Automotive First - Driven - EV

[scotta]

Brother Works as the manager of the parts department at the local Renault dealer. On the way to work his Turbo in his 3-Series shat itself. So hes ordered a new turbo to be fitted. In the meantime he's been dipping into the courtesy pool. Usually these consist of bottom range Clio's Kaptur's and the occasional Scenic. However last night he nabbed a Zoe.

Interesting. We were both at my folks last night so took the Zoe out for a run

Thoughts - It makes a funny noise up to 18 mph to make pedestrians aware it’s coming (can be switched off) . Full throttle instantly hits with a bit of wheel scrabble as it pulls away and the TCS light blinks (Unsure if you could turn that off as i didnt see a button) It's pretty quick to 30 ish but then plateaus a bit to 60 - However it gets there fairly effortlessly.. Would be great fun in a TLGP as you'd probably get a good jump on most things. I didn’t go any quicker than that as we were just out for a quick blast and didnt want to zap all the battery - he didnt have a charge cable for it. Rides pretty decent however the cars setup pretty soft so it leans a bit round the bends.

In the whole i liked it. instant power delivery and zero noise make a great case for themselves. I certainly wouldnt be chopping the Elise or the Golf for one any time soon but as these become quicker cheaper and with decent range its not inconceivable that an EV might find its way onto my driveway in the near to mid term.

[simon_g]

Nice. I'm enjoying zipping around town in ours on electric even more than I thought I would - how nice they are to drive for dull everyday driving often gets lost amongst the eco-warrior or penny-pinching running costs stuff.

Wouldn't get up at 6am to drive one for fun, but for the everyday commuting tedium, running the kids about, getting to the shops they're superb.

[Sundayjumper]

I've not driven one yet, but an EV would make total sense for my day-to-day use. I'm pretty sure an EV will replace my BMW in a few years from now.

[Gavin]

My boss is fed up of his pimped van so has ordered a Mini Cooper E thing, I must admit I am looking forward to having a go.

[Marv]

Yep, almost the perfect car if you've got a fairly boring commute.

[GG.]

Saddest excuse for calling time on a road trip! "Sorry we've got to stop now because we're going to run out of juice and I don't have the charging cable"

That's before we get to how the Zoe looks - I mean, seriously, who that fuck signed that off. Just look at the side profile, not to mention the front that looks like a sphincter with a renault badge at the centre. Oh and its ridiculous name.



Oh well, at least it is comparable price to a Clio. Wait, what? TWENTY TWO GRAND?

I can just about get my head around a BMW i3 because the outward design is at least futuristic and interesting, though those still piss me off in their own way by having bicycle wheels and a ridiculous cloth interior that looks like its been lifted from an E30 316i.

[240PP]

That's before we get to how the Zoe looks - I mean, seriously, who that fuck signed that off. Just look at the side profile, not to mention the front that looks like a sphincter with a renault badge at the centre. Oh and its ridiculous name.

As small electric cars go, it looks alright to me.

[GG.]

<insert specsavers gag>

I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder yadda yadda but its truly gopping. Look how much better resolved a Clio is for example



Why didn't they just make a Clio E?

The side is also its best angle (bar underneath) Just look at the front:

[240PP]

I really quite like the front on that

I don't think it looks that much different side on than the Clio.

[GG.]

Ok now I just think you're winding me up

This is helpful - I've just found another picture of the two of them side by side!

[Mito Man]

I also think it looks pretty similar to the Clio in profile. That said I also think both look shit. I also think the i3 looks shit.

[GG.]

I also think it looks pretty similar to the Clio in profile if it were one of those terrible Chinese copies.

FTFY.

There isn't a single line on it that's the same. The only shared parts I could see were (1) the aerial (maybe) (2) the wingmirror (though not the arm to which it is attached) and (3) the door handle (again, maybe).

[Mito Man]

I also think it looks pretty similar to the Clio in profile if it were one of those terrible Chinese copies.

FTFY.

There isn't a single line on it that's the same. The only shared parts I could see were (1) the aerial (maybe) (2) the wingmirror (though not the arm to which it is attached) and (3) the door handle (again, maybe).

Rather than looking at individual parts look at the general outline. The curvature of the front and rear bumper and how they interact with the bonnet and roof is very similar.
The silhouette of both cars would be near identical.

[GG.]

I've found one that looks better! Must be the facelift version.

[simon_g]

Current Clio is gopping. The Zoe is quite pleasing to my eyes as small superminis go. White definitely better than that metallic maroon though.

[Maurice]

Quite enjoying how animated GG is about the Zoe’s styling.



I quite like them too although I’ve still yet to drive any form of EV.

[integrale_evo]

Current Clio is gopping. The Zoe is quite pleasing to my eyes as small superminis go. White definitely better than that metallic maroon though.

I agree. Zoe is definitely better looking than the current Clio by a long way!

[Marv]

Zoe looks much better in real life than it does in pics. Not a great looking car, but not ugly enough to get ranty about

Think the new Leaf will look better than the Zoe, but I haven't seen one of them on the road yet.

[Carlos]

The price of the Tesla 3 seems to have jumped, the media are speculating £60k ish now. I thought they were a 3 series rival and £35-40k ?

[Marv]

The price of the Tesla 3 seems to have jumped, the media are speculating £60k ish now. I thought they were a 3 series rival and £35-40k ?

The base price was $35k, but if you order one with no options, you'll wait forever for yours to be delivered.

The first ones to be delivered to the UK will probably be those specced to £60k+

Which is bonkers, especially if all the quality control/build quality problems are true (which they appear to be, even if Elon is having a mini melt down and almost proclaiming Model 3 issues to be fake news)

As I've said before, I suspect by the time the Model 3 arrives at these shores, the horse will have already bolted and the traditional car makers will have a decent range of electric cars, which can pretty much match (or get close to) the miles per full charge of the Model 3 and have decent build quality.