As a (relatively) low cost pure electric runaround I thought this could be my first BEV, but reading this forum has given me second thoughts.
There seem to be a lot of serious problems reported here, in contrast to other cars which appear to have no major issues. It's new technology so I don't expect it to be perfect but I don't want a shedload of trouble with it so I suppose I will have to wait for the new Smart EV or the Kia Soul EV?
Another issue is 10A charging which is working fine for the Outlander PHEV with a smaller battery and range, but seems to be very inefficient with Zoe. I would have to sort out 16A charging stations for home and work which means lots of hassle talking to installers.
Hi john2. I've has my Zoe for a year now, 12000 trouble free miles driven across England, Scotland and Wales. There is no doubt that some Zoe's have been blighted by difficulties and I feel for those that have had it tough.
But, don't assume this is all of us. I have no regrets at all, Zoe is a fabulous car that is completely letdown by some shocking examples of ill-informed and unhelpful dealers, coupled with a variable customer service from Renault UK.
FWIW my advise would simply be to test drive one. You'll get a feel for the car and the dealers.
Not sure if you've discovered the forum that's dedicated to Zoe's yet? http://myrenaultzoe.com/index.php/forums/
Good hunting!
Hello John2 - I have a Zoe for 10 months and 4200 miles later and we fine it is great, we love it. It only had a minor issue with the R-Link, but that is used in other Renault cars as well and not the fault of the Zoe. I agree that there is a variety of experiences with the dealers, from knowledgable to apathy, which can be off putting.
But as a car it has all the bells and whistles of a top of the range model and drives really well. It comes with a free charging station (to be honest you can still get them free from some other places as well), and I had a 7Kw one (30A) fitted and it charges in 2-3 hours, so that should not be a problem for you.
The only downside I see is that the 13A (10A really) "occasional" charging cable is an option and pricey at that.
Otherwise - try a test drive!
Well I got the granny cable and it works lovely, if the car is flat dead and your pushing it, they say it well take 11 hours. But it's about 5/6 hours works very well if your staying over night from about 30/40% charged, my car had a software update and it works really well. But Renault uk and the dealers suck
Thanks for the link to the Zoe forums and the other comments. I'll spend some time there. I have test driven the Fluence and the Zoe and liked both, but especially the Zoe. We have 7 hours on Economy 7 tariff so perhaps I could hope for a 50% charge to go 40 miles with the granny cable which I estimate would cost under £1, depending on driving style and conditions. How long would a Zoe charge take at an ecotricity station?
Hi john2 , we've also had no zoe probs in 2000 miles (other than radio freezing ) though the dealers are shite. As you say it is new technology and probably if they sorted problems promptly people wouldn't get so upset.
The ecotricity charger takes 20/30minutes and our home 7kw takes about 3 hours from dead flat.
I know I've got 136 miles on the motorway at about 56/60mph, on the dash you have rev Power meter, a lot of the time I hold the line dead between regen and power and this lets the car coast , a lot of the time the car picks up speed, but so yes I'm sure you can get 80miles at 60mph in Eco, as in Eco it will not let you go pass 60mph, and it will use as little power to keep you at 60mph so going down hill it will cut the power and going up hills it will use a little more
I agree , but we rarely use eco mode and drive it quite lively so I think 80 is realistic even without eco from full charge though there may be another 50 in reserve for all I know In theory the ecotricity chargers don't give a full charge in 30 minutes but in my experience it is near as dammit.
Many thanks for your help getting me through this. I have ordered! Now there is a BEV on order I can relax and enjoy the Outlander PHEV.
It looks like British Gas will do the charging station. Will it be worth asking for an upgrade to 30A single phase? From the brochure it looks as the Zoe will only draw 15A but I am thinking future EVs may draw 30A.
At work we have underutilised 3 phase power so I am wondering if we can organise 22kW three phase charging, or even faster. Who could we approach to survey and install this; and should we expect any financial support?
I'm to believe that the Zoe's standard charger rate is quoted at 7kWh (32a). Being a Chameleon type having four charging phases via a single AC Type 2 socket, 3 (for the EVSE), 7, 22, 43kW. So I would get the uprated 30A home charge unit with a teathered fixed cable with a Type 2 plug.
Colin is right- Zoe definitely will charge at 32a (7kW) on the home unit - Renault offer these as standard when you buy a Zoe. The chameleon charger is superb - making best use of whatever charge rate is available.
We were almost sold on the ZOE, but the local dealer put us off (and previous new Renault ownership many moons ago) but overall it seems like a great package which gets the basics more-or-less right, especially in terms of range.
I'm not quite there with the 2 EV family, Paul. But given that the sceptical missus is now talking about when, rather than if, this is certainly progress.
Problem is that 'her' diesel estate (renault megane) is reliable, cheap, paid for, and only 3 years old.
And the reason the other half is ready to take the plunge with the family car is thanks to the Zoe - particularly the reliable range and high-spec.
Delivery is expected early November, meaning about a thee month order book. It seems to be four months for i3 so I am wondering what ev sales would be like if they were sold from stock without supply restrictions.
A bit of a wait can be good for prestige, demand, perceived value and residuals...
But it can put off some people though!
I do remember reading something about the ideal waiting times (long enough to get people excited, time to add options etc, but not long enough to put them off), but a quick google and I can't find it just now.
Bit of a zoe scare yesterday, put it on charge in advance of long trip this afternoon then turned the r-link on to check route , only to get "battery charging impossible" message and yellow spanner. Tried everything - plugging unplugging slamming door driving round block etc to no avail so opted for the "go and have a cup of tea" method of engineering and half an hour later it's all fine . I wonder if it was turning the sat nav on while charging that confused it so will avoid that in future.
Mine's a 2013 july registered model. Seems crazy they are waiting for "parts:" for yours that must be so frustrating - I hope they sort it. Did they give you an ev loaner ?
Almost same age as my car, it has been waiting for a new charger. The new charger is a superseded part. No ev loaner just a vauxhall corsa.
The whole experience has shown me how bad Renault customer services are I wouldn't buy another Renault EV, shame as when the car works it's quite good!
I'm hoping the new charger will sort it or I will be delivering the car back to the dealer and telling him he can keep it!
I had a long call from Renault head office on Friday, I discussed some minor issues and they sounded knowledgeable and very concerned so I am hoping it is just some dealers who let the side down. They definitely monitor myrenaultzoe.com but I suggested they contribute to both forums to dispel some of the criticisms.
They have promised to phone me back this week so I might even try and get the charger changed before it becomes a problem......
Renault HO did call back today as promised and they are going to investigate 3 issues :- radio freezing on full volume, battery impossible warning and dash reflections. I will keep you informed.
Hi Chris, thanks for joining the forum. It's great to see a dealer on here- and one that's interested in Zoe is a bonus! I hope you're rewarded with some sales, and you'll also be a valuable source of information to fellow owners too.
Do you own an EV yourself?
Just in case you missed Edd's message please could you put your commercial interests/details into your signature, just so people know for sure who they're talking to. Thankyou!
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