Jack7158 drives a Renault Zoe ZE40 2018.
This is Jack’s first electric car, he’s owned the Renault Zoe 3-4 years and drives 5,000-10,000 miles annually. The current mileage of the car is between 30,000-40,000 miles and he achieves 140 miles from a full charge.
Why did you choose the Renault Zoe?
It was voted, ‘Best Car of the Year’ two years running.
Positives – List 3 or more reasons why you love this electric car
- Feels very ‘taut’
- cruise control is very good
- very good road holding – like all TVs with heavy battery in floor the centre of gravity is in the best place, very low down.
Negatives – List 3 or more things that you really don’t like about this electric car
- In first winter (bought December 2020) the charging door at the radiator area froze, so hot water was needed until that area was sprayed with PTF
- glove box – manual says A4 size but it’s barely able to take A5
- wing mirrors have blind spots and do not fold automatically
- no flat areas on dashboard to mount a suction cup
- sat nav touchscreen has some lines which need frequent touches before they operate
- computer glitch caused sat nav screen to go black, requiring resetting.
Have you experienced any faults with the car? If so, what have they been?
Suspension faults (bearings, front ball joint) occurring at lower mileages and age than my old ICE which this one replaced. Probably more to do with Hondas being more reliable than Renault. It was repaired by the main dealer who sold us the car. Also needed computer reprogramming when three years old to restore correct charging range.
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Surprise us! Tell us something people wouldn’t readily know about this electric car
There are many Zoes on the road, so many owners will know these features already along with Nissan LEAF owners, which has been around since 2011. Although I am disappointed that the manual shows the back seat folding down flat, in practice, it folds down to an angle of about 15 – 20 degrees, so a lot of storage is lost caused by a) the hinge being two low and b) the rear squab being shaped wrongly and a bit on the thick side to make it more comfortable for back seat passengers.
What electric car(s) are you interested in next and why?
The KIA e-Niro and the mooted baby Tesla, to be priced around £25,000. In my opinion,. Elon Musk is a bit ambitious here, a few ‘corners’ may have to be cut. Similarly, the Governments’ ambition to stop ICE new sales in 2030 may be thwarted and new car sales will be affected if they cannot improve (by using non-existent money supplies) the charging infrastructure, especially the English charging network and dependency on an App network. If they copied the ChargePlace Scotland ubiquitous card system, that would improve things no end. When Scottish councils start to charge for charging, then the card system would IMHO be much simpler to administrate.
Home charging unit – outline both positive & negative elements
Wallbox WPPL
Electricity supplier & tariff – outline both positive & negative elements
Octopus Go – has 4 hours of reduced rate and nothing negative to report.
What public charging networks would you recommend to others and why?
ChargePlace Scotland & Pulse (CPS card uses Pulse units).
Insurer – outline both positive & negative elements
Understandably more expensive but IMHO EV drivers drive more responsibly and being mostly range anxious to drive faster means far less miles per charge!
Please itemise where you’re saving money (or not) owning & running an electric car
Energy costs & road tax, no LEZ restrictions.
*library image used.
