Renault Zoe.... It's not the future anymore.
As a keen biker and petrol head I've always had a soft spot for the Isle of Man. Electric vehicles? Not so much. I've always enjoyed their swift pickup and quiet running, but I've usually been a little too hung up on range issues to really enjoy their performance.
A trip to the Isle of Man with Mat Kiziuk and a Zoe 40kw gave me the perfect chance to get over my worries. It's not the first time I've driven a Zoe but it's the first time I've spent more than an hour with one - and I have to say it's a seriously impressive car! Remarkably spacious for it's size (even with two big lads in the front), smooth, quick, quiet..... And above all, it had plenty of range.
I met up with Mat at DSG Morcambe where he'd cleaned the car ready for our trip. I drove it down to the docks at Heysham and it showed around 160 miles range remaining on the dash. No charging on the boat of course, but we got to our hotel in Douglas showing..... 160 miles remaining. The regeneration of power into the battery when you brake and when you run in traffic is superb.
That theme continued over the next couple of days. We did a fair few miles in the little Zoe, including a run over the mountain to Ramsey, a couple of customer test drives and the car still had over 100 miles range remaining when Mat dropped me off at DSG. And for those that don't know - when you see the national speed limit sign on the IOM, that means there are no speed limits at all! No 60mph tedium for us outside the towns.
There was even free charging available for our Zoe at the Bungalow - a real landmark on the Mountain course with Joey Dunlop's memorial looking on approvingly. We only had it on charge for 10 mins as we were having too much fun driving the Zoe rather than charging it. There are two 22kw chargers at the Bungalow and that's the power that the Zoe's optimised to take - there is a really good charging network on the island. Have a quick at ZapMap for chargers near you.
Our customers at the Isle of Man Government were really pleased to drive the Zoe, and they've now got 4 on order.
All in all, it was a successful and eye opening trip. And the reason I don't think that the Zoe's the future anymore? Just because I think the technology has matured and the car is genuinely usable for most people right now. And you don't have to live on a small island in the Irish Sea to appreciate it. If you'd like more information and would like to arrange a test drive drop me a message - let's see what you think too!