Renault Zoe

Renault Zoe – Overview

The bigger battery and optional, more powerful ‘R135’ motor should have much the same effect. The former - a 52kWh pack that replaces the old car’s 41kWh battery which see the charging is quicker too, now that the Zoe supports DC charging up to 50kW via a CCS port hidden behind the Renault badge.

Its exterior has been given a bit of a going over, but the interior is totally new with a big portrait touchscreen, more soft-touch and high-end materials that’s more, significantly more in some cases, compare with its rivals Nissan Leaf and BMW i3.

Renault Zoe - Exterior

Renault has given the Zoe’s brake lights the LED treatment too; ditching the old car’s blue lens coating in the process. From behind the wheel, the Renault Zoe feels much like a traditional combustion-engine supermini – albeit a much quieter one. Both front and rear wheel fitted with 195/55 R16 squirting between sets of traffic lights and way through side streets avoiding tailbacks.

Renault Zoe - Interior

Thankfully, it is comfortable inside – in the front, at least but those in the back will feel pretty hemmed-in if they’re close to six-feet tall and there isn’t enough shoulder room to carry three adults. The door bins are big, and while the glove box is small, there’s a handy shelf above it. There are no pockets on the backs of the front seats, but the boot is fine with 338 litres of space.

The car’s seats are still fixed compared with the old model, and a measure too high at that, but at least now the steering wheel telescopes a good way out of the dashboard. The climate controls, which mercifully have not been integrated into the touchscreen, and a couple of USB ports, new gear-lever, an electronic parking brake and wireless phone charger. 

Renault Zoe - Features

The Renault Zoe is equipped with a 10-inch display lifted from the new Clio with a seven-inch Renault R-Link touchscreen display and six-speaker 3D Arkamys sound system. It also has USB connectivity, handsfree Bluetooth operation and a 12-volt power socket. 

Renault Zoe - Powertrain

Renault Zoe – Battery Consumption

Renault Zoe - Driving Performance

There’s a new ‘B’ mode that amps up the throttle, but B is supposed to make it more of a ‘one pedal’ car but it isn’t really a one pedal car in the same way the Nissan Leaf (with its ‘e-Pedal’ system) is, but with a bit of forethought it’s totally possible to drive with only sparing use of the brake pedal.  

Renault Zoe - Ride Comfort

The Renault Zoe has already given with a few nips and tucks, a makeover emerged to be revitalised, refreshed and ready to prove that what it takes against some trendy young upstarts. Not the last word in performance but, aided by the instant availability of the torque, it’s capable of holding its own on capability a way that earlier versions couldn’t.