Renault has unveiled a new version of its ZOE all-electric vehicle, which claims to have the longest range of any mainstream electric vehicle at 250 miles (400km).
“This month Renault surpassed 100,000 electric vehicles sold and now ZOE will travel up to 250 miles (400km) without recharging,” explained Carlos Ghosn, Groupe Renault chairman and CEO. “We are continuing to push in areas where innovation matters most for Renault customers. Making it easy for them to choose electric, with new connected services to enhance their driving experience, is a top priority for us and for ZOE customers.”
As a pioneer of all-electric mobility and Europe’s number one seller of electric vehicles, Renault has stepped up its innovation programme and the deployment of its zero emissions strategy.
Fitted with the new Z.E. 40 battery, the Renault ZOE now delivers a NEDC driving range of 250 miles (400km), which is twice the distance delivered by the model at the time of its original launch.
In real-world driving, Renault estimates the new Z.E. 40 battery has a range of 186 miles (300km) in urban or suburban areas.
The new battery removes the final psychological barrier that stands in the way of buying an electric car, so-call ‘range anxiety’, since ZOE users can now travel further and enjoy a wider variety of driving situations without worry about charging.
The new battery boasts 41kWh of useful energy, equivalent to almost double the storage capacity of the ZOE’s standard battery (22kWh of useful energy). Developed in close partnership with LG Chem, the battery uses high-energy density lithium-ion technology. Renault and LG engineers have succeeded in increasing storage capacity without making the battery any bigger or a lot heavier. It was optimised by working on the chemistry of the cells in order to increase their energy density, rather than stacking additional battery modules, a commonly used technique.