Thanks for all your time and effort.

Really informative, real-world trip. Subscribed!

Excellent review, subscribed. 😸

A very though review with good data! It's a great car for London saving the daily congestion charges, if you can charge at home. I had a Zoe for a couple of weeks when my Tesla M3 was in for rash repair and it was a good quite town car that could do short sprints up and down the motorway...

Finally an objective review on charging. Most journalist make it look like the UK has only three working chargers in the entire country.

At 1:00 "they were a bit temperamental yesterday, just like any Rolec {charger} is"!! 😂

Interestingly the Renault are persisting with 22 Kw AC charging on the new Megane E-Tech although all UK cars will get CCS charging. Apparently fast (rapid/quick?) chargers are much more prolific in Europe.

Interesting. Zoe was tempting but glad i went for i3.

Hi do u guys fix the battery impossible to charge fault, i have the same issue with my zoe.

Interesting video as I rented a ZE40 R110 back in 2019 to drive the 220 miles from Southampton to Lincoln and back. My first stop is normally South Mimms but the charger was out of order so moved on to a hotel at Hatfield for 50 mins and then a second stop at Peterborough services on the A1 of about another 50-minute. I was getting shown a battery range of 159 miles on a full charge and put the cruise on 68 mph for most of the way. Definitely enjoyed the drive but with it being over an hour and a half longer than my normal trip in an ICE, I would need a vehicle with a faster rapid charging. I'm thinking the BMW i3 Rex will probably be my best option in the future as my budget is nearer to £10k and don't see the Zoë ZE50 selling for that price used anytime soon🤔

@wiselyauto

Жыл бұрын

Unfortunately even i3's have really shot up in value in the last 12 months, so finding a nicely prepared example even below £15k is a challenge.

@markreed9853

Жыл бұрын

@@wiselyauto yes, I've noticed, I hope part shortages are in the past in a year or two to resolve this 🤔 I want a 2016/17 rex in a year or so, the last one with no road tax. No option for charging at home so need a good CCS charging vehicle and 70 miles won't cut it sometimes and won't always have time to charge. Any major problems you would look at before buying?

Just watched the trio from Scotland to London, very interesting as well as shocking the number of stops to recharge and the slow charging times. Still not convinced going from ICE to EV is the way to go until EV battery technology greatly improves (i.e. longer driving distance, quicker charging, standardised EV charge stations). Sticking with my diesel for the time being, Scotland to London on a full tank full, with no refuelling stops.

@mondotv4216

11 ай бұрын

You have to remember this is not an EV designed for long distance driving. Go watch RSymonsEV who just took a Model Y long range a similar distance. He had to stop for longer than the car. It's all about perspective. Don't give up your diesel if it's a perfectly good car. But when the time comes that it is no longer worth repairing or you just want an upgrade then you should definitely consider an EV that's appropriate for you.

@wiselyauto

11 ай бұрын

We make these videos to show these vehicles being pushed to the absolute limit. The truth is, most of our journeys are absolutely boring with not much to show. There are now many EVs on the market which can do Scotland to London with just a single top up stop (which one should take regardless of vehicle type, given even professional HGV drivers are required to stop for at least 30 minutes after 5.5 hours of driving).

CanZE App is a must on the Zoe - for all relevant charging Infos. PowerCruiseControl app is much better then any other navigation and manual calculations, you will always reach your destination with it.

A comment about the range warning. I've found my ZE40 (and possibly the 20 and 50) to be quite pessimistic about the possible range. If you are a new user then then this the 'playing safe' option but as a more experienced owner then you can usually disregard any warnings for journeys of mixed driving of less than three hours when you start off with a full charge. If you are a more experienced driver and disregard the warning this is what happens. At the start you get the red warning top right but your GoM (range guess-o-meter) should have more miles than the satnav distance (the difference being your Range Margin) and this should continue to be the case unless you really hammer it down a motorway/dual carriageway. Part way (half way?) through the journey another range warning will come up advising you to find a nearer charge point which you can cancel and then the red warning will suddenly disappear! You will get to your original destination with the spare miles fairly close to your range margin. I think the range warning is Renault's way of telling new drivers to be careful until you have had more experience of the actual range. In general I've found the GoM to be quite accurate (within a few miles) when you have a mix of driving - town/country/motorway/country/town - which is usual. You gain margin on the town and country segments but lose margin on the motorway. In the end it tends to balance out unless you are doing point to point on a motorway in which case aim for more frequent stops and charge accordingly. Not every make of EV has a GoM that behaves that well.

Another great video. I would never buy another EV without CCS unless it's only for short trips - within its get home range. The type 2 public charging network is quite small, unreliable and slow and will only get smaller. We have a Smart Forfour EV as our local shopper and it's brilliant. To extend usefulness, we are going to upgrade it soon and thinking about a Zoe ZE50 or an i3. I worry about the zero star NCAP score for the ZE50 because we do take the grandkids in it. Is it a real issue or is the Zoe just a victim of changing criteria?

@wiselyauto

Жыл бұрын

We have covered the issue of the 0 star EURO NCAP score in one of our videos (linked below). Long story short, while not ideal, it's most likely safer than most 10 year old cars, especially if you go for a higher-trim version which has all the active safety features. kzread.info/dash/bejne/X417lMaah9a1m84.html

Great video …I have a ze40 r90 it’s not good driving to Leeds now from my home in Scotland since Gridserve pretty much dumped AC the amount of times I’ve got to the post like the ones at wetherby for them not to be working or be iced is a joke .. I always drive down in the wife’s eniro long range now ….due to the Ccs charging it’s so much easier …pity as I actually prefer to drive the lil Zoe …Atb Coops

Great video. Thanks for that. There are other reasons why rain increases energy use. The first, as you said, is pumping losses where the tyres pump water from the road surface to the sides and outwards. The second, which I think is a greater effect, is that rain reduces the tyre temperatures from about 12-15C above ambient (at 55 mph) to just 1-2 degrees with even a small amount of rain or just a wet road. A reduced temperature increases the stiffness of the tyre material and creates a greater loss. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolling_resistance Hot tyres also run at a higher pressure which goes back to normal when you stop which slightly reduces rolling resistance.

what if you can charge home with a solar setup.. the cost is nearly "zero" all summer (about 6mounth)

Those small 22kW AC chargers are often actually only 18kW, and if BOTH ports are used simultaneously, only HALF of the power is given to each vehicle, which would confirm your 9.6kW rate.

@wiselyauto

Жыл бұрын

That makes a lot of sense. But of course, why would Gridserve bother actually noting that on the units / in any of the apps. 🙃

@decimal1815

11 ай бұрын

I'm thinking a ZE40 would make a great commuter car, particularly if you have AC charging options at work, or at local car parks.

@MrKOenigma

8 ай бұрын

​@@decimal1815it is ❤❤

This is definitely an EV you should only consider as a second city vehicle and only if you have home charging. Even then I would think twice as it's crippled by AC only charging. I think the Zoe and the Nissan LEAF with CHADEMO only are going to become relics pretty quickly as public charging options inevitably disappear. Having said that a LEAF makes a lot more sense than than an AC Zoe (you can get a CCS option on the 55kW Zoe).

@wiselyauto

11 ай бұрын

The ZE40 version of the Zoe offers more than enough range for daily use, especially if it's your second vehicle in the household and you can charge at home / work. While we have to agree that their use in the future will be limited with the infrastructure quickly moving towards CCS, it is precisely the reason why they can be had for much less money compared to something like an equivalent BMW i3 or VW e-Golf.

Is it also correct you have to pay a monthly rental charge on the batteries, ?

@wiselyauto

11 ай бұрын

Yes and no. Early Zoes came with leased batteries, meaning the owner had the pay a monthly fee to Renault. The benefit was lower upfront cost and "infinite" warranty on the packs. However, Renault slowly transitioned away from this system. Zoes which come with owned batteries have an "i" as part of the trim name, which was the case for the particular example in the video. The battery leasing option was discontinued with the latest Zoes, so all versions with the 50kWh battery are not subject to additional fees from Renault.

I can confirm that the Zoe R90 charges at full 22 speed up to 60 % and then it starts slowing down

As someone who has no idea on cars, would this be much faster with an ice car? I want an ev so i dont have to pay taxes, but the charging worries me. That and the fact i live in a very hill heavy area...

@wiselyauto

4 ай бұрын

This was an extreme test really. If you need to do this kind of journey regularly there are many other EVs available for not much more money which would handle this trip without any problems. By the way, electric cars like hills. Unlike an ICE car, you get a bit of charge back every time you go down one.

@keithhooper6123

17 сағат бұрын

You will soon have to pay taxes,that's for sure.

It's like in a old times when people used horses and it took whole day to travel from a to b

This is why everyone fears evs in any country(and the problems with the chargers or charging), point blank.

@wiselyauto

Жыл бұрын

You should check out our video covering a similar trip from Scotland to London in an i3 which is a completely different story: kzread.info/dash/bejne/qnVtksevfcKToZM.html Not to mention, a Tesla Model 3 could probably cover the entire distance with one or two 20 minute charging stops, but in fact, it's so easy that there is not much to show. As with anything, it's about choosing the right vehicle for the right job...

You didn't ever worry that you'd overstay the time limits at service stations and end up with a parking fine? It wouldn't take much if the chargers were already in use so you had to wait, and then add the actual charging time. A couple of fines would certainly change the economics.

@wiselyauto

11 ай бұрын

Worst case, all you have to do is pay extra for the parking while you are waiting... However, in the 6 years we have been delivering EVs all over the country, neither of us in the team encountered such situation. 🤷‍♂️

From Fife to England

Miles?? I thought only the Yanks still played with that archaic system..

Electric cars are just too much hassle,i can drive from somerset to kirkcaldy without stopping in 6 hrs 50 and still have enough fuel to get me half way back before filling up in my ds3 diesel.Ideal if you just use them for local runs but double the time to do same journey no thanks.

I drove from Arbroath to England in mine, no problem.

This is why Teslas are so much better for traveling - you just plug your destination and never bother with trying to figure out the chargers, just drive up to one and plug in.

@wiselyauto

Жыл бұрын

For ease of use on long trips no EV beats a Tesla (for now).

I make regular trips to Scotland & back to the Midlands in my Toyota Aygo & never give it a second thought. EVs are bonkers😜

@wiselyauto

Жыл бұрын

We agree the previous generation Zoe is not exactly a long distance cruiser. However, there are many EVs which make the long journeys without much effort. And contrary to popular belief, they are getting more affordable by the month!

@fje1948

Жыл бұрын

Really? ….. 🤮

This is an awful car, bad efficiency, no proper thermal management, no DC ....

@skataskatata9236

11 ай бұрын

yep. it is a real shame that CCS is an option....

I love how travelling has changed from going to a destination to going to a charge station that might be in the direction of where you actually want to go!!! I'll stay with a fuel efficient ICE where I just worry about the destination and not where to charge.

@JoshLStuff

4 ай бұрын

This is a pretty out there test for an increasingly strange EV. Not very indicative of the current state of electric vehicles