[sandyman44]

after 10 days ownership I'm now convinced the auto-hold isn't as keen as I'd expect it to be based on other cars

symptoms I have:

• slow down to a complete stop with gentle braking. auto hold does not activate. caught me out with an unexpected roll forward as I expected it to have activated when it hadn't...
• slow down "harder" with a firm press on the brake, auto hold activates.

I've tested this a few times, its repeatable.

at the moment I'm training my muscle memory to give a firm press on the brake for those last 2mph of deceleration.
I'd hope it should activate when you stop, regardless of how unaggressive the deceleration, but is this normal for a ZE50 or do I need to ping the dealer?

 

[cDy]

I've never had auto hold before, but it works fine for me. You have to come to a complete stop and leave your foot on the brake pedal for a second or two. The auto hold light on the dash then comes on and you can take your foot off the brake. A working alternative to pulling up on the handbrake lever.

 

[Dion Rust]

Slow down softly then press the brake pedal harder to activate autohold. That’s what I do anyway!

 

[dapprman]

I've had auto-hold on a number of different cars now and they have all required a decent press of the brake once stationary to activate.

 

[MrMoonUK]

Yeah auto hold doesn’t hold if you haven’t stopped with the brake

 

[sandyman44]

I've had autohold on the last 4 cars, 3 VAG's and a Kia, so very familiar with it. Those all activate pretty much instantly on stopping, regardless of pressure. Its not about duration, tried it in the Zoe this morning, soft stop on the brake, after 2 seconds still no autohold. must be that renault's engineers have coded it to need a firm press.

 

[WonkoTheSaneUK]

The Zoe has automatic gearbox-style "creep" by design.
You have to come to a complete stop for a couple of seconds for the electric handbrake to come on.
Always watch the dashboard for the (A) to appear before taking your foot off the brake.

 

[Alex C]

AFAIK the auto hold on the Zoe does not use the handbrake. Rather it uses valves on the hydraulic brake system to 'trap' pressure in the calipers (you can hear them click on and off). So when the driver applies sufficient pressure and the car comes to a halt for a set time the valves close (and the motor stops applying torque) to hold the car in place. If the car does not move for a few minutes then the electric handbrake is activated (you can hear the electric actuator whirring).

My speculation is that it is engineered this way to allow for creep maneuvering at very low speeds (when parking or slow traffic) using the brake pedal (like an automatic ICE car) without continuously engaging auto hold. I've gotten used to it and it doesn't bother me. I like that I can modulate the brake to either engage or not the auto hold. Others might have different preferences.

 

[Matthew]

You also have to be wearing your seatbelt!

I've too have had occasions where the creep isn't strong enough to make the car roll, but braking hasn't been applied by myself for the auto-braking to stick.