[AndyWilson]

About to order a GT Line ZE50 as my first EV - but only 99% sure I’m making the right decision.

My commute is an 80 mile round trip each day, so I need an EV with a decent winter range - and even though it looks like I will no longer be doing that 5 days a week, thanks to the lockdown discovery that staff working from home is cheaper for my my employer, the Zoe looks to be the only affordable option.

So, coming from a 2.2L diesel Honda Civic am I likely to be disappointed? I know the top speed is a bit limited but on a couple of test drives it felt pretty nippy. It’s not really the manliest of cars either - the boy racer me of 30 years ago would have been horrified at the thought! (even the Civic would have seemed a bit “old man”)

How big an issue is the app? Is a car sitting in a compound now awaiting a buyer likely to have been built after June 1st and thus unaffected by the pre conditionimg issue?

And how long does it take to get a charger installed? I don’t want to end up with a car sitting on my driveway that’s going to cost me £15+ to charge up at the only nearby public charger.

And lastly, I presume I should wave away the salesmans’s offers of gap insurance, paint and wheel maintenance and protective coating stuff?

Thanks in advance for any advice, or indeed sniggers at the naive EV newbie

 

[steve8bit]

Hi Andy, welcome to the forum. I’ve only had my Zoe50 for a week but I’ve done 600 miles in it already and had a Zoe40 before it.

My Zoe50 is giving me close to 250 miles range at the moment, from this I would think that in winter it should do a comfortable 200 miles. Your figures will probably be slightly different, depending on what your commute is like.

Don’t worry too much about the software problems. Think of a EV more like a mobile phone than like a conventional car. If you rush out to the shop and by a new iPhone on the day it’s released there will be some problems but they will be fixed in software updates. Not being able to pre-heat your car from your phone is a very first-world problem. With the Zoe the heating/AC is so good that it only takes a couple of minutes to get to the right temperature or defrost the windows.

You won’t find the published top speed a problem. EVs have a completely flat torque curve so will pull all the way up to (and a bit beyond) the top speed, there’s no drop-off like in a petrol or diesel. Forget the 0-60 times, you never do that in real life. It’s the 0-20 or 10-30 times that make a difference, in that respect the Zoe will beat any hot hatch, somehow with my Zoe I only have to think of a gap in the traffic and I’m there. There’s no lag while you drop the clutch or for the engine to spin-up.

The time it takes to get a home charger installed is really down to availability of your local electricians. Don’t worry too much about it to start with especially if you’re mainly working from home, load ZapMap onto your phone to see what the public chargers are like near you/your work. Most of the time I use free local chargers, even cheaper than at home.

There are no such things a daft newb questions, we all had similar thoughts to begin with. There are loads of friendly folks on here, ask away.

 

[cDy]

And how long does it take to get a charger installed?

If you get one then Renault will pay BP Chargemaster to fit a charge point (EVSE) for you. There might be a supplement to pay if there is a long cable run or other complexity.

One way to check the installation time is to contact Chargemaster saying you want one installed (BP Chargemaster Smart Homecharge unit - Our 7kW Homecharge can charge 3x faster than a standard 13A plug.). They will ask for some photos of the DNO box and installation location and confirm if they can do it and should be able to give an estimate for an installation date.

 

[donald]

About to order a GT Line ZE50 as my first EV - but only 99% sure I’m making the right decision.

My commute is an 80 mile round trip each day, so I need an EV with a decent winter range - and even though it looks like I will no longer be doing that 5 days a week, thanks to the lockdown discovery that staff working from home is cheaper for my my employer, the Zoe looks to be the only affordable option.

So, coming from a 2.2L diesel Honda Civic am I likely to be disappointed? I know the top speed is a bit limited but on a couple of test drives it felt pretty nippy. It’s not really the manliest of cars either - the boy racer me of 30 years ago would have been horrified at the thought! (even the Civic would have seemed a bit “old man”)

How big an issue is the app? Is a car sitting in a compound now awaiting a buyer likely to have been built after June 1st and thus unaffected by the pre conditionimg issue?

And how long does it take to get a charger installed? I don’t want to end up with a car sitting on my driveway that’s going to cost me £15+ to charge up at the only nearby public charger.

And lastly, I presume I should wave away the salesmans’s offers of gap insurance, paint and wheel maintenance and protective coating stuff?

Thanks in advance for any advice, or indeed sniggers at the naive EV newbie

I did a single direction 80 mile journey last night as it happened, through torrential rain at times, aiming for 75mph on the clear bits, air con full as it was very humid, and was 'disappointed' that I ended up at destination with 'only' 55%. Normally it is 60%-something.

I can absolutely and unequivocally state that your 80 mile round trip will usually be able to be done TWICE on one battery charge. You have zero concern with range. I would recommend when you get it to aim to drop to 25% and recharge to 75% each day, that sort of cycling will be ideal for the battery. Of course you will want to fully charge each day for a while, perhaps to believe what I am saying, but range is not a concern whatsoever.

In regards GAP, always do it for EVs. However, if you are leasing through RCI then their Ts&Cs actually don't appear to show a big need for GAP insurance, the repayment terms on writeoff are for market value not return to invoice. Being the person I am, I bought GAP for my Zoe anyway because that's what I do (!) usually it is a no brainer. But NEVER buy from a dealer. You can get 3 year long gap cover for £95.

Your charger is more of a concern. If I were you (well, it is what I did anyway), my recommendation is to join Octopus energy, get an Ohme 32A charging lead for £199 and get a local electrician to fit a shuttered 32A socket for you. This will be cheaper than an OLEV grant funded one, more flexible, better functionality, etc, but you should look up some of the Ohme threads and if you like what I see, use my referral in signature below if you are not already a member!

 

[cameronm]

Hi, sorry to hijack this thread with my own query, but I too am a Renault Zoe newbie, after purchasing the R110 Iconic one about a month ago.

So far, no regrets, it's a joy to drive and looks to do exactly what we needed it to do.

However, I've noticed that after a charge, my range is indicated at about 180 miles, some 50 miles short of its advertised range. I know that the use of features like aircon and one's driving style affect range, but I'd assumed each charge would furnish you with the full advertised range.

However, am I correct in assuming the range after a charge is calculated based on your previous pattern of usage? Or is there something up with my battery?

 

[80698]

Hi, sorry to hijack this thread with my own query, but I too am a Renault Zoe newbie, after purchasing the R110 Iconic one about a month ago.

So far, no regrets, it's a joy to drive and looks to do exactly what we needed it to do.

However, I've noticed that after a charge, my range is indicated at about 180 miles, some 50 miles short of its advertised range. I know that the use of features like aircon and one's driving style affect range, but I'd assumed each charge would furnish you with the full advertised range.

However, am I correct in assuming the range after a charge is calculated based on your previous pattern of usage? Or is there something up with my battery?

It's based on your recent driving style to make it more realistic. Drive in eco mode, slowly, making full use of regenerative braking and without climate controls and you'll probably see a number that is even greater than the advertised WLTP Range. Floor it down the motorway in cold, wet and windy weather with the heater on and you can see the range plummet.

There's nothing wrong with your battery. Most EVs do this and it can be helpful to give you a real world idea of how far you can drive under the current circumstances.

 

[cah197]

However, am I correct in assuming the range after a charge is calculated based on your previous pattern of usage? Or is there something up with my battery?

Yes, but there's also a factor of conservatism in the estimate.

Also, the GOM doesn't know where or how you are going to drive next, so isn't necessarily that useful.

 

[Sandy]

First work out what average mpkwh is for your car and don't believe when people say "I get 250miles". Yes their GOM might show 250miles, but have they tested it? If not its a baseless claim.

250miles on 50kwh is 5mpkwh, this means they are trying to get good range. At 70mph in Summer they'll get 3.6mpkwh in sensible reality, but not many of these folk do an 80mile each day. 3.6 should see the car good for 180miles, so you should be totally fine in summer, even with AC on keeping up with traffic for 1 day without charging, or perhaps 2 if the weather holds.

Winter your going to see as low as 2.9mpkwh easily if its cold, wet, windy and has been freezing over night. That'll see 145miles range, which is still fine for your needs, even with some degredation after a year, but you'll be charging back up every night to take advantage of preconditioning so less of an issue.

In a word the ZE50 is perfect for your needs, but then pretty much all of the current crop of EVs are so long as your happy plugging in each night.

 

[cameronm]

That's really helpful, thank you very much everybody.

We bought the car with the view of using it for 95% of our journeys (~50 miles), and we'd use our petrol car for the other 5%, long journeys. That said, it would be nice to do a 200 miler in the Zoe sometime, but think we might wait for the right conditions!

 

[cah197]

I think your petrol car will pretty much go unused once you start enjoying the Zoe.

 

[80698]

That's really helpful, thank you very much everybody.

We bought the car with the view of using it for 95% of our journeys (~50 miles), and we'd use our petrol car for the other 5%, long journeys. That said, it would be nice to do a 200 miler in the Zoe sometime, but think we might wait for the right conditions!

Take a look at A Better Routeplanner (ABRP) and Zap Map to plan your route. It will tell you realistically how far you can drive, and if you would need to consider plugging in along the way (and where) - Even if you need to stop for a 10 minute top up to get the extra range if your destination isn't quite within reach, the journey will probably cost less doing it in the EV.

 

[cameronm]

Take a look at A Better Routeplanner (ABRP) and Zap Map to plan your route. It will tell you realistically how far you can drive, and if you would need to consider plugging in along the way (and where) - Even if you need to stop for a 10 minute top up to get the extra range if your destination isn't quite within reach, the journey will probably cost less doing it in the EV.

I'd heard of Zap Map but not ABRP - just had a look, looks brilliant. Thank you!

 

[Roo]

Good luck Cameron. We didn't buy a Zoe, we got a Niro, but your concerns are exactly the same as ours were.

We LOVE our EV. Hope you enjoy your Zoe.

 

[AndyWilson]

Oh well, ordered a white GT Line Rapid Charge today - apparently sitting in a compound in Northern France and hoping for September delivery.
Hopefully get a charger fitted before then - if not I'll be a regular visitor at the nearby Bannatynes.

Mentioned to the dealer I want one built after 13/07/2020 as the Renault Website now says, under Equipment....

Equipment included with this Version​

• Active Emergency Braking System (on vehicles built from 13/07/2020)

Equipment

www.renault.co.uk

 

[evescu]

However, I've noticed that after a charge, my range is indicated at about 180 miles, some 50 miles short of its advertised range. I know that the use of features like aircon and one's driving style affect range, but I'd assumed each charge would furnish you with the full advertised range.

However, am I correct in assuming the range after a charge is calculated based on your previous pattern of usage? Or is there something up with my battery?

Sounds like someone had quite the fun! Hard acceleration, hard braking (less ability to regen) and temperature settings will affect the range (I've been in a 38C heatwave recently and AC consumption went through the roof; figuratively of course, the roof is still intact).

You may force a trip computer reset by holding down for 5 seconds the up or down arrows on the right spoke of the steering wheel, however that only tells you what's pre-programmed for the car (average consumption of 13,6kW/100km, or about 4.8mpkWh). If at the point you don't get about 230 miles displayed, rather close to 180 miles, then there is a battery issue:
230 miles => 52kWh
180 miles => 41kWh

(In Germany, one can buy a 2nd gen Zoe with 41kWh battery instead of a 50kWh battery. Primarily used by businesses, because it's cheaper and has no CCS)

 

[ThudnBlundr]

I do find it amusing that people complain when their EV doesn't show the advertised range when filled up, but very, very few people do the same when their ICE car doesn't get the advertised range or mpg.

 

[dapprman]

I do find it amusing that people complain when their EV doesn't show the advertised range when filled up, but very, very few people do the same when their ICE car doesn't get the advertised range or mpg.

My old Alfa Romeo 164 v6 used to do better than advertised - 27mpg instead of 25. Of course there was also the litre of oil every 100 miles .... - still a very good specialist told me not to worry about the oil usage unless my mileage dropped, then to cry.

 

[cah197]

Of course there was also the litre of oil every 100 miles

Probably because it was burning the oil in the mix.