[Adam]

Does anyone out there use a 'granny lead' with their Zoe? I'm having major problems at the moment with home charge point being fitted and I have requested from Renault CS they either lend or let me have a lead whilst I wait for installation. They tell me this is no longer possible as it's 'not good' for Zoe. I've advised them they have them for sale in their catalogue but they say it's no longer available and is to be removed. Are they fobbing me off or is this true?

 

[Mark Chatterley]

What I have heard is that the way in which the charger has been designed in the ZOE is to be very good at high wattage. Low wattage is very inefficient. I've heard figures along the lines of 22 hours plus charging time from a 10A supply.

I think, due to this, they don't want to sell the cable. No reason, I can think of, you can just buy one from another supplier. But it would be trivial for Renault to just block out any changing < 16A in the software - so you may end up buying something that doesn't work.

This is why it has been rumoured for a while that the next ZOE will come with an optional 3.3kW charger in addition to the chameleon.

 

[Matt Beard]

1) Try to get a recording of them telling you this
2) Ask them to put this in writing

Then ask Renault UK to back them up or clarify the situation.

In the meantime "Don't buy a Renault Zoe - there is no emergency charging option available" <== this advice may change when things are clarified.

 

[tim_battersby]

Sweeping advice not to buy a Zoe just because home charge point not sorted yet. So if a petrol station is closed would you advocate not buying an ICE car?!
As a Zoe driver of 12 months now, I do not agree - plenty of charging opportunities in the wider world.

 

[Adam]

Same, I've only had the car a month - all in all very happy with it, in fact I love driving it. It just appears to be the customer service side of Renault Uk & British gas - they clearly don't talk to one another

 

[Matt Beard]

Sweeping advice not to buy a Zoe just because home charge point not sorted yet. So if a petrol station is closed would you advocate not buying an ICE car?!
As a Zoe driver of 12 months now, I do not agree - plenty of charging opportunities in the wider world.

My "advice" is a message for Renault - it is me saying that if they don't clear this up the Zoe becomes very different, and more risky. It is fine for those that live in area with plenty of Type-2 charging, but there are parts of the UK where Type-2 chargers are sparse and yet you can always find a 13A socket (or a commando) if you really need it. I would not want to be driving an EV in those areas if there was no "granny cable". I would also not recommend one to anyone that may ever drive to one of those areas if this is not solved.

 

[smartie]

I remember reading somewhere that charging with a 13A EVSE on a Zoe is so inefficient that it takes 24 hours to charge! Could still be useful in an emergency though.

 

[Buzzar]

I make full use of the new ecotricity fast charger at our local IKEA plus most ASDA have accelerated chargers in their car parks. Free ecotricity or £20 per annum polar network cards are needed to use these.

 

[Matt Beard]

I make full use of the new ecotricity fast charger at our local IKEA plus most ASDA have accelerated chargers in their car parks. Free ecotricity or £20 per annum polar network cards are needed to use these.

a) What is an "accelerated charger"
b) My understanding is that only a minority of Asda stores have EV charging (of the five I know of near me, only one has charging and that only has it because it was required by the planning department when the store was built).

 

[Eunicholas]

Well Renault HQ offered me yesterday for £570 it's 2.3kw and it takes 17hours for a full charge from empty, the lady's name Karen Johnson

 

[Eunicholas]

She said it just needs a soft wear update to use it she is the head of customer relations

 

[Buzzar]

A) it is what Renault call a 32amp wall box charger on their smartphone app as a-posed to a "slow" 16amp wall box charger
B) ASDA Bloxwich, Tipton, Oldbury, Barnes Hill, Small Heath, Telford, Shrewsbury, All within 20miles of my local.

Consult the Chargemaster "live map" for others

 

[EV Rider]

Does anyone out there use a 'granny lead' with their Zoe? I'm having major problems at the moment with home charge point being fitted and I have requested from Renault CS they either lend or let me have a lead whilst I wait for installation. They tell me this is no longer possible as it's 'not good' for Zoe. I've advised them they have them for sale in their catalogue but they say it's no longer available and is to be removed. Are they fobbing me off or is this true?

Don't have one,and am not prepared to part with near £600 to get a fancy extension lead..I have multiple public charging options nearby until my wallbox comes through,along the route of my commute or shopping trips.
If I failed in planning my charging route options,I still have the included recovery service option as a safety net.

 

[Eunicholas]

the recovery service is free as well

 

[Buzby]

I make full use of the new ecotricity fast charger at our local IKEA plus most ASDA have accelerated chargers in their car parks. Free ecotricity or £20 per annum polar network cards are needed to use these.

£20 INITIAL fee for Polar. It is CYC that introduced an annual charge, the Polar card has no expiry.

 

[GBEV]

10 amp x 240v = 2.4kw for 17 hrs = over 40kwh not sure granny would be too happy about that? How much does the electric meter report? IIRC the charge tapers very little.

 

[Ajl0ckwood]

IIRC due the the uniqueness of the onboard charger it is extremely inefficient at low Level amp charging.
And is therefore not recommended to charge at these low currents

 

[Eunicholas]

Well I used a leaf for a weekend and when I got to my girlfriends place I had --- miles it took 13hours to charge

 

[andyfras]

I use a home-made granny cable with my Zoe. It tops up from 60% to 100% in about 5 hours when we visit the MiL.

I used the ZCW EPC controller set to 10A.

 

[Paul]

Welcome to Speak EV @andyfras