Renault ZOE owner reviews
“The Renault ZOE is a stylish electric supermini that’s affordable and has a decent range, making it very convincing”
by Carbuyer
23 Nov 2020
Carbuyer Rating
4.1 out of 5
Owners Rating
4.3 out of 5
Price
£29,295 - £33,795
73%of people would recommend this car to a friend.
Owner Rating
- 2reviews
- 12reviews
- 1reviews
Common Problems
- Electrics, Engine, Other (1 cases)
- Electrics, Other (2 cases)
- Other (1 cases)
Owner Review
1 out of 5
Version
navigator R40 i
Year of registration
2018
Average annual mileage
5,000 – 9,999
Bought Car
Used
Review
I was just beginning to think that only good reviews were published, I am relieved to see that others have the frustrating issues that the car does not do what it says on the tin. I don't get anywhere near the stated mileage in the Renault ZOE. The heater does not work despite two new heat pumps and I have squeaks off the steering. The phone app to activate conditioning as described in the brochure has never worked, despite Renault knowing about this for over five years. Basically I've been completely mis-sold.
What they don't tell you when is unless you are prepared to drive around in Eco mode, which restricts speed to 60mph and reduces the heating, you might just get the claimed mileage. It also bugs me that I charged up before going on a cruise and when I got back the temperature had changed and I lost all the charge I had paid for. I really want to return to petrol.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
40Kw
Year of registration
2017
Average annual mileage
5,000 – 9,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Review
I have read much about the Renault Zoe and there is much I disagree with as it is a fabulous car and I'm sure history will prove it to be a great EV. It's well built and there is NOT too much cheap plastic as has been said in some reports.
Having owned the car for a few months, I would describe it as been a lot better than I was expecting.
I love the simplicity of the cruise control only on the steering wheel and I find it easy to control the lights, wipers and phone from the stalks. The voice recognition is brilliant and been a big TomTom fan I'm delighted with SatNat.
The car drives like a far more expensive car. I'd strongly suggest using Eco-Mode for most none dual carriageway travel as it really does extend the range.
Renault have produced a great mass market EV.I would have know reservations about hopefully fitting a larger battery into the same car in three years time. Thanks to Renault as you have supplied me with a great car.
Performance
5 out of 5
Adequate
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Better than forecast
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
Dynamique Intens Auto
Year of registration
2014
Average annual mileage
0 – 4,999
Owned
1 - 2 years
Bought Car
Used
Typical MPG
99.9
Review
Excellent! really glad to have bought my first electric car. I did have previous electric scooter experience and that's what convinced me to buy the car. It's a dream to drive, once you get out of the habit of trying to change gear. As the electric car age takes off, there will be more variants available, as my next model, price willing, will be an estate type.
Reliability
5 out of 5
Nothing worth commenting upon.
Performance
5 out of 5
Ample for me, and it has an ECO mode that keeps max speed to no greater the 60mph. Love it!
Running Cost
5 out of 5
About 100 miles per charge of about 3 hours. So, not bad at all.
Owner Review
1 out of 5
Version
ZE40i R110 Dynamique Nav
Year of registration
2019
Average annual mileage
10,000 – 14,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Review
This is a difficult review as overall the electric driving experience is great; this is a wonderful car to drive when it's working. The problem is Renault themselves and their ability to build and maintain a car to an acceptable standard.
The car was delivered to me in June 2019 faulty, with the Radio/control computer failing while being demonstrated to me during the handover. Allegedly fixed while I spent 90 minutes waiting, it failed again on the way home, with 5 miles of leaving the dealership. Returned for repair.
7 weeks later I got the car back. The failed radio hardware had been fixed, but the connected services weren't working. On return to me I also discovered a seat retaining bolt loose in the car, and the electric folding mirrors were no longer working. I was asked to wait while Renault France got the connected service working, and I was told they would fix the folding mirrors at the same time.
6 weeks later, part of the heater piping fell out from behind the dashboard into the passenger footwell. Again, Renault said not to worry and to bring it back for repair at the same time as the radio.
In December the replaced radio unit failed. Back to the dealer, along with a letter rejecting the car. Renault UK 'customer service' got involved and strung me along until the end of March without responding to my letter of rejection, constantly stating they needed more information from the dealership/France that wasn't being provided. Finally, at the end of February they responded to my rejection to say they wouldn't support it as the car was fully repaired.
Having long term doubts about the car's reliability I wasn't willing to take the car back so sought legal advice. Was about to take Renault to court for goods not being of satisfactory quality when Coronavirus hit. I couldn't keep making my family use public transport / share a car with elderly relatives so have had to take it back. Needless to say, although the radio is fixed, the electric folding wing mirrors aren't.
Since the car was sold with '3 years' subscription to connected services', none of which have been available for the first 10 months of ownership I asked Renault to restart the subscription. They refused on the basis the subscription was provided and they had no liability for the fact it wasn't used, despite it being as a result of equipment failures under warranty.
I acknowledge that Renault provided loan / hire cars while the vehicle was in the dealership (up to the point where I took legal advice), but would rather it hadn't been a diesel as a substitute for an electric car bought for environmental/ethical reasons. They told me I could recover fuel costs with receipts, but only a few days before I returned the loan car, so not actually a usable offer.
Fuel costs alone have been at least £400 more for the loan cars than I would have paid in electricity. Because I sought legal advice, Renault withdrew their 'goodwill offer' which was only 2 years servicing anyway, so less than half the value of what this has cost me.
Summary:
Owned car for approximately 10 months. For five of these, the car was at the dealer for repair. Despite this it is still, in part faulty, it has never been properly functional to the advertised specification over the entire period of ownership. Repairs conducted have been shoddy, incomplete and introduced further problems. Renault are not offering even one jot of compensation. I only have the car because of Coronavirus and needing some form of transport for my family, otherwise I had started the process of legal action.
Reliability
1 out of 5
Has always been in a fault condition for the full 10 months of ownership.
Performance
Really nippy at lower speeds. Performance tails off at higher speeds. Long range also OK. Happily does London --> Somerset (155 miles on motorway / dual carriageway) with only a 15 minute precautionary top-up charge en-route.
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Very good. I have got up to 200 miles range from a charge (40kWh), with a cheap EV owner electricity tariff of 5p/kWh, that is approaching 1p per mile.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
Version
ZE40
Year of registration
2017
Average annual mileage
10,000 – 14,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
New
Review
Unless you regularly need a large vehicle such as an estate, the Zoe is all the car you will ever need.
The new 42Kwh battery gives a real world range of around 200 miles in the summer, 160 in the winter, so range anxiety is a thing of the past. Contrary to some industry reviews, it is very well made, easy to drive, and because of its near silence on the road, feels like a much more expensive vehicle to travel in.
On A roads and around town, performance is brisk to say the least, and it will out accelerate almost all other vehicles away from the lights due to the instant torque generated by it's electric motor. Running costs are exceptionally low, and the convenience of being able to "refuel" your car whilst you are asleep so that every morning it's ready to do another 200 miles, is a revelation. If you are considering buying an EV I couldn't recommend the Zoe more highly.
Reliability
5 out of 5
100% reliable with no issues whatsoever
Performance
Acceleration is very quick and top speed is more than enough to wave your license goodbye if you get caught.
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Much cheaper to run than petrol or diesel cars after purchase.
Owner Review
2 out of 5
Version
Fully Electric 5 dr
Year of registration
2016
Average annual mileage
0 – 4,999
Owned
1 - 2 years
Bought Car
Used
Review
We were happy for the first 6 months until the first winter when fully charged range dropped down to approximately 50miles! Then the charging plug on car packed in. After its 1st service, annoying niggling electrical bugs started popping up weekly e.g. check electrical system etc.
The manual says to drive car to approved dealer immediately but when I ring up to book in I'm told to come in 3 weeks as if its nothing serious! Initially I would take the car in and when I asked what was wrong, I'm always told it needs a reboot. No matter whats wrong, even with the charging port issue, its a reboot! Imagine, control alt delete to repair the car. Now the warning pops up and disappears intermittently.
The final realisation of its limitations came when I had to drive to Kingston for a meeting. The drive took about an hour, meeting took 45 minutes but I had to wait another 2 hours 45 minutes for the car to charge up for the return journey. Whats frustrating is that the sat nav says journey is 55.5 miles and even when car is charged up to 75 miles, car says it's not sufficient to make the journey. Finally we had no choice but to dare making the journey back by driving cautiously with no heating, radio, nothing on except the lights.
Its electronic key system is also annoying as not consistent. Get out of drivers seat and before I can open the back door, it locks! Have to press the button on front door and quickly open back door! Sometimes when pressed, it unlocks, sometimes it doesn't.
The charging port keeps popping open by itself thus having to stop car, get out to push it shut. Why have an additionally electric button on dashboard to open the charging port outside when one has to get out to plug the car in anyway? In my 2nd year, 3500 miles in total, the battery power has reduced considerably even out of eco mode, especially when going up hills.
Other annoying features are; the sat nav map SD port is right in the storage compartment, therefore a slight knock from keys, phone etc will pop the SD out and crash the sat nav! The air con switch when press ON switches it OFF! Yes, when car starts, aircon automatically comes on, therefore you have to press the switch ON to switch the aircon OFF! Maybe I got a car that was meant for Africa!
Overall a small cheap electric car would have been better just being a car rather than trying to imitate an expensive sibling with all the unnecessary bells and whistles that don't work.
Reliability
2 out of 5
I lost faith in its mileage per charge as it's vastly inconsistent depending on weather, from 48 to 92 miles per full charge!
Performance
2 out of 5
In the first year we were really impressed with its power and performance, but 18 months later, power to climb hills and overall performance has deteriorated even with full battery charge.
Running Cost
2 out of 5
As I only do short journeys, shopping, take dogs for walks etc, the battery hire combined with purchase costs makes it uneconomical.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
Dynamic Intens
Year of registration
2016
Average annual mileage
5,000 – 9,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
New
Review
When faced with ditching the motorbike for my commute through winter, I didn't want to have to buy another internal combustion four wheeled vehicle that would need servicing and taxing and so electric sprung to mind. I initially looked at the Renault Twizzy since space on my drive is limited. But when I showed my wife what it looked like she started drawing up the divorce papers! But bitten by the idea of electric I looked at the Z0E and have not looked back.
Mine was 18 months old with 2.5k miles on the clock and cost me £6.5k. I opted for the £70/month - 7.5k miles annual mileage battery lease. Z0Es with owned batteries are like hens' teeth and are more expensive. With the lease comes the peace of mind that any battery problems are Renault's problem. They will replace it if it holds less than 75% of its original capacity as it wears out and you'll be recovered if you run out of charge - handy if your favourite charger is broken or off-line when you get to it.
Soon after buying my Z0E I had a 7.5 kilowatt home charge point installed at home for £150, thanks to the Gov't £500 OLEV grant. This will charge the Z0E from empty to full in about 6 hours. Because the car would have to sit at the end of the drive to be first away in the morning I had to buy an extra long charging cable for £300.
With 70 - 100 range and a 30-mile daily commute I only have to plug it in every-other night. I pay 14.8p per kilowatt for my home electricity - which incidentally is supplied from a company that uses electricity from solar and wind farms only - and so a 20kwh charge costs less than £3 for 80 miles of driving.
It comes with lots of toys - a built in Tom Tom sat nav, climate control, reversing camera & sensors, cruise control and speed limiter control, auto headlights and auto wipers as well as a Renault R-Link with 2G data connection for a range of apps and remote control of the charging and climate control pre-conditioning via a smartphone app. The last one enables the car to be defrosted and warmed up on even the iceiest morning before I'm awake and I can glide off my drive and past my neighbours as they're scraping their windscreens.
I've recently had the annual service - intervals are 18k miles or 12 months and cost just £77.
As for driving, it's the most relaxing and easy car I've driven. It's smart off the lights and is fine on the motorway. The more you drive, Z0E learns your driving style and the range meter gets more accurate, although it is quite pessimistic, and so you're guaranteed to have the range shown, even when driving on the motorway.
So, for me, the only disappointment is the battery lease which limits my mileage. If it wasn't for that, I'd be tempted to ditch the motorbike and drive the Z0E to work all year round.
Reliability
5 out of 5
Little to go wrong.
Performance
5 out of 5
0-30 = 4 seconds
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Very cheap - electricity costs 3.75p per mile.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Year of registration
2016
Average annual mileage
5,000 – 9,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Review
I love this car. It is fun, energetic, frugal and all electric. I rarely need to do more than 60 miles in a day so its 100 mile range exceeds my needs. Renault and you (the taxpayer) gave me a charger and a huge discount. I dont understand why there aren't 1000s on the road, its such a bargain . I lease it for less payment in 2 years than my previoys var devalued in 18 konths.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
Intens
Year of registration
2015
Average annual mileage
15,000 – 19,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Review
We have owned this car for 4 months, buying an electric car was a bit of a risk but so far it has paid off.
The savings in fuel make it the cheapest to run by far, the performance is great and the relative silence even at motorway speeds is relaxing. Range is not the issue we thought it might be, when we get home the car goes on charge and by the time we want to go out again it is full. When we go into town, we benefit from free parking / charging. No road tax :).
The final piece of the jigsaw was the zero percent finance from Renault.
So far this leap of faith has proven to be well worth while.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Year of registration
2015
Average annual mileage
0 – 4,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Review
Having owned electric cars for 9 years, the last year with the Zoë has been utterly brilliant.
We have other cars but the Zoë is brilliant for commuting,
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
Dynamique Intens
Year of registration
2014
Average annual mileage
10,000 – 14,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
New
Review
Bought in March as an ex-demo car. Having covered 5000 miles in 5 months with a mix of commute (its main task) and long distance driving I can recommend the Zoe as a great small family car.
Dealer support has been good. Let down slightly by Renault technical. Car has suffered no mechanical failures and only a few R-link (satnav) foibles.
100 Miles in Summer is attainable in mixed local driving. This will drop to more like 70miles in Winter.
I have covered over 350miles in a day on a motoway mercy dash, car performed faultlessly. I carried out 4 charges on way to destination (conservative) and 2 charges on way back. I now have a 500+ mile day trip planned soon.
As a car the Zoe is cheap to run, easy to drive, has loads of goodies, is quick enough to show most cars a clean pair of heels off the lights. Its easy to adapt to as a car because its just like a regular automatic unlike the Leaf for example with its overly space age dashboard and mouse like gear leaver.
I'd suggest if you get a Zoe spend the extra to buy the occasional EVSE cable that lets you charge from a 3 pin plug. Range anxiety is not a thing, 80-100 miles is not an issue, its ensuring you can get a working charger when you do stop that's the biggest issue. So range anxiety should be changed to charger anxiety.
The Zoe has a chameleon charger, which basically means 1 socket on the car that will charge on anything from a household socket (with the right cable) to a 3kw/7kw post, a 22kw post or a Rapid 43kw post. Slowest charge is on the 3 pin plug which will take 12-13 hours from 20% to 100% (find for trips away where a charger isn't close and you can charge over night). from a low battery 6 hours on a 3kw post, 3.5hours on a 7kw post, 1 hour on a 22kw post and @30mins on a 43kw rapid.
The Zoe is fairly unique (now copied by Nissan Leaf) where you generally rent your battery (the Zoe i comes with battery included in cost, hence £18k price). My Zoe cost around £8k with 256miles on the clock. I pay £65 a month to rent the battery, with the agreement I will cover 10,500miles a year (with an 5p/mile excess if I exceed that).
In 5 months I've saved over £300 on my previous car on fuel alone! I do 90+% of my charging on public chargers, rarely needing to charge at home.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
R90
Year of registration
2015
Average annual mileage
10,000 – 14,999
Owned
2 - 3 years
Bought Car
New
Typical MPG
1000
Review
We own two ZOE's, an older 22Kwh car and a nearly new 41Kwh version. The older car tackles a 65 mile daily commute through Devon's notoriously undulating countryside in all weathers and through all the seasons without complaint, and aside from a charger issue when nearly new that was resolved under warranty within a week, it has and is 100% reliable and dependable. My partner does not "hypermile" but just drives it as she did her previous diesel car, it achieves around 60-70 miles in the depths of winter, 80-90 in summer. Our second ZOE is a nearly new 41Kwh version and is our main family car. Whilst I am yet to experience winter, the summer range is between 180 - 205 miles depending on how I drive it, and therefore undertakes 99% of our journeys without the need to use the public charging network. I am so confident in its abilities I am driving it halfway down through France next week, and to Southwest Ireland at the end of the summer. Even accounting for the battery lease costs ( which I do think Renault should drop by the way) both cars are much cheaper to run than a petrol or diesel equivalent and we have reduced our carbon footprint and impact on our immediate environment in the process. If you are contemplating a Zoe or indeed any other type of EV, my advise would simply be "go for it" as I can assure you that you will not regret it.
Reliability
Completely reliable over 18,000 miles aside for one fault rectified swiftly under warranty.
Performance
Performance is adequate but rarely used as range suffers the heavier your right foot is.
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Unbelievably inexpensive to run and maintain
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
Fluence ZE
Year of registration
2012
Average annual mileage
5,000 – 9,999
Owned
2 - 3 years
Bought Car
New
Typical MPG
180
Review
Economical car to both own and to operate and the ZE fully electric gives fuel savings with quiet and clean operation that is efficient and aesthetically pleasing. Reliability over sportiness is the key to customer satisfaction with this limited range vehicle.
Reliability
5 out of 5
Extremely reliable if one drives carefully and with consideration for others on the road. I have had no break downs or towing so far.
Performance
5 out of 5
Obviously good driving habits and courtesy improve the range on a single battery charge. Careless or showy driving habits deplete the battery quickly and limit range severely.
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Annual costs for maintenance and recharging are quite low. The Fluence ZE charges fully in about six hours or less, depending on the amount of charge remaining in the battery. I pay a tiny monthly amount for electrical recharging on this car but remove the cable when the car is fully charged.
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
nav
Year of registration
2015
Average annual mileage
10,000 – 14,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Review
Good car
Running Cost
5 out of 5
A1
Owner Review
5 out of 5
I would recommend this car to a friend
Version
Intense
Year of registration
2013
Average annual mileage
0 – 4,999
Owned
Less than a year
Bought Car
Used
Typical MPG
230
Review
We have had Zoe for ten months now and I have to say it's one of the most pleasant drives that we have had, near silent driving with entertaining acceleration when required.
When the battery is drained we charge her up every three day's in about three hours at night on economy 7 for pennies and that gives us around 80 - 90 real world range but can't ever see us getting the 130 miles as advertised.
Free road tax perfect!
Performance
5 out of 5
Entertaining
Running Cost
5 out of 5
Costs pennies to run
