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Zoë Needs Some Of Nicole’s Old School Magic

Topics: Renault Zoë

Zoë Needs Some Of Nicole’s Old School Magic

Geoff Maxted
DriveWrite
October 29, 2013

A while back I had the opportunity to try the Renault Zoë electric car. It was very good indeed and even I, as a non-believer, felt it had a place on the road. It seems however that buyers feel different and it is all probably down to the reasons that we all know too well. This lack of interest has clearly affected sales. Renault will sell about 10,000 units of its Zoë supermini EV this year which is some 40,000 below its target.

The manufacturer would not confirm or deny that its aim this year for the Zoë was 50,000 global sales, which was allegedly the number touted by Renault executives. Early this year the car maker announced that the Renault-Nissan alliance would not meet its goal of selling 1.5 million EV’s globally by 2016. A Renault spokesperson said that the alliance has not set any new targets yet. Wonder why?

Renault launched the battery-powered Zoë in Europe earlier this year. With a global volume of 6,600 units sold between the months of January to September, the Zoë is the top-selling all electric vehicle in Renault's line-up of electric cars and vans.

Industry pundits believe that consumer interest in the Zoë and other electric motors such as the Nissan Leaf will grow once there are more public places available to plug in the car. DriveWrite is not so sure that the public will be that easily convinced. More charging stations help, obviously, but there’s still the range and time taken issues plus the lesser spectres of longevity and resale values.

A lot more has to change. Battery technology still has a long way to go as a stand-alone power source. The Zoë is a good car and could certainly make sense for low-mileage urbanites with home charging, but as for the rest of us? For now I think I will be sticking with Nicole’s internal combustion.