Monday, December 24, 2012

Veja Trainers



To my surprise, Renault sent me an email for the free pair of Veja Trainers. Surprised because the trainers are only available to the first 1500 reservations world wide. Not only are they available, but all the sizes were still in stock. Renault has well under 1500 reservations for a Zoe. Who knows how many of them will turn into firm orders.


 I looked at a Tesla Model S yesterday. They go on sale in the UK soon, with the first deliveries by the end of 2013. The person showing us the car told me Tesla is selling 100 cars a day. Renault is selling maybe 100 Zoe cars a month. If that.

Ordering a Tesla requires an immediate $5000 deposit. That is in a different league than the £49 Renault requires. Tesla is going to convert most of their reservations into sales. 

Of course, the Model S is in an entirely different class than the Zoe. Nevertheless the Model S is selling well. Not only that but there are real 100% complete cars in the hands of real customers.

Monday, December 17, 2012

How Many?

How many electric vehicles are registered for on the road use in the UK?  Not many at all.

Here are the numbers:

Think 9
Tesla Roadster 56
Peugeot Partner Electric + Citroen Berlingo Electrique(1998-) 73 left
Renault Fluence Z.E. 60
Renault Kangoo Z.E. 223
Renault Twizy 226
Peugeot iON + Citroen C-Zero + Mitusbishi i-MIEV 563
Reva G-WIZ 576 left
Smiths milk float 876 left
Nissan Leaf 1027

Source: Third Quarter 2012 vehicle registration data fromHowManyLeft.

Disappointing numbers.
Well except for Reva.

I've counted the iOn, C-Zero and i-MIEV together since they are the same car. But it is the iON that is responsible for the big jump in registrations. Peugeot iON numbers spiked up after a few dealers started offering the car on heavily discounted business leases. Very few went at the initial crazy high £488/month. Fleetdrive-electric is still advertising contract-hire at £149/month+VAT That price includes the battery. Are they dumping inventory before Zoe arrives?
The Fluence Z.E. continues to not sell. I wouldn't be surprised if Renault discontinued the RHD Fluence.
The Kangoo Z.E. fares somewhat better. Airports account for a good chunk of UK fleet sales. To my surprise there were nearly as many LL21 Maxi vans as ML20 vans. The LL21s could be the 5 seat crew or window vans.
The Kangoo Z.E. is too expensive. Contract-hire for a zero-option ML20 Van with the battery is about £326/month + VAT. £400/month? For a van? If Renault offered the van for £199/month including VAT I'd be driving one.


Friday, December 14, 2012

I Reserved a Renault Zoe Dynamic

Somewhere around noon on December 12th, I reserved a Renault Zoe.




Why? 

 I want an early opportunity for a test drive. People with reservations will be the first to test drive the production car.

The BMW i3 is going to be too expensive. Last official word was "less than a 5 series" That would put it around £30,000(UK) but below $47,500(US).  The Zoe Dynamic Intens we reserved is £14,750 and the base model is £13,650. A Leaf is £25,990.

Zoe has an NEDC range of 130 miles. Real world range is between 60 and 100 miles. That is better range than any other EV on the market except for the Model S.

Zoe's interior is warmed by a heat pump instead of a resistance heater. That saves a couple of kW when the heat is on and improves winter range.


 Zoe has the second generation 5A motor with AC fast charger. At 44kW (400V 3 phase AC) it will charge the batteries in 30 minutes. Charge time from a home outlet is 3-4 hours.  The Kango Z.E. uses the first generation motor and takes 6 to 8 hours to charge.

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

Test Drive

Last month, I drove both the Kangoo Z.E. and the Fluence Z.E.

These two share technology: Both vehicles have a 22kW-hour lithium-ion battery, an onboard 3.5kW charger, similar power management and a 1st generation Renault 5A electric motor. Output for the Fluence is 70kW(90hp) with 226Nm of torque available almost from a dead start. The Kangoo motor has the same 226Nm of torque but a maximum output of 44kW(60hp).

The 5A motor is made for Renault by Continental in Gifhorn, Germany. The Zoe is getting a 2nd generation 5A motor.

We drove the van first, since we are shopping for a new van. Sitting still, it looks and feels the same as a diesel powered Kangoo. Same seats, same exterior, same payload area, same payload capacity. The Interior features hard plastics and a budget feel common to all small vans.

The dash is a little different. The temperature gauge is replaced with a gauge showing power into or out of the pack. Just below that gauge is a small computer display. A second small display is under the speedometer. That one displays all the usual things, temperature, miles to empty as well as power consumption in kW. A large battery level gauge replaces the tachometer.

Controls are well laid out and easy to use except for the economy mode switch. I wouldn't have know about it if the sales person hadn't pointed it out. The parking brake lever covers one of the drink holders. Ooops.

Kangoo Z.E. dash.

Photobucket

Underway, it is obvious this isn't a diesel. We have driven a lot of small cargo vans recently and they are all noisy. The back of a van is a big tin can that resonates with drive train, suspension and road noise. We can't hear the radio in our Vauxhall. VW's Caddy with their latest diesel is quieter than most, but still noisy.

The Kangoo Z.E. is quieter than most passenger cars. Not only is there almost no engine noise, but there is less noise overall. Renault must have done something to cut down on the little squeaks, creaks, rattles and road noise that plague most vans. The van we drove is just about a year old. During the week the dealership uses it for parts deliveries and general service department use. Its one thing for a new van to not rattle, but no rattles or squeaks from a one year old van is worth mentioning.

The Kangoo Z.E. is the best riding small van I've driven. The battery pack is below the cargo floor, in between the axels. This puts 250kg at the bottom of the van. The battery box must stiffen the frame too. Vans don't handle well, but the Z.E. is better.

The instant torque makes for impressive starts, if you don't care about range. Power falls off noticeably above 30mph, but is still above most diesel vans. About the only thing that might beat a Kangoo Z.E. in town is a VW Caddy with the expensive 140hp 2.0L TDI.

At speed, drag starts to win over output. Don't expect to win a 50-70 race. Acceleration falls off dramatically above 50mph and 0-60 takes about 20 seconds. The van could be faster, even with the 1st generation motor. I think Renault purposely limited power to increase range. Maybe there were thermal issues. To put things in perspective, 20 seconds is faster than the Vauxhall Combo van I'm driving now.

Lifting off the accelerator switches the power electronics to regenerative braking. Regen comes on smoothly over a few seconds and puts power back into the battery pack. The braking is about the same as a gentle stop. The brake lights come on too. Once I got used to it (doesn't take long) I hardly had to use the brakes at all. I could see the brake pads lasting just about forever.

Renault isn't exactly well known for their build quality. I went into the test drive with very low expectations. Fit, finish and build quality on the Kangoo Z.E. was better than I've come to expect from Renault, better than Peugeot/Citroen and was more like what I expect from VW. I can't help but wonder if Renault is putting extra effort into quality control on the Z.E. vans.

Last thing worth mentioning are the comfy seats. A VW Caddy has the best seat but the Kangoo Z.E. is a very close second.

Friday, November 9, 2012

How Many?

I looked up the Kangoo Z.E. on howmanyleft.   As of June 2012, there were 45 registered in the UK.  Of those 20 are dealer demonstrators.  Most of the rest are probably press fleet and other Renault owned vehicles. I doubt even ten have been sold to customers.   The Kangoo Z.E. went on sale in 2011, with the first deliveries at the end of 2011.  

In comparison, there are 57 Fluence Z.E.s and 152 Twizys registered, even though those models have only been available for a few months.   Nissan Leaf, you ask?   952.

So why isn't the Kangoo selling?   First guess is price.  I'll know more after our test drive this weekend.

Thursday, November 8, 2012

Booked a test drive


After a long hiatus, I've gotten serious about getting a Kangoo Z.E.  I've booked a test drive for this weekend.  If I like the van, I have a long list of questions.



Kangoo Z.E. number 5,000 rolled off the assembly line recently.  Oh look number 5,000 is in French Post Office Yellow.  If we could turn and look the other direction, there were probably 4,900 post office yellow vans ahead of it.