This story first appeared in the july issue of evtalkau – CLICK HERE to download the magazine FREE
The Renault Zoe Z.E. leaves one in a quandary – fortunately it has nothing to do with its abilities as an electric car.
Buying breakfast cereal from the supermarket seems a fairly elementary task, particularly when you’re not buying that over-processed, added-sugar, unknown rubbish thrown in all the allegedly healthy trimmings.
The only three items you should be touching in the cereal aisle are raw, unprocessed oats, cornflakes and WeetBix.
None of that flavoured stuff with dried fruit or anything inserted into the simplest of foods, because that’s where they get you, on price and contents.
What you notice about buying these three simple cereals, essential for a healthy diet, is the rise of what was once called “home brand” equivalents.
The house-brand version of cornflakes is immediately a better buy.
Look at the price tag and clearly the home brand option is the smarter one, so naturally it leaves the shelves quicker.
But the box is smaller, meaning you’ll be back for more much sooner than if you’d gone for the original, big-box, crushed-and-cooked corn.
Let’s get one thing clear from the outset.
This is, from the front, the prettiest electric car on the market, narrowly beating the Jaguar I-Pace.
The rear lights look a bit too splayed to be pretty, per se, but they do look cool, like they’re from an F-Zero video game race car (look it up, kids).
Unlike most electric cars, even models released much later than Zoe which is a couple of years old in Australia now, the Zoe’s boot is joyously deep.
Perfect for expansive shopping
sprees through Chadstone, or wherever women conduct their clothing acquisition ceremonies these days.
If you’re looking for a cut-price TeslaLudicrous experience, you’re in the wrong place.
Zoe is not about pulling brains back inside their skulls, and nor is it supposed to make Mustangs look like Shetland ponies.
Acceleration is agonisingly sluggish if you drive thus, with throttle mapping designed for optimal takeoff with range-conservative enthusiasm in your deployment of 66kW and 220Nm.
Once you’re up to speed, Zoe will gladly scurry along at pace, but is completely outgunned by anything even
mildly sporty.
Brakes lack feel but they will stop you with genuine confidence.
It’s also important at this point to highlight the crucial safety and efficiency factors involved with running correct
tyre pressures.
Eco tyres on an electric car sitting at just 20psi is not only like asking the battery to drop anchor but is grossly
unsafe in the event of an emergency stop or sudden swerve.
The bloke in the V8 Audi, also sharing the servo’s poorly maintained air pump, enjoyed gawping at Zoe while I waited.
When you fire up (sorry, flick on) the $50k Zoe, the whirring and Hollywoodstyle sound effects of things powering up is enjoyable, and a nice touch is two varied-size cup holders to account for both a woodgrain-styled drink bottle
or your keep-cupped small, skinny flat white.
It needs to be said that the R-Link infotainment system is fiddly to use.
Connecting a phone means having to manually tell the system to be “visible” in a separate menu, despite having already tried to push “Connect a new device” in another menu.
Seems strange to expect several people will want to connect to your Zoe at the same time
as you.
Also weird is the speed-sensitive radio volume, which is distracting and annoying, likewise the placement of cruise control switch beside the driver’s right knee and volume controls behind the steering wheel, ala paddleshifts.
On a one-week loan period courtesy of Renault Australia, Zoe’s claimed range of 300km courtesy of a 40kWh
battery is pretty-well on-point, and the use of a 10amp 240v wall plug forat-home trickle charging was sufficient for moderate use, in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs where bugger-all charging infrastructure exists.
You won’t be tearing up sports cars in Zoe, so don’t even try.
She’s a more refined, yet simpler design.
The Zoe buyer prefers the whimsical, the unorthodox, but doesn’t break sweat Those looking for an
electric car without affectation, but with unmissable, undeniable character, the unassuming Zoe brings thesame essential nutrition, in a reserved Zoe Z.E. isn’t an electric revolution, but what it does, it does very well.
There are faster, longer-range or better-priced EVs on the market. But they’re not Zoe.
