The What Van? Road Test: Renault Zoe Van (2020)

Date: Monday, March 29, 2021

Zoe Under Bonnet

Powertrain

Power comes courtesy of an 80kW/108hp R110 synchronous electric motor married to a single-speed gearbox and fed by a 52kWh lithium-ion battery pack. Maximum torque is 225Nm.

The van’s charging inlet sits behind the Renault logo on the front of the vehicle and our van arrived with two battery charging cables.

One was a Type-2 cable that can be plugged into a public charging point. The other could be plugged into an ordinary domestic socket.

Whichever trim level you pick, you can opt for a Rapid Charge model – which is what we had. It means it is equipped with a 50kW DC (125A/400v) on-board charger, which can take the battery pack from a charge level of 0% to 80% in 70 minutes, says Renault. A 30-minute charge is enough for a 90-mile range boost, the manufacturer adds.

No matter what type of on-board charger is fitted, replenishing the battery from an ordinary three-pin power point in your garage still takes forever: 34.5 hours to be more precise, Renault admits. So, if you are going electric, have a wall box installed at home – a government grant to help pay for it was available in the UK at the time of writing along with support from Renault – or ensure there is a charging point at your workplace.

Driving

When the Zoe Van arrived in gloomy, cold winter weather it had covered 87 miles, had not been charged up on route, and its dashboard display stated that 67 miles remained available before we had to get out and push.

Not remotely daunted, we immediately drove from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire to Cheltenham in Gloucestershire and back – a round trip of 54 miles – lightly laden, and still had 21 miles left when we got back to base. The battery had 10% of its charge remaining at the end of the journey.

We drove on the Eco setting, but without maximum regeneration and with the radio, lights and heater on.

LED headlights and rear lights reduce the power draw, and both the heater and the air conditioning system make use of a heat pump to help conserve energy. Switching to Eco limits their performance, as well as the on-highway performance of the vehicle.

Subsequent trips around Herefordshire and Gloucestershire, including a trek that covered the length of the M50 from Ross-on-Wye to the M5 and back – a round trip of 44 miles – led us to conclude that the Zoe Van is most ideal for short to medium-range trips that don’t require the need to seek a charging point along the way. Renault’s claimed winter range of 150 miles could well be an under-estimate.

Trips in a Zoe Van (it won the Editor’s Choice Highly Commended accolade in the 2021 What Van? awards) could turn out to be fun.

It rides and handles well, is highly manoeuvrable, and the absence of a conventional engine means it is quiet aside from a modest amount of road noise. It accelerates strongly away from rest, but always remember that a heavy right foot will soon shorten your range.

Leaving the little van in Eco mode gives you ample performance if all you are doing is pottering around town or along rural roads. It means dual carriageway and motorway performance is restricted, however, so in those circumstances you may wish to switch
it off. If you do, just bear in mind that the charge in the battery will deplete more rapidly.

You can of course push the transmission lever over to B in order to boost the level of regeneration and put some charge back into the battery. A dial on the dashboard shows how much is going in.

Using the B setting makes particular sense if you are driving through hilly terrain. As well as recharging the battery and boosting the available range it functions in the same way that a retarder does, slowing the vehicle down when you lift your foot off the accelerator without any need to press the brake pedal.

Drive an electric van and it doesn’t take long to discover that pedestrians and cyclists use their ears as much as their eyes – and their ears are often blocked by headphones. That is a particular hazard in urban areas, but fortunately the Zoe Van can generate targeted noise at from 1mph to 19mph under the Z E Voice banner, which will hopefully alert vulnerable road users to its presence.

Pressing the auto hold button next to the electric handbrake button will stop you creeping forwards when you are sitting at the traffic lights.

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