One of the global leaders when it comes to selling electric vehicles, Renault is working to consolidate this position with the introduction of an updated version of the current Zoe.
Unveiled during this year Paris Motor Show, the new Zoe is fitted with the new Z.E. 40 battery and delivers a record NEDC driving range of 250 miles (400 km), which is twice the distance delivered by the model at the time of its original launch.
In real-world driving, Renault estimates the new Z.E. 40 battery has a range of 186 miles (300km) in urban or suburban areas.
The range offered by the new Zoe is the longest of any mainstream all-electric vehicle and motorists can take advantage of this step forward now. The Zoe is the best-selling electric vehicle in Europe and should stay like this in the future thanks to the new version.
The time required to charge the Z.E. 40 battery is similar to that necessary for the standard battery, so ‘topping up’ doesn’t take long. For example, just 30 minutes is required on average to charge the battery for an extra 50 miles (80km) of driving range when plugged into a public charging point in operation in Europe.
The Zoe continues to be available with the Quick Charge function to take full advantage of the maximum capacity of fast charging points located predominantly along motorway corridors.
The Zoe’s new Z.E. 40 battery boasts 41kWh of useful energy, equivalent to almost double the storage capacity of the Zoe’s standard battery (22kWh of useful energy).
Developed in close partnership with LG Chem, the battery uses high-energy density lithium-ion technology.
Renault and LG engineers managed increasing storage capacity without making the battery any bigger or a lot heavier. It was optimised by working on the chemistry of the cells in order to increase their energy density, rather than stacking additional battery modules, a commonly used technique.
