Renault Zoe

The Renault Zoe, known as Renault Zoe E-Tech Electric since 2021, is a five-door supermini electric car produced by the French manufacturer Renault. Renault originally unveiled, under the Zoe name, a number of different concept cars. Initially in 2005 as the Zoe City Car and later as the Zoe Z.E. electric concept was shown in two different versions in 2009 and 2010 under the Renault Z.E. name. A production ready version of the Zoe was shown at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show. The Renault Zoe is based on the platform of the Renault Clio.
Retail customer deliveries began in France in December 2012, followed in 2013 by several European countries. Since 2013, the Zoe has been the all-time top selling all-electric car in the French market, with more than 100,000 units registered through June 2020. The Zoe was the top selling all-electric car in Europe for two years running, 2015 and 2016, and also topped European sales in the broader plug-in electric car segment in 2016 and 2020. As of 2020, the Zoe ranks as Europe's all-time best selling plug-in electric car., global sales totaled almost 285,000 units since inception.
The first production Zoe had a 22 kWh lithium-ion battery pack that delivers a range between and under the NEDC cycle. In September 2016, Renault announced the introduction of new higher range model with a 41 kWh lithium-ion battery, increasing the range to under the NEDC cycle. In mid 2018 a new model with increased motor power of, was announced as the ZE 40 R110. In mid 2019, the ZE 50 R135 was announced, with a 55 kWh battery pack and motor, and CCS charging; the final production-ready model was shown at the Frankfurt Motor Show and deliveries started end of 2019.
Renault ceased production of the electric 5-door hatchback on 30 March 2024, after nearly twelve years. It was replaced by the retro-styled Renault 5 E-Tech.

Concepts

Zoe City Car Concept (2005)

The Renault Zoe City Car concept was shown at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show featuring 3 seats, the 3.45 m long open top vehicle was proposed as an urban focused car. This Zoe had no connection with the later electric Zoe concept to follow four years later.

Zoe Concept (2009)

The Renault Zoe Concept was shown to the public in 2009 at the Frankfurt Motor Show to show the company's vision for a Clio sized electric car. It was powered by a electric motor and lithium-ion batteries. It was estimated it would have a range of and a top speed of, and could be charged at a conventional 230 V socket, or fast-charged from a high-voltage supply to 80 percent in only 20 minutes. A third innovative option was to swap the batteries for a new pack at a Renault Quickdrop centre. The vehicle was designed by Raphaël Linari.
The design was tear-drop shaped featuring a see-through roof features solar panels which run the air-conditioning system and gull-wing doors. A new climate control system was also shown, developed with L'Oréal, which could spray essential oils into the interior to cut out harmful exterior smells, or rehydrate the interior to prevent skin drying out.

Zoe Preview (2010)

The Zoe Preview, a substantially revised version of the Zoe concept, was shown to the public at the 2010 Paris Motor Show, and was claimed to be a near-definitive representation of the final version of the car. Many of the existing design features of the 2009 concept model were discarded such as the gull-wing doors.
The technical specifications had changed from the 2009 version with the power of the electric motor reduced to, a reduced top speed of, but still with a range. It was suggested that the Zoe ZE would be priced from €15,000.

Zoe E-Sport (2017)

The Zoe E-sport is a hot hatch electric car concept unveiled at the 2017 Geneva Motor Show. It has an all-wheel drive design with two electric motors, each one powering an axle. The combined power from both is and the torque. The lithium-ion battery package weighs and is on the rear. The car, weighing, has a carbon fibre chassis, racing brakes and equipment, and a double wishbone suspension on both axles.

Production versions

ZE

The production version of the Zoe was announced in March 2012 at the Geneva Motor Show. Similar to the Zoe Preview of 2010 and the design credited to Jean Semeriva, it is a five-door supermini at 4080 mm long, a little longer than the Renault Clio. Retail customer deliveries began in limited number in France in December 2012, and Renault planned to increase availability during the first quarter of 2013. The first Zoe was delivered to Arnaud Montebourg, French Minister of Industrial Recovery. The Zoe is produced at Flins on the same assembly line as the Renault Clio and Nissan Micra. About 170 Zoes are made per day.
In France the Zoe pricing starts at before applying the existing tax incentive, plus a monthly fee for the battery. The cost of leasing the battery for 36 months starts from /month for an annual distance travelled of and includes comprehensive breakdown assistance.
The Zoes produced until June 2015 are powered by a 22 kWh lithium-ion battery pack weighing 275 kg, driving a synchronous electric motor supplied by Continental and called the Q210, as the NEDC cycle range is. Maximum torque is 220 N·m with a top speed of. Renault estimates that in suburban use, the Zoe can achieve around in cold weather and in temperate conditions. The car features a charging system called "Caméléon" charger that allows the Zoe to be charged at any level of AC power up to 43 kW, taking between 30 minutes and nine hours. The particular type of grid system in parts of Norway with a different potential for the protective ground requires a special charger, which is included with all Zoes in Norway from summer 2015.
In June 2015, Renault announced the introduction of a new, smaller electric motor called the R240, manufactured at its Cléon engine plant. The new motor has the same power and torque as the Q210 unit with an extended NEDC cycle range of. However, the Q210 would still be available as the R240 allowed only 22 kW quick charging.

ZE 40

In October 2016 at the Paris Motor Show, Renault unveiled a 41 kWh lithium-ion battery called the ZE 40, weighing. The battery was developed by Renault and LG Chem, and is assembled at Renault's Flins plant. It is mounted on Zoes using the R75/90 motor and increases the car range to under NEDC and allows quick charging. The Q210 would still be available, renamed as Q90. According to Renault, the battery delivers about on real driving conditions. Older Zoes using the battery would get a less significant range increase because of various design upgrades. Options to buy the battery would be available, along with revised lease plans.

Facelift

ZE 50

In June 2019 Renault announced a new Zoe with a 52 kWh battery, just as the ZE 40 this was also developed by Renault and LG Chem, achieving range of under WLTP conditions. It comes with either an 80 kW R110 electric motor for the "Iconic" trim level, or a 100 kW R135 electric motor for the "S Edition" and "GT Line +" trim levels. It also has faster charging, with the option to add 50 kW DC capability via CCS2.
In mid-2022, the Zoe received some mild updates.

Electrics and Drivetrain variants

Battery

	First generation	Second generation	Third generation
Total capacity	25.92 kWh	45.61 kWh	55 kWh
Cells	192 cells 36 Ah nominal capacity 3.75 V nominal voltage 860 gram	192 cells 63.35 Ah nominal capacity 3.75 V nominal voltage 940 gram	192 cells 78 Ah nominal capacity 3.65 V nominal voltage 1073 gram
Pack weight	280 kg	305 kg	326 kg
Thermals	air cooled	air cooled	air cooled

Buying options

In France, pricing of the Zoe with the 41 kWh battery starts at before any applicable government incentives, and without the purchase of the battery. The rental fee for the battery is per month for up to per year and per month for unlimited mileage. In Norway, pricing starts at 229,400 kroner, and the pricing of the variant with the original 22 kWh battery starts at 40,000 kroner less than the 41 kWh variant. The small battery can be upgraded to the newer one, at a cost of around 3500 Euros for rented batteries.
In the UK, it has been possible to buy the Zoe with the battery, or lease the battery. Leasing the battery gives a free replacement if capacity falls under 80%.

Charger

Renault Zoe uses 'Chameleon' onboard charger, that repurposes motor power electronics to charge the battery. Motor windings are used as power inductor for boost or buck converter. This system saves on number of components, but it has several downsides:
There is no galvanic isolation between the grid and the battery. Because of this, Zoe has very strict HV fault and ground tests and will not charge if ground-neutral resistance is more 100 ohm. To perform this test, Zoe injects 20mA pulse between ground and neutral, and might trip some RCDs.
At the input side, it has a bridge rectifier with 3 inputs for 3 phases. When it does 1 phase charging, it uses internal 35A relay to connect the Neutral with L3. Decision if there are 3 phases or not is based on whether there is L2 present. If there is a fault on L2 and L3 is present, it would try to charge in single phase mode, which can damage the relay. This damage can be confirmed by multi-meter by checking if there is continuity between L3 and N pins at the charge port.
The 2015 R240 version removed the 43 kW AC charging capability, in exchange for better efficiency of low power home charging. The 2017 facelift still allowed for a Q90 rapid charge option.