Last month I finally got to see a Zoe ‘in the flesh’ at my local Renault dealer. It was a left-hand-drive example that I understand was conducting a familiarisation tour of dealers. I only had a brief time to take a look at it as it was on a tight timetable – there was unfortunately no time or opportunity for a test drive.
I was given a brief tour by Andy Heiron, who took time to me show me around it and to describe some of its key features, including the charging system, EV tyres and R-Link.
I learnt some interesting points of information:
- Although this Zoe was fitted with 17” alloy wheels – as are many of the examples seen in publicity shots – the special EV tyres developed by Michelin for the Zoe are only available for the 15” and 16” wheels. These EV tyres can give up to 10% improvement in range compared to other tyres.
- Deliveries will take place in the fourth quarter of 2012 in France, but will not happen in the UK before the end of the first quarter of 2013.
- The Zoe is currently ‘on tour’ as part of the Z.E. Tour 2012 but is only on static display at those events. UK customers will instead get a chance to see the Zoe close up at official dealer ‘VIP’ evenings during November.
- Orders for the first UK deliveries will be taken in January and February.
My personal impressions of the Zoe were very positive, though I didn’t have a lot of time with it. I sat in the back and found it fairly spacious and overall the vehicle seemed slightly bigger than I expected. It seemed smart and well made.
The boot, though full of a variety of charging cables, was a good size. I also liked the rear door handles which are very neatly built in to the window frames. Overall I was very pleased with what I saw and look forward to getting my own Zoe as soon as possible.
Hi Trevor,
How do we get an invitation to the official dealer ‘VIP’ evenings in November?
I test drove a Leaf last week for the second time. Very nice car. Word on the street is that the model produced in Sunderland will have a number of tweaks to the current version including an extra 30 mile range. Also, there will be a drop in price to below £20k for the entry level model. Production in Sunderland is expected to start in February 2013.
Alister.
Alister,
You need to be in contact with your local Renault dealer. For me that’s Marshall in Milton Keynes, and their VIP evening is 22 November.
Trevor
Thanks Trevor.
I’ve contacted Arnold Clark in Edinburgh and their evening is on the 7th November.
Best wishes,
Alister.
I attended a VIP event yesterday evening and had my second encounter with the Renault Zoe. While we were encouraged to have a good look around the car inside and out, a test drive of any sort was not on offer. This was a white, rignt hand drive vehicle.
My impression was that the Zoe is a rather splendid car. All the bits and pieces under the bonnet look solid and well laid out. The boot seemed enormous. Inside the finishes seem better than they look in photographs. The very brief demonstration of the R-Link multimedia system was very impressive.
The car is quite tall and so am I (6’5″). While I could fit quite comfortably in the driver’s seat the usual levers to adjust the seat height, angle of the back etc seemed to be absent. However, I still had some clearance between the top of my nut and the internal ceiling of the car. My 16 year old son was able to sit behind me quite comfortably. We sat in the car for quite some time to get a good feel for it and the longer we sat, the more we liked it.
So, I’m very impressed. The next step will be a test drive in spring 2013 when we should also know more about the updates to the Leaf produced in Sunderland.
Alister.
Thanks for the report, Alister. It’s disappointing not being able to test drive, but the rest is encouraging – particularly that right-hand drive is already available.
Did you happen to notice the registration number? I’d be interested to see if there’s just one car that does the rounds of all the dealers.
By the way, did they say if there was any problem about taking photos?
Hi Trevor,
There wasn’t a number plate – just the Zoe name plate in its place.
People were taking photographs, but I didn’t take any.
Alister.
Ok – I should see it myself next week, and I’ll try to take a bunch of photos.