Reply to: Anyone test drive \ bought the Renault Zoe?

[eek]

Yeah and in 3 years time, trade that £12600 two owner ford in and see how much you get back. You'd be lucky to see £6000.

Look, I know you can buy second hand super minis cheaper and there may be resistance to the Zoe or it may not be everyone's cup of tea. LV's like the Leaf dont stack up because of the way the car is parcelled and range will always be a limiting factor with LV cars and current battery technowlogy. But, I was wanting to know if anyone had real life ownership experience of it. I know the foibles of a small ic engined car. Personally, I'd rather walk than buy a ford though!

All new cars are going to cost you £6000+ in depreciation over 3 years.

There is a counter argument here The LlewBlog - Electric Cars - The Renault Zoe: A non Review which interestingly points out that the car is only officially available from June 7th.

[BolshieBastard]

So pick a one of those new 1 litre ford fiestas and use that.

Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost 125 Titanium 5dr 2012

Yeah and in 3 years time, trade that £12600 two owner ford in and see how much you get back. You'd be lucky to see £6000.

Look, I know you can buy second hand super minis cheaper and there may be resistance to the Zoe or it may not be everyone's cup of tea. LV's like the Leaf dont stack up because of the way the car is parcelled and range will always be a limiting factor with LV cars and current battery technowlogy. But, I was wanting to know if anyone had real life ownership experience of it. I know the foibles of a small ic engined car. Personally, I'd rather walk than buy a ford though!

[eek]

I dont think it is expensive for what it is after the £5k 'grant' by HMG is taken into account. For a super mini, its not really more than a corsa etc.



You could very easily pay more than 70 quid a month on fuel (diesel or unleaded) so I dont agree it seems ridiculous hiring the batteries. In fact, hiring the batteries is a sensible option when you look into it. If you've bought another LV such as the Leaf, if the batteries fail to charge more than 70%, your fracked. Hiring them, Renault will replace FOC.

As regards the charging point, it allows you to charge the car in 3.5 hours as opposed to 9 hours via the normal 13 amp socket although this slow charge option is still present.

You are correct about the limited range though. But if you are just doing around town journeys of 30 to 40 miles a day (sometimes she never goes out in the car), an LV like the Zoe will be a viable alternative.

Put it this way, if you are doing that mileage in a new diesel which must have a dpf by law, you'll soon clog it up and have all sorts of issues. Using a modern diesel as other suggest as an alternative and doing town mileage is a recipe for disaster for the car and financially as you'll never see the cost \ benefit of a diesel doing that kind of mileage.

So pick a one of those new 1 litre ford fiestas and use that.

Ford Fiesta 1.0 EcoBoost 125 Titanium 5dr 2012

[BolshieBastard]

its a lot of money for what it is.

Granted there is no road tax but its still £840 a year for batteries.

A diesel supermini would probably have the same road tax (or very little more), cost the same a month to fuel and have a far more reliable resell value.

I dont think it is expensive for what it is after the £5k 'grant' by HMG is taken into account. For a super mini, its not really more than a corsa etc.

If the point is to save money, then spending the same as you would on fuel on hiring batteries seems rather ridiculous.

How does a proper charge point differ from a 3 pin plug? I guess it could give you the full 30A of the ring rather than 13A.

The real killer for electric cars is not the cost, the range, or even the availability of charge points. It's the recharge time. If they ever become popular expect to see lots of them on the back of AA trucks.

You could very easily pay more than 70 quid a month on fuel (diesel or unleaded) so I dont agree it seems ridiculous hiring the batteries. In fact, hiring the batteries is a sensible option when you look into it. If you've bought another LV such as the Leaf, if the batteries fail to charge more than 70%, your fracked. Hiring them, Renault will replace FOC.

As regards the charging point, it allows you to charge the car in 3.5 hours as opposed to 9 hours via the normal 13 amp socket although this slow charge option is still present.

You are correct about the limited range though. But if you are just doing around town journeys of 30 to 40 miles a day (sometimes she never goes out in the car), an LV like the Zoe will be a viable alternative.

Put it this way, if you are doing that mileage in a new diesel which must have a dpf by law, you'll soon clog it up and have all sorts of issues. Using a modern diesel as other suggest as an alternative and doing town mileage is a recipe for disaster for the car and financially as you'll never see the cost \ benefit of a diesel doing that kind of mileage.

[Scrag Meister]

Was at an exhibition at the weekend and saw a Renault Twizy along with the Zoe.

Looks like a fun run around, if you are 5' tall and weigh less than 12 stone.

[Spacecadet]

Was I the only one to get excited then, thinking this was some device that could generate petrol?

If you attach the output to a big enough battery and run it in reverse...

[Bunk]

An arc reactor is what we need

[kingcook]

Not going to happen for a while

In the meantime just stuff one of these in to the car:
Rhyas Petrol Generator 1500w: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

Was I the only one to get excited then, thinking this was some device that could generate petrol?

[Spacecadet]

Nuclear power would be . You'd have a car that would essentially work forever, with no need to recharge or refill anything.

Not going to happen for a while

In the meantime just stuff one of these in to the car:
Rhyas Petrol Generator 1500w: Amazon.co.uk: DIY & Tools

[Spacecadet]

The battery in the Zoe is 290Kg, so it'd need to be some automated machine.

You could have 5 ~60kg batteries instead

[VectraMan]

What electric cars really need is easily replaceable batteries so you can roll into a service station pay for a charged set and get them replaced in <5 minutes preferably by some sort of automated machine.

The battery in the Zoe is 290Kg, so it'd need to be some automated machine.

Nuclear power would be . You'd have a car that would essentially work forever, with no need to recharge or refill anything.

[Alias]

I'm waiting for cars to have their own personal on-board nuclear reactor for power.

Something like the USS California (CGN-36)

sounds like the DeLorean DMC-12 from Back to the Future?

[kingcook]

I'm waiting for cars to have their own personal on-board nuclear reactor for power.

Something like the USS California (CGN-36)

[Spacecadet]

What electric cars really need is easily replaceable batteries so you can roll into a service station pay for a charged set and get them replaced in <5 minutes preferably by some sort of automated machine.

[VectraMan]

If the point is to save money, then spending the same as you would on fuel on hiring batteries seems rather ridiculous.

How does a proper charge point differ from a 3 pin plug? I guess it could give you the full 30A of the ring rather than 13A.

The real killer for electric cars is not the cost, the range, or even the availability of charge points. It's the recharge time. If they ever become popular expect to see lots of them on the back of AA trucks.