Electric Renault ZOE Van Trialed as RAC Patrol Vehicle

UK breakdown company RAC, is piloting the Renault ZOE van as a roadside assistance vehicle and is the first major break-down company in the UK to do so. The ZOE van will be used for most common breakdowns including battery and tyre replacement, and can carry up to six replacement car batteries, two tyres, a trolley jack, a battery tester, diagnostic equipment as well as their standard patrol tools. The RAC deals with around 7,000 random events daily, meaning the EV's range was a key factor in the decision. With a 242 mile WLTP range, the ZOE is able to attend multiple incidents between charges. The van will be used for attending the most common breakdowns such as the replacement of batteries and tyres, which equate to nearly 50% of roadside call-outs.

ZOE may look small on the outside, but the RAC van carries up to six replacement car batteries, two tyres, a trolley jack, a battery tester, diagnostic equipment as well as their standard patrol tools. The ZOE van can hold a payload of up to 387kg*, making it a great urban transporter. The van is being trialed in both rural and urban environments so its efficiency can be monitored on a long term basis.

Paul Coulton, RAC group operations director said:

“We are very excited to be putting our first electric zero-emission patrol van into service. We have been assessing various electric vans for some time but have been frustrated by the fact there isn’t one on the market that can do what our diesel-powered patrol vans can do at the moment in terms of carrying 500 parts and tools and towing broken-down vehicles, with a range that’s even half what one of our standard vans can do on a full tank.

“While we continue to talk to manufacturers about our requirements, we’re confident we can put an electric RAC patrol van into effective use on the road by carefully deploying it to jobs that won’t require towing. We’re already leading the breakdown industry in terms of EV breakdown with our award-winning RAC EV Boost technology which can get flat or severely depleted electric cars going again without the need for heavy and bulky portable batteries, and our All-Wheels-Up rapid recovery system, which enables a standard patrol van to safely tow a stricken EV with all four wheels off the road, so this was a logical next step.

“This first RAC all-electric patrol van may be small, but it’s easily capable of successfully attending nearly half of the breakdowns we get called out to on a daily basis. We’re confident it will prove the old saying that good things really do come in small packages.”

*368 kg on ZOE Van Business+ and 387 kg on ZOE Van Business.

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Reg Office: Sturrock Way, Bretton, Peterborough, PE3 8YL

Reg. Company Number: 359860

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F.P. Smith Holdings (Newark Avenue) Limited, F.P. Smith Holdings (Ilkeston) Ltd, and F.P. Smith Motors Ltd are Appointed Representatives of Automotive Compliance Ltd, who is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA No 497010). Automotive Compliance Ltd’s permissions as a Principal Firm allows F.P. Smith Holdings (Newark Avenue) Limited, F.P. Smith Holdings (Ilkeston) Ltd, and F.P. Smith Motors Ltd to act as a credit broker, not as a lender, for the introduction to a limited number of lenders and to act as an agent on behalf of the insurer for insurance distribution activities only.

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Electric Renault ZOE Van Trialed as RAC Patrol Vehicle