The Renault ZOE now boasts the longest range of any mainstream electric vehicle (250 miles NEDC) with the launch of the new Z.E. 40 Battery at the 2016 Paris Motor Show.
This new battery offers almost twice the range that was available at the ZOE’s original launch and Renault estimates that in real world conditions a range of 186 miles of urban or suburban driving is achievable.
Carlos Ghosn, Groupe Renault Chairman and CEO said at the launch, “Renault has added a new dimension to the world of electric vehicles now that the ZOE’s range stands at 250 miles (400km) NEDC. It’s a breakthrough in all-electric motoring that will provide the range needed to make any motorist comfortable choosing electric”.
This additional distance available on a single charge should finally lay to rest so called ‘range anxiety’ as ZOE owners will now be able to use their cars in a wider variety of driving situations without having think about charging.
The new Z.E. 40 battery takes a similar amount of time to charge as the standard ZOE battery meaning that an additional 50 miles of range can be added in as little as 30 minutes using many of the public charging points currently available. The ZOE can also still take advantage of the maximum capacity of fast charging points (such as those found along the UK’s motorways) to charge the battery even more quickly.
So how has this increase in range been achieved? Renault worked closely with LG Chem to produce the new battery which offers 41kWh of useful energy (compared to the 22kWh of the original ZOE battery). By increasing the energy density, rather than adding additional battery modules, engineers were able to increase the battery’s capacity without increasing its size or making it a lot heavier – a huge achievement. All this work was done while still maintaining the highest levels of battery safety and reliability.
The 250 mile range ZOE will go on sale in the UK in November, the original 22kWh battery will continue to be offered alongside the new increased range version.