The BEST VALUE EV! Renault ZOE Reviewed

Such as the Volkswagen ID3 thats kind of like the Krispy Kreme donut version of this car, and given this a cost of living crisis going on, I just want to find out more of us should be looking towards the affordable Renault for our do it all. Electric car needs so yeah lets get cracking so I can eat these much like the Christmas pudding in my mums. Kitchen cupboard the Zoes been with us since 2012, and it hasnt really changed an awful lot in terms of looks in that time, but under the skin, things have moved on, like my arteries after eating all those donuts, because theres always been such a big success. For Renault theyve upgraded the battery several times from the original 90 mile, one to this modern, 50 kilowatt hour effort, which will get you about 230 miles on a charge and thats deeply impressive for such a small car. If you buy a Renault Zone with the rapid charge option, it will let you charge that battery at up to 50 kilowatts, which is fast enough to fill the battery in about an hour and a half in the real world. And if you found that little fact helpful, why dont you like the video and subscribe to our YouTube channel if you found it really unhelpful and boring, hit the dislike button twice for extra hatred at four meters long, the Renault Zoe is the same length as a Ford Fiesta, which makes it a great companion for City driving its just a nice size, its easy to parallel park.

It looks a bit like a pregnant alien cat from the side, I think, but so what the rear door handles are cleverly hidden. You get a little fingerprint there to tell you where to open them. All models get alloy wheels up to 17 inches on the top spec ones, this ones on 16s, and I still think it looks pretty Posh inside the Zoe is a bit like Cher. You know its quite old underneath all of this, but it looks pretty good. Its got a nice big, nine inch vertically orientated infotainment system, which has got built in apple, carplay and Android, auto, although you do have to plug in to use them as two USBS down there. For that you get a digital dashboard as well, which looks pretty nifty. So yeah, even if you are a dashboard, prodding pervert, you will think. Oh, this feels quite nice and squidgy. Its quite surprising weve got a little tray down here for storing stuff got 12 volt socket youve got some physical climate control, knobs, so youre not having to use the touchscreen to change the temperature storage is pretty good. Ive got a place for the keys down there. Ive got two cup holders here and the door bins are actually a pretty decent size, considering it is a small car, but its time for the French car test. Looking in the glove box is half of the glove box. Gon na be fuse box uh. Yes, yes, its quite a pathetically small glove box.

But what about the back seats? Are they pathetically small theres only one way to find out, and that is sticking a six foot three idiot in the back. Its me interior room in the Run of Zoe is compromised to say the least. Is a small car Im six foot three and I feel like an elephant sitting on a porter potty. My head is jammed into the ceiling. Ive barely got any room for my knees and my feet, its just its just below average. To be fair, a lot of the problems stem from the fact that batteries are under the cars floor, which raises everything up so yeah. I feel like Im really jammed up high into the ceiling, which does have a cool circuit board design printed on it, because electric car other disappointments include the fact I havent got any storage on the back of the drivers seat, theres, just a little pocket on the Back of the passenger seat, neither of those are just the high either Ive got two usbas down there, so thats all right, but otherwise yeah its, not great back here, really small door, Pockets too, but hey its a small car. What were you expecting lets check out? The rest of it around the back, the Zoes styling – is perhaps not as exciting as it is from the front, but I do like these little electrical design details in the tail lights now, on the subject of the back seats that I just talked about, I think I was a bit mean because it is actually roomier in the back than in an e208 from Peugeot or the mini electric, but anyway the boot is way bigger than on those cars, its 338 liters.

It is massive for a car. This size were going to test that and something we like to call the motorway Music foreign all four bags in the boot of a Zoe Im, not sure if this one is actually in lets, try closing it and see yeah. Admittedly, all those bags are empty, so they are a little bit squishy but I think thats a deeply impressive performance, but before we go driving there is a rather large elephant in the Zoes room and we need to talk about it now. Normally we would talk about a car safety rating later on in the video when were actually out driving it. But if you look at the Zoes Euro end cap score youll see its safety rating is about as convincing as Moise French accent, because its got zero stars. Like zilch, no stars, thats only ever happened three times in history, so youd think the Zoe is a bit of a death trap, but back in 2013 actually got the full five stars. So whats happened since then. For a start, the Euro end cap test has got tougher five times and renaults also done some things like remove the side head, airbags, probably to save costs and thats made the score go down. But despite having a zero star score, the Zoes got things like automatic emergency braking that can detect cyclists and pedestrians. Its got Lane keep assist, Lane, keep alert and all that kind of stuff.

So it has got lots of safety Tech, but it is still a zero star car. So a more modern car like the Fiat 500e or the mini electric theyre, probably gon na, be safer. Its up to you really go for driving and Renault Zoe. Then you put your foot on the brake, hit the start button and pull it back into D or B and well go on to b in a minute. But the first thing you notice is how effortless it is to drive its got really nice light steering its really easy to see out. It just feels very natural, and if youve never driven an electric car, it feels exactly like driving an automatic car. Its exactly the same theres, no weird grabbiness from the brakes or anything like that in terms of engines, there is only one choice these days in the Zoe, its the r135 and that 135 means 135. Electric horsepower its good for a naught to 62 time of nine and a half seconds, because whos drag racing, their EVS me actually no Im not, but it does give you decent punch like really impressive acceleration. Actually, if youre coming from a small petrol engine car, you put your foot down at 30 40 miles an hour and it really does go quite quickly. Its not a racing car but its decent, but anyway were going to get on some motorways Now find out. This small French electric car feels small and French at Motorway speeds or if it feels big and grown up, most of my Journeys in the Renault Zoe are perfectly doable Im sitting at 70 miles an hour, and there is a fair bit of wind noise off the Mirrors it doesnt feel too wobbly.

It doesnt feel like Im in a small car, doing big speeds. It just feels like a reasonably competent Motorway mile, muncher its a bit of tire noise from the back actually, but whatever its an affordable car, it was never going to feel like a Mercedes S. Class Im actually quite impressed. The only thing to know is that when you do set 70 miles an hour for a wee, while you do see your range start to plummet quicker than driving, say at 50 miles an hour so thats, just an electric car thing, though anyway, thats not exciting, were Going to hit some country roads and find out if the Zoe handles well or if it feels like a boat in a storm right Im out for a drive on the Country Road in the Renault Zoe and Im on one of the bumpiest bits of Roads. Weve ever filmed on and considering this is an electric car and electric cars normally do that a lot. This is really quite comfortable. Its not a sports car Im not going to hammer it around corners with much Gusto, but yeah really impressively comfy well done. Renault is kind of a French trait to have a comfy suspension set up, and this Zoe absolutely Nails it now. The downside to that is that when you do get to a quarter and you want to go around it, even vaguely quickly its going to roll over a bit. Thank you, Mr van, but yeah there you go.

Look so youre, not gon na dry, one! So youre not going to want to drive it fast, pull it that way, but I have to say on this bit of road, its one of the comfiest cars weve ever filmed and your eyeballs, probably arent going all over. The screen like that and mine are free to focus on the road ahead. One last thing to talk about is youve got a Mode called B, which adds a bit more regenerative braking into the motor. So when you lift off the accelerator, it slows down a bit for you, but it doesnt really do an awful lot and its not a one pedal driving system. So its not like a Nissan Leaf where you can just drive on the accelerator alone. Just slows you down a little bit so yeah that does take away from some of the fun because it means you cant play the game where you lift up the accelerator and Coast down to a stop at the traffic lights or your nearest motorpoint store, which is Where were going now for an outro Segway, the Zoe might be more than a decade old, but it still feels bang up to date. Renaults done everything they need to do to make. It feel modern. Its got a new entertainment system that digital dashboard, the driving range of 230 miles, is almost unmatched for a car, this small and at the price, well its a bit of a bargain.

Naturally, there are some downsides: the back seat, space, isnt, huge and theres – that zero start Euro and cap safety rating to think about and do your research on.