A Renault ZOE with the longest range of any mainstream electric vehicle – 250 miles (400km) – was unveiled today by Carlos Ghosn, Groupe Renault Chairman and CEO during the 2016 Paris Motor Show.
Fitted with the new Z.E. 40 battery, the Renault ZOE now delivers a record NEDC driving range of 250 miles (400km), 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.
“This month Renault surpassed 100,000 electric vehicles sold and now ZOE will travel up to 250 miles (400km) without recharging. We are continuing to push in areas where innovation matters most for Renault customers. Making it easy for them to choose electric, with new connected services to enhance their driving experience, is a top priority for us and for ZOE customers.”
| NEDC cycle certification | Real-world traffic conditions – Urban and suburban use, temperate climate | |
| The New Z.E. 40 battery (41kWh) | 250 miles (400km) | 186 miles (300km) |
| The existing 22kWh battery Will remain on sale alongside the new battery | 149 miles (240km) | 106 miles (170km) |
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 at all. 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 one of the many public charging points 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.
AN INNOVATION THAT DOUBLES BATTERY CAPACITY WITH NO INCREASE IN SIZE
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 have succeeded in 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. This major new technology has been developed while ensuring the battery’s reliability and safety.
THE ZOE: DESIGNED AND MADE ENTIRELY BY RENAULT
Just as it conceives and manufactures the majority of its powertrains, Renault designed and makes the ZOE, thanks not only to the expertise it has acquired as a pioneer in the world of electric-vehicles mobility and as Europe’s number one electric-vehicle brand, but also to its technical and sporting partnership roles in the FIA Formula E Championship. Groupe Renault’s know-how is chiefly rooted in France where its high added-value vehicles and components are primarily designed and produced.
Like the 22kWh battery, the new Z.E. 40 battery is assembled at Renault’s Flins plant, near Paris. The same factory is responsible for the production of the Renault ZOE, alongside the Renault Clio. The ZOE was designed and engineered at the Renault Technocentre in Guyancourt, also near Paris.
The R90 motor is made at Renault’s Cléon factory in Normandy, a flagship facility in the field of engine and transmission production for the group. Launched in the spring of 2015, and originally known as the R240, this motor was entirely developed by Renault and led to the filing of 95 patents.
The housing that permits the battery’s integration in the ZOE, as well as the model’s front and rear suspension systems, were all conceived by Groupe Renault’s Chassis and Electric Vehicle Engineering Division and are manufactured at Renault’s Le Mans plant.
Z.E. TRIP AND Z.E. PASS: TWO NEW SERVICES TO SIMPLIFY CHARGING AT PUBLIC CHARGING STATIONS ACROSS EUROPE
About 80,000 public charging stations are in operation across Europe. To provide ZOE owners with easy access to them, Renault has released two free services: Z.E. Trip helps customers to locate charging points, while Z.E. Pass gives access to a high number of charging stations.
Z.E. Trip makes long-distance driving a breeze in the ZOE by allowing drivers to locate all public charging points in some of the main European countries(4). Z.E. Trip can be accessed directly via the Renault R-LINK navigation system using the steering wheel-mounted controls or via the internet to prepare trips in advance. The service indicates the real-time availability of each charging point, as well as its type and whether it is compatible with the car. The driver can select a charging point based on its charging capacity so the speeds suit their requirements.
Z.E. Trip began its rollout to ZOE customers in certain European markets in September and is anticipated to be rolled out in the UK in the coming months.
The Z.E. Pass app makes charging the ZOE easier at most public charging points in Europe even though they are owned by various operators. The driver can pay using the smartphone app or with an RFID badge. They can also locate available charging stations and compare prices at different stations nearby using their smartphone or tablet without having to be a registered member of each network.
Developed in association with Bosch, the service was released in Germany in September 2016 and will be rolled out over the next few months in France, UK, Belgium, Austria, Switzerland, Netherlands, Norway and Sweden.
Z.E. SMARTPHONE APP ENHANCES TO INCLUDE DOOR-TO-DOOR NAVIGATION
New features will be added to the Z.E. app that is freely available to all Renault Z.E. customers, in the first half of 2017 to make journeys in the ZOE even easier, including door-to-door navigation.
Thanks to this feature, the user can enter his or her complete trip using their smartphone app and then forward it to the ZOE’s navigation system (Renault R-LINK). Once in the car, the driver can access their pre- programmed itinerary automatically.
After parking, the app takes over from the ZOE’s navigation system to indicate the final part of the journey on foot. The driver can also use the app to help find where they parked their ZOE or to look up their trip history and any other information in their trip computer.
The Z.E. smartphone app keeps ZOE drivers connected to their car, even when they are not driving, in order to optimise battery charging.
ZOE owners can remotely:
- Check information, such as the car’s charge level, the estimated remaining range, the time remaining until the vehicle is fully charged, etc. It also receives messages when charging begins and is completed.
- Operate some of their car’s functions, including the cabin’s pre-conditioning system (cabin temperature) and activating the battery charging process, as well as taking advantage of off-peak electricity rates and different CO2 footprints depending on type of electricity generation (i.e. renewable energy sources may be more widely used by energy companies during off-peak periods)
