingers aren’t quite so blue! ♫♪

OK, I know we are past the month of December but with the current cold snap I am elated to finally have the answer to my winter woes. Don’t get me wrong I love my Renault ZOE 22kWh, but one thing I’ve always struggled with is heating her up. I’m not talking about the great pre-heat function; this is for those times when you either forget the pre-heat or you are out and about and want to get in your car knowing you can easily pop on some heat.

I have been driving my ZOE for two winters and have always been cold. I had just assumed it was a limit of the car, but having experimented, I realised there is just a bit of a knack to getting the heating to work right.  I now don’t have to wear full hat, gloves and scarf in the car!

ZOE Winter Testing
ZOE Winter Testing

After reading a few posts and trying out a few carefully selected combinations it would seem I have my solution ,these are the steps I follow and try to stick to in this order.

  • Set your heat to 24 degrees, not full whack
  • Select fan speed 3
  • Make sure Air Con is Off
  • Turn on Air Circulation
  • Leave on windscreen fan for the first minute or so
  • Change the fan direction and speed to your preference after a few minutes

Just in time for err Spring [facepalm]

My Electric Valentine

“What I actually found from the minute I first took her for a spin, was the very modern run around punched above its weight on looks, equipment & costs”

I find myself in a strange dichotomy at this time of year when pledging love to your nearest & dearest is the thing to do. Just two years ago my new love affair started with a ‘newer, younger model’ named ZOE. She came with all the whistles & bells that would normally only be associated with an uptown high-end model, but I have to say it was love at first sight.

my other love is electric

To set the record straight, I am a 40+ year old biker who works through the week to get to the weekend to take my Harley Davidson out on the open road. A true petrol head, raised on a diet of high octane & V twins so you would be surprised at my reaction to living with an Electric Vehicle.

I was a total sceptic at first, all the usual urban myths of “it will be a faff to charge”, “the car will look like a bubble car” & “I won’t want to be seen driving it”. What I actually found from the minute I first took her for a spin, was the very modern run around punched above its weight on looks, equipment & costs, which took me by surprise. With benefits including cheap running costs, free parking in designated areas, and looks that rival any Cleo or Fiesta to name a few, you would be mad not to consider an Electric Vehicle when the time comes.

On balance, I will always love the thump of a V-twin, but if owning an Electric Vehicle helps me do my part for the environment, keeps my costs low to keep me in the saddle, then I will choose electric every time. I would do your research on Electric Vehicles; trust me there are some fantastic deals out there already and you could be part of a revolution that shapes the way motoring will ultimately go. Check out FuelIncluded.com also for the latest advice and steer on your new love affair.

Submitted by Jay Little – Fuel Included customer