Sales of Renault electric cars have been growing almost every month for the past few years in Europe thanks to the exceptional Renault ZOE, the Renault TWIZY city-quadricycle and the Renault Kangoo Z.E. In fact, in the past 8 months Renault has sold nearly 12,500 electric cars, 2,200 EV LCV’s and over 1,550 Twizy.
Introducing the Renault EV Range
But what exactly are the Renault Electric Vehicles and what is it that powers them? Although not available in South Africa at the moment, we here at Group1 Renault have decided to give our South African EV fans a taste of cutting-edge Renault Zero Emission automobile technology…
Meet the Renault ZOE
The Renault ZOE
Basic Renault ZOE Specs:
Powertrain
Electric motor 65 kW with 220 Nm
Battery 22 kW·h lithium ion battery
Dimensions
Length: 4,084 mm
Width: 1,730 mm
Height: 1,562 mm
Meet the Renault TWIZY
The Renault TWIZY
Basic Renault TWIZY Specs:
Powertrain
Battery 6.1 kWh lithium-ion battery
Electric range 100 km
Dimensions
Length: 2.32 m
Width: 1.19 m
Height: 1.46 m
Meet the Renault Kangoo Z.E.
The Renault Kangoo Z.E.
Basic Renault Kangoo Z.E. Specs:
Powertrain
22 kWh lithium ion battery
Range 170 km
Dimensions
Length: 4,213 mm
Width: 1,829 mm
Height: 1,844 mm
So How Reliable are Renault Electric Engines?
In a word, very! So much so in fact that Renault will supply Daimler’s Smart EV’s with their electric motors from now into the foreseeable future. These motors will be the same as those used in the Renault Zoe EV shown above and all of the electric engine units will be manufactured at the French automaker’s plant in Cleon, France. They will then be used to power the Smart ForTwo minicar made at Daimler’s Hambach facility in France as well as its larger Smart ForFour model.
Did You Know? The alliance between Daimler and Renault-Nissan was launched in 2010 and has grown to include cooperation across 13 new automotive projects, including engines, compact cars and even a bakkie for Mercedes-Benz.
