Energy Blue, Intens, ordered early May 2014, arrived at dealer 20th May 2014.

Delivery not taken as awaiting charging point installation.

Hi.
Not sure if this is the right thread but I’m signing in to give an update on my Zoe Intens, bought in December 2013, and now on 3,000 miles.
I read most of the threads and wonder if my trouble free time with the Zoe is the exception or the rule. No problems at all with the Chargemaster fitted wallcharger, nor with the electronics in the car, nor with any of the problems submitted by various readers. My local dealer, Evans Halshaw, helped me through the purchase and paperwork for the car with care and knowledge. Its member of staff dealing with the electric car sales went on Renault’s national training course last year and was pretty clued up on the Zoe.
I have only once tried to charge the car while on the road, fortunately experimentally since I had sufficient charge to get home, and it refused to accept the charger (at the new Asda in Huddersfield). Chargemaster, when I phoned them later, said they were aware I had tried to charge on their port (scarey or what that my movements can be so easily tracked?) and that it may have been an earthing issue.
Anyway, plus points for me include the good heating and air con, though I don’t know why, when you push the auto button the heating control with the dial set at the lowest – blue – point, for cold air, the ac light switches itself off. You could only get cooled air in my ‘Ice’ cars if the air con was on.
No problem with hill starts after footbrake stopping, even on steep Sheffield hills. No slip backs at all. Different though if you allow yourself to stop with regenerative braking only. Then it will slip back.
Miss the spare wheel – as I would with most cars sold today – and have ordered one to keep at home (on the basis that most punctures are discovered in the morning when you get up, rather than on the road. And I don’t like the repair outfit gunge they give you instead) Interestingly the dealer said they can fit a cradle under the boot. I hadn’t known that option existed.
Wish the rear seat could be slid back or forth, so giving more rear leg room if needed – as on my previous hatch.
My wife and I have each once inadvertently pressed the ‘Open front chargecap button’ on the remote and driven along wondering what the screen message was meaning until it dawned on us what we had done. Anyone else done this? No damage done though when we stopped to push the front cover shut again.
My wife has found the armrest gets in the way when she adjusts the seat (she has to move it forward a lot) because the tilt wheel is on the left. I suspect Renault have it there for its left hand drive models and weren’t prepared to re-site it on the right for its awkward Brit destined users. A minor point but one I feel could have been addressed.
I like the high seat position – I’m 6’2″ – and find, despite adverse motoring publication criticism that I can sit in the back without having to bend my head.
While on the car mag critics, it annoys me that it’s clear not all bother to find out what the car can do. For instance, I’ve found one who disliked the eco mode limit of 60mph because they might need suddenly to go faster in an emergency. Had they read the manual they would have seen that by shoving hard on the accelerator pedal they can override, temporarily, the speed limiter. But they didn’t and I find that to be sloppy or lazy journalism. It’s not all they’ve got wrong about the Zoe either and I’m sure other readers of this blog will have noticed errors.
I still wonder at the lack of publicity the Zoe is being given by Renault UK. It’s a superb car – why not trumpet its praises? Why don’t they contact buyers and ask for regular feedback? Why won’t they engage with blogs like this one – it would repay them handsomely when there is a problem.
Will do another running report/comment piece later in the year.
Richard

The Satnav on my Zoe has stopped working so the car is booked in for service on Friday. This is the first time anything has broken down so I will be interested to see if my local Renault dealer is as good at fixing things as they are at selling.
I had no complaints with the quality of the sale, the paperwork and the charger booking. Now lets see if they can fix a fault as efficiently. I’ll keep you posted.
Richard of Sheffield

Hmm.
No sooner than the satnav is sorted than my wife drives our Zoe home from the station on Thursday evening and a big red rectangle appears on the screen saying: “DANGER. ELECTRICAL PROBLEM.” But the car drives okay and so she gets home (about 6 miles to where we live.)
I go out and switch on and get the same message. Then try again a few minutes later and no message. Everything apparently back to normal. Next day I take it into our Renault dealers and their chief electrician says I will need to leave the car with them as he needs to run a computer assessment as the cars memory will show a trace of what the problem is.
They will do this on Monday (bypassing the waiting list for other cars in for servicing or whatever which I’m pleased about) but I’m told it may be a faulty control unit in which case they would have to order and fit one. Free of course, because I’m within warranty for the next 3 1/2 years, but still disturbing.
I hope this isn’t the start of an endless list of problems. Otherwise the car is a beauty and I still get great pleasure out of gliding along roads and motorways and accelerating unbelievably quickly up the steep Sheffield hills.
I’ll keep you posted how this develops.
Richard of Sheffield