New Zoe Deals

Author
Discussion

DSLiverpool

14,746 posts

202 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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We have 2 untethered, the garage one has the cable left in it all the time for the Zoe, the outside socket has the cable in the garage hung on a bracket and easy to access, in an emergency the Leaf has the brick - never used it.
I am getting my monday to friday commute on one charge and charge it twice on friday night and sunday night. The Zoe charges every other day.

cervezaman

311 posts

141 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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What's your preference between the two cars?

DSLiverpool

14,746 posts

202 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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Round the doors the Zoe is very nippy, the leaf more a more mature ride, the leaf has a better stereo and crucially has AM! They both do the same distance oddly per charge and both cost the same

cervezaman

311 posts

141 months

Sunday 17th May 2015
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Great thanks!

Frimley111R

15,664 posts

234 months

Monday 18th May 2015
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dave_s13 said:
Our deal alst dec was

£150 deposit
£99 arrangement fee
£155 per month

2yrs - 7500miles per year.
So if you buy more than £155 of fuel a month then you are better off (although need to add in a smaller £ for electricity)?

anonymous-user

54 months

Monday 18th May 2015
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Frimley111R said:
So if you buy more than £155 of fuel a month then you are better off (although need to add in a smaller £ for electricity)?
you only need £877 (£73.08 per month if done in 12 months) of fuel to do 7,500 miles in a 45mpg car at 1.16 per litre...

In the Zoe, at 3.5 MpkWh, that is £18 of leccy per month

so that leaves you with £99.92 per month to lease a 45 mpg ICE car,

Edited by anonymous-user on Monday 18th May 20:15

dave_s13

13,814 posts

269 months

Monday 18th May 2015
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JPJPJP said:
Frimley111R said:
So if you buy more than £155 of fuel a month then you are better off (although need to add in a smaller £ for electricity)?
you only need £877 (£73.08 per month if done in 12 months) of fuel to do 7,500 miles in a 45mpg car at 1.16 per litre...
Our Zoe replaced a ten year old citroen c5 2.0HDi (a fine car).

When I worked out depreciation, insurance, mot, repairs, fuel then it was only about £30/month more to run a brand new car, my wife hated the C5 so sold it privately, pocketed the cash and we are dead happy with it.

There are horror stories out there about them but ours has been great so far.

anonymous-user

54 months

Monday 18th May 2015
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dave_s13 said:
Our Zoe replaced a ten year old citroen c5 2.0HDi (a fine car).

When I worked out depreciation, insurance, mot, repairs, fuel then it was only about £30/month more to run a brand new car, my wife hated the C5 so sold it privately, pocketed the cash and we are dead happy with it.

There are horror stories out there about them but ours has been great so far.
I am very happy with ours so far too. It is up to 5634 miles now since 23 Dec 14 and, apart from a few trivial niggles (like the drivers door handle sometimes not springing back into the flush closed position) and two punctures, it has been as good as gold. If similar deals are available on similar cars when the 2 year lease is up, then I can see another coming

nutey

53 posts

213 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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JPJPJP said:
I am very happy with ours so far too. It is up to 5634 miles now since 23 Dec 14 and, apart from a few trivial niggles (like the drivers door handle sometimes not springing back into the flush closed position) and two punctures, it has been as good as gold. If similar deals are available on similar cars when the 2 year lease is up, then I can see another coming
My drivers door handle does the same, have you tried to get it fixed or just put up with it?

IN51GHT

8,779 posts

210 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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nutey said:
JPJPJP said:
I am very happy with ours so far too. It is up to 5634 miles now since 23 Dec 14 and, apart from a few trivial niggles (like the drivers door handle sometimes not springing back into the flush closed position) and two punctures, it has been as good as gold. If similar deals are available on similar cars when the 2 year lease is up, then I can see another coming
My drivers door handle does the same, have you tried to get it fixed or just put up with it?
My drivers door handle also does this.


gifdy

2,073 posts

241 months

Tuesday 19th May 2015
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Not had a great start to our EV experience. British gas came round to fix our charging point. Apparently the Zoe triggers circuit breakers so the electrician said he needed an unprotected electrical feed. Fine - but he apparently wasn't insured to remove the main fuse so couldn't do anything. Went away again. Farcical!

LordFlathead

9,641 posts

258 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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gifdy said:
Not had a great start to our EV experience. British gas came round to fix our charging point. Apparently the Zoe triggers circuit breakers so the electrician said he needed an unprotected electrical feed. Fine - but he apparently wasn't insured to remove the main fuse so couldn't do anything. Went away again. Farcical!
Ok we're onto new grounds here for electrical domestic installations. Typically the classifications for circuit breakers were either B,C or D.

A "B" type breaker will trip at around 3-5 times its rated load (99.9% of domestic MCB's are this type).
A "C" type breaker will trip at around 5-10 times its rated load (this breaker is designed for high inrush)
A "D" type breaker will trip at around 10-20 times its rated load (this breaker is designed for very high inrush)

As most domestic washing machines are now "slow start" as controlled by electronics; we do not need anything other than Type C/D breakers at home unless running a large AC motor such as a 3kw or more compressor or any other high current startup motor which is typically 100% more on start up.

The C/D rated breakers allow a high start up current and are designed to stop nuisance trips in an installation. Where the whole IEE regulations fall down is that no-one has recognised officially that these Renault heavy duty chargers need to be protected by a high inrush/slow surge start up MCB. Tesla, by comparison has made their chargers "soft start".

My recommendation to anyone that has a Zoe is to ask a professional electrician to "de-rate their MCB to Type C" which will allow the poorly designed Zoe charger to pull full current for a short period of time. The overall circuit protection is still there as long as the conductor impedance is followed to the IEE wiring regulations, but you will not get nuisance tripping.

The Zoe is a budget EV car and the French electrical system is vastly different to ours.

Regarding the electrician stating you need an "unprotected electrical feed", I would strongly dispute this as the IEE regs stipulate that every circuit needs to be protected for disconnection within the specified times, and wire fuses do not now meet these requirements. Also him stating he was not insured to pull the main fuse? Rubbish; if he is 17th edition Part P he should be able to as long as he records the meter reading before and after. I would ask for another electrician!

gifdy

2,073 posts

241 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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LordFlathead said:
gifdy said:
Not had a great start to our EV experience. British gas came round to fix our charging point. Apparently the Zoe triggers circuit breakers so the electrician said he needed an unprotected electrical feed. Fine - but he apparently wasn't insured to remove the main fuse so couldn't do anything. Went away again. Farcical!
Ok we're onto new grounds here for electrical domestic installations. Typically the classifications for circuit breakers were either B,C or D.

A "B" type breaker will trip at around 3-5 times its rated load (99.9% of domestic MCB's are this type).
A "C" type breaker will trip at around 5-10 times its rated load (this breaker is designed for high inrush)
A "D" type breaker will trip at around 10-20 times its rated load (this breaker is designed for very high inrush)

As most domestic washing machines are now "slow start" as controlled by electronics; we do not need anything other than Type C/D breakers at home unless running a large AC motor such as a 3kw or more compressor or any other high current startup motor which is typically 100% more on start up.

The C/D rated breakers allow a high start up current and are designed to stop nuisance trips in an installation. Where the whole IEE regulations fall down is that no-one has recognised officially that these Renault heavy duty chargers need to be protected by a high inrush/slow surge start up MCB. Tesla, by comparison has made their chargers "soft start".

My recommendation to anyone that has a Zoe is to ask a professional electrician to "de-rate their MCB to Type C" which will allow the poorly designed Zoe charger to pull full current for a short period of time. The overall circuit protection is still there as long as the conductor impedance is followed to the IEE wiring regulations, but you will not get nuisance tripping.

The Zoe is a budget EV car and the French electrical system is vastly different to ours.

Regarding the electrician stating you need an "unprotected electrical feed", I would strongly dispute this as the IEE regs stipulate that every circuit needs to be protected for disconnection within the specified times, and wire fuses do not now meet these requirements. Also him stating he was not insured to pull the main fuse? Rubbish; if he is 17th edition Part P he should be able to as long as he records the meter reading before and after. I would ask for another electrician!
Thanks - great advice. I will request someone else do the installation, I was uncomfortable about having a live unprotected feed run through the house.

blueacid

442 posts

141 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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LordFlathead said:
As most domestic washing machines are now "slow start" as controlled by electronics; we do not need anything other than Type C/D breakers at home unless running a large AC motor such as a 3kw or more compressor or any other high current startup motor which is typically 100% more on start up.
..Surely you mean we don't need to use anything besides type 'B' breakers, since nothing really draws a large inrush current any longer.

Except the case of the Renault chargers which, through virtue of not being soft start, need a more permissive 'C' breaker.

LordFlathead

9,641 posts

258 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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Yes you are correct that was a typo! B type is the norm smile

anonymous-user

54 months

Wednesday 20th May 2015
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nutey said:
My drivers door handle does the same, have you tried to get it fixed or just put up with it?
I will mention it when it comes to time to book it for a service. As well as the peeling blue on the charge socket door. Unless something more drastic goes wrong, I can't be bothered to take it in!

ooo000ooo

2,531 posts

194 months

Thursday 21st May 2015
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JPJPJP said:
I will mention it when it comes to time to book it for a service. As well as the peeling blue on the charge socket door. Unless something more drastic goes wrong, I can't be bothered to take it in!
Noticed my drivers door handle stuck out a wee bit the other day. I think it had stopped the car from locking?
Also got the blue stuff peeling but can't be bothered booking it in.

stargazer30

1,593 posts

166 months

Thursday 21st May 2015
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ooo000ooo said:
Noticed my drivers door handle stuck out a wee bit the other day. I think it had stopped the car from locking?
Also got the blue stuff peeling but can't be bothered booking it in.
I'd take it down and get the badge on order ASAP as mine took over a month to arrive on back order! Many of the badges were iffy out the factory but so far the replacement is sound, even under the pressure washer.

FiF

44,091 posts

251 months

Wednesday 1st July 2015
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Whoah! June 2015 new Zoe from 145/m including 10,000 miles of free fuel. Seems as if it will monitor how much electricity through the charger and will give rebate until 10,000 miles worth has been used. Rebate is only at economy 7 rates but even so, with a charger at "work" providing free electricity this could be a very attractive option.

Article below does a comparison with leasing a Clio.


http://myrenaultzoe.com/index.php/2015/06/new-rena...

GreatGranny

9,128 posts

226 months

Wednesday 1st July 2015
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FiF said:
Whoah! June 2015 new Zoe from 145/m including 10,000 miles of free fuel. Seems as if it will monitor how much electricity through the charger and will give rebate until 10,000 miles worth has been used. Rebate is only at economy 7 rates but even so, with a charger at "work" providing free electricity this could be a very attractive option.

Article below does a comparison with leasing a Clio.


http://myrenaultzoe.com/index.php/2015/06/new-rena...
Mates Dad has just taken delivery of a Zoe on this deal.

He's 70+ and never considered an EV until my mate had the Leaf on the 7 day test drive. Took his dad on a drive and he was very impressed.
Most of his journeys are a max. 10 miles with maybe 30 miles once a week.
He has a Micra as well but have only used it once since having the Zoe (1 month I think).