I came across a couple of interesting snippets of news about Zoe’s battery this week.

Battery Available to Buy

According to Fleet News, Renault boss Carlos Tavares has pledged he would authorise a move to include battery packs in vehicle purchasing pricing if customers prefer it:

“The whole point of our idea to offer batteries on lease has been to provide our customers with peace of mind and this has been backed up by all the results from our focus group sessions. These are expensive items and we shoulder the cost if they should fail during the lease period. But if the feedback we get from our sales network shows that customers prefer to buy the batteries along with the cars, we will change our minds. We’ll wait and see how customers respond to the plan before coming to a decision.”

Speaking at the media launch of the Zoe in Portugal, he added:

“When you are in a pioneering position, you have to accept that there are risks to be taken as well as opportunities. We’re not being stubborn over this. The leasing idea was part of our aim [to] retain a competitive edge, but we will listen to what our customers tell us.”

Remote Battery Inhibition

EV World reports that the financial arm of Renault UK, RCI, can:

“remotely inhibit the battery so that it won’t charge should [the] car owner fail to make their monthly rental payments”

It’s the first time I’ve seen in print that Renault has the capability to stop you using your Zoe if you don’t pay the battery lease fee, though of course it has long been suspected.