The New-Ish Renault Zoe Has A 242-Mile Range

If you don’t think the Renault Zoe in these images looks like a new car, there’s a good reason: it technically isn’t. Instead, it’s a heavily re-worked version of the affordable EV that’s been on sale since 2011.

It’s nice and smart with its new wider front bumper plus the fresh wheel and colour options, but the important changes are all under the skin. Crucially, the battery is now much bigger.

It’s a 52kWh pack, providing a healthy improvement over the old optional 41kWh unit. It’s also more than double the capacity of the old base Zoe’s battery. With it, the rejigged version of the Zoe is able to cover up to 242 miles according to the WLTP cycle. That makes the Honda e and its 125-mile range look a little inadequate, especially considering the Japanese firm’s first EV is expected to be much more expensive.

With a home-installed 7kW wallbox, it’ll be possible to juice the Zoe from empty to 100 per cent in nine hours and 25 minutes. A 22kW charging station can deliver 78 miles in about an hour, while a 50kW DC charger will be able to provide 90 miles in half an hour.

As standard, the Zoe has an 80kW (equivalent of 107bhp) motor, with a 100kW (134bhp) ‘R135’ unit available on GT Line versions of the car. Spec it, and it’ll be possible to do 0-62mph in just under 10 seconds. Not that this is a terribly relevant stat - come on Renault, where’s the traffic light-sprinting 0-30 time?

What the French manufacturer has done, however, is detailed all the stuff it’s done in the Zoe’s cabin. We’re told that the interior has been revamped with new soft-touch plastics, the addition of fancy new screens, and on ‘Iconic’-trimmed models, 100 per cent recycled upholstery. Lovely.

There’s no word on how much the kinda-new Renault Zoe will cost yet, but it should be a similar figure to the £21,220 charged for the outgoing model. As well as competing with the aforementioned pricey Honda, it’ll also need to fend off Peugeot’s e-208.