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Topic: Insuring a Zoe
Hi
I wonder if you guys would be kind enough to post who you are insured with, I’m have difficulty getting a quote to include the battery.
I tried Admiral and Direct line, both said they will not cover the battery.
Admiral initially said increasing the value of the car to include the cost of the battery would cover it, but when the rep checked with his manager he confirmed market value for the car only would be paid if the event of total loss.
Regards Steve
In reply to: Well, it finally happened!
hi
Thanks for the information from the manual which was also confirmed by Renault today.
I can confirm that the car was fully charged as when i plugged it in last night we only had 40% on the battery and this morning it was up to 100%. so the cable had to be connected to charge it correctly.
We are of the conculsion that if the car is set to comfort temperature timer then the car is automatically switched on and the safe mechanisms for the cable is switch of hence my wife been able to reverse. The timer was set for 7.45 and my wife got into the car at 7.55. This is also backed up by the fact that when she realised what had happened she switched the engine off and because the cable was still attached, but damaged, the engine wouldn’t restart.
Renault have been unable to confirm whether this is the case or not, and probably don’t want to!
Now on to Renault, what a shambles, you wont even think they made the car with the little they know about it.
They agreed to take it to our nearest service centre under the free breakdown cover, only to find out that the dealer who sold it to us is unable to service the car! So it has to go to a service centre over 30 miles away. why do they sell cars through dealer who cant service them?
The first pickup truck to pick it up wouldn’t take it as he considered electric cars to be dangerous. So back on the phone to Renault customer services and then they sent a car out who thought they were just replacing the battery. So they turned up with an ordinary car battery and had never even heard of a ZOE. Back on the phone again thrid time lucky a load loader came and took it away.
If you do breadown down make sure you ask for a low loader as apparently you can put an electric car on anything else.
Chargemaster are going to charge about £500-600 for a new unit and will wait for an update on the damage from Renault.
We have no intention of paying for anything as we believe that there is a serious flaw in the safety of the car when using the comfort timer, anybody want to give it a test;-)
I will post again tomorrow once we have an update from Renault Customer Services.
Arthur
In reply to: Introductions
Good to know I will be getting the same rate as for my current car.
I did enjoy the test drive, although I was a little concerned when I picked up the car, it had a full charge, but only had a predicted range of 69 miles. I drove 42 miles and used 50% of the battery and it still had a predicted 39 miles remaining. I noted the car had only done 149 miles when I got it and I think maybe the salesmen/other people that had driven it before me had ragged it which is why the range prediction was so low.
I have to say I was not impressed with the Renault salesman at the dealers, he knew less about these cars than me! He kept referring to the internet to answer my questions which did not impress my wife.
Still I think we are now happy and convinced a Zoe is the correct car for us.
In reply to: Mark D's ZOE
You’re absolutely right, of course, that the 17″ wheels (which I have) result in less range, but in was still hoping for range in the 80’s (rather than high 60’s).
I’m not sure how accurate the predicted range is, because when we plugged in last night it said the battery was at 55% charge with a predicted range of 49 miles, which would give an overall range of 89 miles, which is more like it.
Today I discovered 2 things; first, that my tyre pressures were low (the dealer obviously didn’t check). The fronts should have bee 2.6 bar and were at 2.2/2.3. The rears should have been 2.5 and were 2.2. I’ve put them to 2.7 and 2.6 respectively. Not sure how much difference that will make.
Secondly, I paid more attention to the power meter today – light braking definitely registers higher levels of regen than coasting, so using the brake clearly does affect the amount of regen being applied.
So you’re saying that your range is your actual miles driven plus remaining range indicated, rather than taking the predicted range (at the start of the day) as gospel. I can see the logic! I’m still learning and would have to look up how to reset the trip meter – I assume the driver display and r-link data is reset separately. I’m typically getting around 87/100 according to r-link.
Cheers,
MarkIn reply to: Mark D's ZOE
I will all so say reset your trip miles, mine says 83miles every day, but when you do your daily drive, at the end of day add up your miles traveled to what you have left on your battery range that’s how I do it.
In reply to: Motorway driving in winter
gazgear – I’ve done 55 miles (40 miles of which at 55-60mph on a motorway) in the cold and rain, and had 39% battery charge left at the end.
Topic: R-Link reset via spanner
Wife returned home from work complaining that Zoe had lost reverse camera, radio, Bluetooth connection to phone etc etc so a recollection of some of the posts I approached Zoe with a 10mm ring spanner and while Zoe was unplugged and not charging I disconnected the negative terminal of the 12v secondary battery and after 5 seconds or so reconnected it to hear the car emit 1 seconds worth of her flying saucer pedestrian warning sound, the sound wife was listening to just before R-Link crashed during driving. After tightening the loose battery nut, yay R-Link had rebooted and was all correct and fine!
Couldn’t Renault have fitted a R-Link reset button within the car, maybe they have and have not told us mortals yet.
Advice, always keep a 10mm ring spanner in the glove box just in case! 🙂
In reply to: No Maps Found message
Hi,
I’m replying because i am having the same issue in my new Renault Megane Hatchback. I have the car for a week now.
I was dissapointed about having this issue. But i think i know what is happening. I still need to see if i am correct in my findings.
This problem for me started when i connected my phone (samsung galaxy S4) to the car via bluetooth. It seems all is ok if i have enough power on the phone and it is attached via bluetooth. However when i have not attached my phone (like when the battery goes empty whilst driving or when having turned of the bluetooth on the phone) i frequently have the same issue.
What i think is happening is that RLink is actively trying to connect (once every xx seconds) to my phone since i registered it. But when it does not find it, it seems that a malfunction in the driver or software resets other USB devices conencted, including the SD card reader.
In my case it loads the maps again while driving and continues navigation but it is pretty annoying. As i said i am not sure but have a good hunch.
Are you ovserving similar points about the issue?
Anyways, i hope to figure it out before i travel with these findings back to the dealer.
In reply to: Trevor's ZOE Intens
@Trevor so you’re doing c 1000 miles a month then. Is this more than you thought? What battery lease did you go for? I ask because I’m using my Zoe much more than I expected and now I’m beginning to wonder if I should have gone for more that the lowest £70/month battery lease option?
In reply to: Motorway driving in winter
I have a similar type of commute to you – I drive a 62 mile round-trip of which about 40 miles are on high-speed roads. I’m currently testing the effect of driving at different speeds but I can say that being sensible and driving at around 60mph on the motorway (and my journey is definitely not flat) I usually arrive home with about 27 miles and 30% of the battery charge remaining. However, as Trevor says, we’ve not experienced a winter yet.
I had the same concerns as you but in the end I considered 3 points:
1) Driving more slowly significantly increases the range so if you absolutely have to there is always the option of driving at 50mph.
2) Based on Leaf battery data with the normal temperatures in the UK I don’t expect the Zoe battery to drop to 70% for about 7 or 8 years. I have calculated all my costs for the Zoe around a 4 or 5 year ownership with an ’emergency’ situation of being able to part-exchange after about 3 years without too much loss of money. Basically, I don’t plan to own the Zoe by the time the capacity drops to 70% 🙂
3) There are a small number of charing points I can use if I really need to. In particular there is a 22kW charger at a service station on the motorway. I certainly don’t plan to be stopping there every evening on the way home from work in the cold and rain/snow but it gives me a backup plan. In the same way I am encouraging my workplace to install a charger.
In the end we are both pushing the limits of what a current generation EV will do year-in/year-out but it all comes down to risk. Worst case scenario for me is that I will need to do 50mph to work and back (meaning my journey will take an extra 10 minutes), I’ll have to stop on the way home to charge every day and then I’ll need to sell the car after 3 years. I very much doubt all of this will actually happen but if it does I’ll have lost about £1200 and will take longer to get home in the evening but, fundamentally, I’ll still be able to get to work. So I consider it a risk worth taking.
ask again in March and we’ll be able to give you more info on how the Zoe works in cold weather 🙂 Apparently this winter in the UK is going to be a long, cold one.
