i-GT Line+ Rapid Charge ZE 50kWh R135 Battery Purchase Auto 5dr

Good car and great service from a specialist EV company.

We bought our two-year old second-hand Zoe from a specialist EV dealer (Cleevely Motors in Cheltenham), they were brilliant, no hard sell and several different makes and models available. I think our model had been a rental car. We wanted a smaller car because we wanted to easily park it in our garage.

11 months on, we’ve driven around 15,000 miles though France, Spain, Portugal and the UK. We wanted an electric car for environmental reasons, but we wanted a reliable vehicle. As happy long-term Toyota drivers we were slightly nervous of changing to another marque.

However the Zoe has been reliable and easy to drive. We usually leave the “Eco” setting running. Over winter we were getting about 4miles/KWh, but in the warmer months we’ve been regularly getting over 5.3 miles/Kwh – which means the car typically shows a 250+ mile range when at 100%, which is more than the WLTP rating. Our highest ratings have been 5.8miles/Kwh with our day to day driving around hilly A roads at 50mph. and cruising along with lorries on motorways at 62mph.

I really like that its easy to drive but also not to bulky or lumbering. It’s a perfectly “normal” car in fact. The only problems have been the reversing camera doesn’t always work. Its completely random and the EV dealer was unable to sort out – I just use wing mirrors and look behind me, as I always did. And there are the reversing sensors as well.

The low safety rating was a worry, but its partly down to some “active” safety features not being available in all models. I think our version has them, though I’m not a great fan of some active alerts.

We use Apple car play – which is available via a cable (not wireless). The on-screen menus took a bit of learning – I’m really not keen on the needless complexity of some touch screens. Most key controls have physical buttons.
Renault has an app where you can schedule charging and the like which has been useful. We charge when electricity prices are lower. The DC charging speed 50Kw isn’t the fastest when stopping on a long journeys, but it just means a slightly longer coffee break.

Overall we like the car a lot and have no plans to change it. Sadly Renault have replaced the Zoe with a new model Five” which is just that bit larger and so won’t easily fit in our garage.

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