The Renault ZE electric cars tested

Renault's march toward an electric future continues and Bob gets a chance to drive the Fluence ZE on the roads in Ireland. See the exclusive video here first

Category:

Autos & Vehicles

Tags:

• Renault
• Fluence
• Electric
• Kangoo
• Zero emission
• the next gear
• bob flavin
• electric cars
• Ireland
• carton House
• the future of cars

[sugelanren]

€79 a month kills any money i'd save on pertol...they should be wearing a mask and riding a horse, the robbing bar stewards. Why should we pay in case their battery is crap. i wont buy till they give up the monthly lease.

[Smokerspack]

@sugelanren There is another way of looking at the monthly charge. You buy a Fluence now with a range of 130kms and two years for now the Fluence comes out with a 200kms range. Where does that leave yours with trade in values and the like?

With the monthly charge the battery will just be swapped for the better one at no extra charge.

[Smokerspack]

Hi guys, just so you EV fans know. Next week we are testing and filming the Fluence next week for a proper test, so if you have questions for the test post here and I'll answer them in the movie.

Cheers guys!

[oliver69cork]

Very exciting and hopefully other manufacturers will start lauching and end our dependance on polluting disgusting oil

[Smokerspack]

@oliver69cork Almost all of the car makers do an electric car now, it's only Renault that are really pushing for it as they have 4 cars. So there'll be lots more testing this year

[kwalliander]

You could drive about twice as far with an EV1 of GM (1998) than with these "new" electric vehicles. Did battery technology go backwards in those 15 years !?!

[Smokerspack]

@kwalliander GM never really pushed the car plus, they were on their own. The US at the time were very rich and wanted to show their wealth with big V8's and such. So there was no market for the EV1 and no market means no development.

Now they are all developing these cars we might see an increase in range over the coming couple of years

[eagle003]

I LOVE that jet-engine sound ! :D

[Smokerspack]

@urbex2007 Good questions. Fast charging point = 80% in 30mins. 7-8 hours at home will get 100%.

If you're a high millage person EG over 10,000 miles per year then Diesel is still the best option. If you're mostly on motorways then it's Diesel again...But

If you make most of your journeys in city traffic or stop start type driving the EV's will be good for you.

[sugelanren]

@Smokerspack The range is advertised as 180km(ish). I live and commute in and around Dublin, there's no reason why i would want to drive more than 180km. We have two cars, with one for long distance and the fluence for the city commute a new battery would be of no use....now consider you own the car for 5 years...you would pay the guts of 5 grand for what? an extra 20km that they probably could've given us at launch?? and don't get me started on the coincidental price (diesel price +govt grant)

[eldictator1]

@YS3Caero The same way they recycle nearly 95% of lead acid today, 5-10K batteries still with 60-80% charge left aren't going to be wasted

[eldictator1]

@filthyearthworm it knocks about 3-5 miles off, but there are various remote cabin heating systems and heated seats in some models...the first true gneration so expect better improvements

[eldictator1]

@dubbugs But if you want to make your own power and become your own energy supplier you can...no one has a petrol pump in their house

[filthyearthworm]

@Smokerspack A question I've pondered about for electric cars, especially now that it's starting to be very cold in the mornings and during the days. Since these electric cars have no engine powered by fiery explosions, how do they produce heat to warm up the inside of the car to make it less of a fridge? It should draw power from the batteries ... but how does that affect the number of miles you can run before yer battery is dead? I'm guessing heating air on batterypower is quite ... consuming

[YS3Caero]

More than the top speed, the range or the durability, I want to listen the manufacturers explaining how will they recycle so many batteries in 2025.

[TheSaltyAdmiral]

@dubbugs 2/2

The thing is; contrary to fossile/nuclear energy, renewables are very easy to get. In other words very hard to control. Already prices for PVs are so cheap that most families can afford it, and they are getting better and cheaper each year.

Did you know that over half of Germany's renewable energy are owned by citizens & farmers, NOT utility companies. Thats a HUGE shift in regards to empowering the people.