Renault ZOE Electric Car For Sale
Renault ZOE Electric Car For Sale
If you are looking for a supermini-sized electric vehicle, you need to seriously consider buying the ZOE. In addition, it’s the most affordable electric vehicle you can find in the market, EV, being sold for about £13,444. Its French manufacturer, Renault, saw the need to build an EV from the ground up to its existence, unlike most EV’s converted from existed car models.
Notably, Renault showed its capability to produce an EV in a number of motor shows, the latest being in 2012 Geneva Motor Show. From then, Renault ZOE has stepped its efforts to revolutionise the auto industry in France and around the world enjoying the all-time top selling EV spot in a number of countries led by France. By December 2015, the ZOE had sold close to 40,000 units worldwide, getting a spot in the top 10 bestselling EV in the global chart.
How The ZOE is Revolutionising the Auto Industry
Renault Company, unlike other auto companies in the industry has invested heavily in the mass production of EVs. Previously, Renault had come up with other EV models namely; Fluence saloon, Twizy and Kangoo van. The ZOE is Renault’s ambition of coming up with a mini car, with practical five doors, smooth and quite engine that complies with efforts being made by European countries in promoting the use of green powertrains on roads.
The specifications and characteristics of the ZOE include;
Engine, Electric Motor and Battery
In order to have an efficient EV, the ZOE’s engine is powered by an electric motor, which has boosted the car’s range to up to 130mph, 30mph more than that of its closest rival, the Nissan Leaf. In addition, the motor has a faster charging time, if plugged to a wall charger of more than 7kW. A full charge on the lithium ion battery pack is achieved from charging the car for about 3-4 hours.
A country like the UK offers a government grant for these chargers. However, the car also comes with a Rapid Charger charging the car with a power of up to 43kW for only 30 minutes and enjoy up to 80% battery charge. However, for Rapid Chargers, owners have to look for them in charging spots since they are placed systematically in specific locations such as auto service stations.
Performance
Due to the EV’s small size and efficiency, the electric motors in the ZOE are capable of getting the car from 0 to 62mph in about 13.5 seconds. This car is best for navigating around everyday traffic making as a town car, since driving it on a motorway, cruising speeds, will get the battery packs drained pretty quickly.
ZOE’s Unique Exterior Design
Over the years, Renault has built a name around it by coming up with compact, sculpted shapes and a good wheelbase, to ease motion of in its vehicles. As for the ZOE, there is the blue tinted diamond shaped electric identity on its hood. It has transparent head and rear lights with blue edges. The rear lights turn red only when braking. Talk of the Zero Emission signature, Z.E that runs on the car’s door handles and the seat’s headrest. It also has heated door mirrors, which work with the de-icing function, hence no worries when the temperature plummets.
Interior; Comfort and Space
ZOE’s interior has plenty to offer to its users, ensuring that there is peace of mind when using the car hence getting the maximum driving pleasure. To begin with, there is an automatic air conditioning system, allowing one to select the amount of temperature they desire. A notable function in the car is the Eco Mode Function that allows drivers optimise their driving range.
Additionally, there is the hill start assist to assist a driver move off calmly after two seconds in steep slope. The Zoe has rear parking sensors aided by the reversing camera, that gives the driver the available space to park their car and trajectory depending on the angle you intend to park the car. There is a large touch screen on the EV’s dashboard that assists in navigation, syncing your phone book with the car’s information and playing music in the car, through the USB sockets or via Bluetooth.
The car has reasonable leg and head space. The back seats can be folded down, but not to a flat level. Despite the Zoe being a mini EV, the boot space is huge, since the electric motors and batteries are on the car’s floor. It has a lower loading lip and big objects can get to the inside easily.
Pricing
The selling price of a ZOE is £14,000 with a government grant of about £4,300 included. However, one can opt to buy the car but rent its batteries for about £40 on a monthly basis, for about three years.
Running Cost of the ZOE
After buying the entire car or buying the car and leasing the batteries, you are sure to enjoy low running costs in the long run. A single charge cost about £2, which is so cheap compared to a filling a tank of petrol nowadays. In addition, most European countries are increasing charging points in order to allow EV owners to access them with ease. Moreover, most world economies are providing EV owners with government grants, reducing the cost of the ZOE significantly. The ZOE is covered by a 2 year warranty for the first 100,000 miles. The ZOE needs annuals inspections or after covering 18,000 miles. It also has 136 Z.E all around Europe.
ZOE’s Eco2 Policy
Taking care of the environment has been Renault’s top priority in recent years. Through its signature Z.E, the vehicle is set to reduce the environmental pollution greatly. Tests in France have put ZOE’s CO2 emissions at 12g/km, but Renault is working tirelessly to reduce its carbon footprint in the environment. In addition, Renault is currently working on a program to come up with recycling of batteries, in order to reduce the impact EV have brought on the use of non-renewable resources such as copper, cobalt and lithium which are the raw materials for these batteries.
