A week before the official launch of the production version of the Zoe at the Geneva Motor Show in March 2012 a rumour surfaced that the 2014 model could have a range of about 350km (220 miles). The first site to report this appears to have been Automobile Propre, based on an interview by BFM Business with Renault’s Carlos Tavares (though the link to a BFM article about the interview no longer works).
It always seemed unlikely that this rumour was true. Such a technological leap (of about 75% in battery storage) seems hard to credit over such a short period of time, and even if Renault could achieve it there would be no benefit to Renault to announce a better version of the Zoe coming just before the release of its current version. The follow-up appears to confirm this as Automobile Propre retracted the statement. You can decide for yourself as the (French language) interview is currently available via YouTube (though it may not stay there forever).
Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math
Like many electric vehicle enthusiasts I am keen on protecting the environment and follow the discussions in the media on climate change – while not being exactly a treehugger. Today I read a very interesting summary of the current climate change situation. It was published by Rolling Stone magazine, which is respected for its political reporting, so I don’t think it could be considered extreme by either side of the debate. Highly recommended reading:
Global Warming’s Terrifying New Math – RollingStone.com
Renault Zoe Blog
Over the last year I have become very interested in electric cars, and in particular the Renault Zoe, and so I have created this blog to pass on news and opinion covering the Zoe, electric cars, and related issues.