Renault Zoe - another upgrade for a popular EV
The Renault ZOE, Europe's best-selling electric city car, is now offered in a new model line-up, with a new trim level and a new colour. Will these changes help to attract more customers? We take a close look at the little ZOE in our test.
The Renault ZOE seems to be like a good French wine. Just as some wines grow in value over the years, the ZOE finds more and more buyers with every year it is on sale. The company makes an effort to give this small city car ever more modern technology and, every so often, adds a fresh touch to its styling. The work is paying off - for the past ten years the ZOE has been the best-selling e-car in Europe.
The Iconic version - gold accents and a new interior
The current top-of-the-range Iconic version comes as standard with new 17-inch grey wheels with decorative gold accents. Gold accents now also adorn the grille and the surrounds of the fog lights, and the lower part of the doors gets side decals with a new pattern. While the first of these touches deserves praise, from a distance the door decals can look like clumps of mud left over from a drive down a gravel road.
The interior of the ZOE Iconic stands out for its new upholstery of eco-leather combined with a fabric made from recycled materials. The embossed, three-dimensional pattern on the fabric parts of the interior looks very good. Gold piping can also be seen on the side edges of the front seats. The multimedia screen measures 9.3 inches and has built-in navigation and smartphone mirroring.
It is worth considering adding the 'Winter' pack, which makes the car more comfortable to use, especially in winter. It includes, among other things, a heated steering wheel and heated front seats, as well as a DC fast-charging system. Experience shows that with the steering wheel and seat heating switched on, you no longer feel the need to heat the whole cabin. This brings noticeable savings in energy consumption with no loss of thermal comfort.
Technical data and test summary
While focusing on the new styling version, it is worth recalling the basic technical data of the little Renault. The car has a 52 kWh battery and a 135 hp electric motor. To optimise energy consumption, acceleration was not pushed too hard: the ZOE goes from 0 to 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds. The manufacturer's stated energy consumption in the combined cycle is around 16 kWh/100 km. Familiar solutions for better energy management are used, such as the enhanced 'B' regeneration mode and a heat pump.
From the very start, the Renault ZOE won customers' affection as an unpretentious, well-styled and technically advanced electric car. The latest changes are sure to catch the attention of existing and new customers alike. With competition growing, will the Renault ZOE keep its position as the leader among Europe's zero-emission cars? Even if it does not, it will certainly remain one of the most recommendable vehicles in the e-segment.
